David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 3 November 1961), styled as Viscount Linley until 2017 and known professionally as David Linley, is an English furniture maker and the former chairman of the auction house Christie's UK. The son of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, he is a grandson of King George VI and is 18th in line of succession to the British throne, the first in line who is not a descendant of Queen Elizabeth II.
Video David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon
Early life and education
Snowdon was baptized on 19 December 1961 in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace. His godparents are: Queen Elizabeth II, Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, Patrick Plunket, 7th Baron Plunket, Lord Rupert Nevill, and Reverend Simon Phipps who was later Bishop of Lincoln.
At the age of five, Snowdon started lessons in the Buckingham Palace schoolroom with his cousin Prince Andrew. He went to several independent schools: first, to Gibbs Pre-Preparatory School in Kensington in London, followed by the pre-preparatory section of Ashdown House School, East Sussex, then on to Millbrook House School, near Abingdon, in Oxfordshire, and finally to Bedales School, where he developed a passion for arts and crafts. From 1980 to 1982 he studied at Parnham House in the small town of Beaminster in Dorset, for craftsmen in wood.
Maps David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon
Professional life
Snowdon opened a workshop in Dorking, where he designed and made furniture for three years before setting up his own company, David Linley Furniture Limited (now known as Linley), where he makes bespoke furniture, upholstery, and interior design products known for their neoclassical appearance and use of inlaid woods. He has written numerous books and lectured around the world. His work is sold in retail stores in Belgravia, Harrods and overseas including the Bespoke Collection. He borrowed from his company by making loans to a subsidiary company, acquiring some £3 million in debts, a situation eventually resolved by the sale of controlling shares for £4 million in 2012. The consequence, however, is that he is no longer CEO.
On 1 December 2006, Snowdon took up the post of chairman of Christie's UK, having joined the board in 2005 as a non-executive director. In 2015, his position was changed to honorary chairman of Christie's EMERI (Europe, Middle East, Russia, and India).
In the distant past, Snowdon dabbled in the restaurant business. As a young man, he partnered with his friend and cousin Patrick Lichfield to establish a restaurant called Deals in Chelsea, London. According to Princess Margaret's biographer, Theo Aronson, Snowdon had a flair for the networking aspect of business and was, therefore, extremely successful in getting people to come through the doors. Within a few years' time, he was already establishing a second restaurant.
Personal life and family
Snowdon had romances with Susannah Constantine, Kate Menzies and Nicola Formby. On 8 October 1993, he married the Hon. Serena Alleyne Stanhope, a daughter of Viscount Petersham (later the 12th Earl of Harrington), at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. There were 650 guests in attendance, including Elton John, Diana, Princess of Wales, Jerry Hall, the Aga Khan, and ex-King Constantine of Greece. In addition, there were an estimated 5,000 spectators in the streets.
Snowdon and his wife have two children:
- Charles Patrick Inigo Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1 July 1999)
- Lady Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne Armstrong-Jones (born 14 May 2002)
Snowdon has one full sister, Lady Sarah Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones), and one paternal half-sister, Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal (née Armstrong-Jones). Snowdon also has a half-brother, Jasper Cable-Alexander, son of his father and Melanie Cable-Alexander, an editor at Country Life magazine.
From 2000 until 2002, Snowdon, his wife and son lived at Kensington Palace with his mother, Princess Margaret, in her declining years. On 8 April 2002, Snowdon, along with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Earl of Wessex, stood guard at the lying-in-state of their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. This was a mark of respect unofficially known as the Vigil of the Princes, which had taken place only once before, during the lying-in-state of King George V in 1936.
In October/November 2007, rumors circulated on the internet suggesting that a member of the British royal family was the victim of blackmail. The first confirmation that the royal in the extortion attempt was indeed Viscount Linley, as Snowdon was known at the time, came from the journalist Nicholas Davies. Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan tried to exhort £50,000 from Snowdon in September by threatening to release video footage showing sex acts and cocaine use (allegedly by Snowdon and a royal aide) on a mobile phone. Snowdon contacted the police. Strachan and McGuigan were arrested after showing their video footage to an undercover detective. Strachan and McGuigan were sentenced to five years in prison.
In 2011, Snowdon's daughter, Margarita Armstrong-Jones, was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. In 2012, Snowdon's son, now Viscount Linley, was appointed by The Queen as a Page of Honour.
The Snowdons have three homes: a flat in Chelsea, London; a cottage on the Daylesford estate in Gloucestershire; and the Chateau d'Autet in the Luberon, Provence.
His father, Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, died on 13 January 2017 and he assumed the title, thus becoming the 2nd Earl of Snowdon.
Published works
- Linley, David. Classical Furniture. Harry N. Abrams, 1993. ISBN 978-0810931886.
- Linley, David. Extraordinary Furniture. Harry N. Abrams, 1996. ISBN 978-0810932579.
- Linley, David. Design and Detail in the Home. Harry N. Abrams, 2000. ISBN 978-0810940536.
- Linley, David; Charles Cator and Helen Chislett. The Enduring Beauty of Spectacular Furniture. The Monacelli Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1580932592.
- Miller, Judith. Foreword by David Linley. World Styles from Classical to Contemporary. Dorling Kindersley, 2005. ISBN 978-0756613402.
- Niagara Foundation. Introductions by Viscount Linley, Julian Smith, and Peter Strokes. Early Architecture of the Town and Township of Niagara. Dundum Press, 2015. ISBN 978-1927371404.
- Reginato, James. Foreword by Viscount Linley. Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats. Rizzoli, 2016. ISBN 978-0847848980.
Ancestry
Snowdon is the son of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and the 1st Earl of Snowdon; thus he is the nephew of Queen Elizabeth II, and a grandson of George VI. At the time of his birth, he was fifth in the line of succession to the British throne; he is currently in eighteenth place and is the first person in the line of succession who is not a descendant of Elizabeth II.
References
External links
- Linley website
- Linley designed suites at the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow
- Linley designed suites at Claridge's
- David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (1961-), Son of Princess Margaret Rose and 1st Earl of Snowdon (National Portrait Gallery photographs)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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