Princess Margaret's ex-husband Antony Armstrong-Jones' mistress Melanie Cable-Alexander has opened up about her relationship with Lord Snowdon, which took place during his second marriage.
Queen Elizabeth II's sister married photographer Antony at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 1960, two months after they announced their surprise engagement. Following an eighteen-year marriage, during which time they welcomed two children Lady Sarah Chatto and David Armstrong-Jones, they split in 1978 and made history as the first royals to divorce since King Henry VIII in 1540.
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Margaret's lady-in-waiting Lady Anne Glenconner previously admitted the Princess showed "true courage" during the "terrible times" after her split, and although she was later linked to Roddy Llewellyn, she chose never to remarry. Meanwhile, Antony tied the knot with his second wife Lucy Lindsay-Hogg months after his divorce, but he hit the headlines when he fathered a child with Country Life magazine editor Melanie in 1998.
Now, Melanie has made some rare comments about how she dealt with the media interest in her relationship and her son Jasper in the wake of Prince Harry's revelations in his book Spare.
© Photo: Getty ImagesPrincess Margaret an Antony Armstrong-Jones got married in 1960 and split in 1978
Melanie, then 34, met Lord Snowdon, then 67, in 1997 through work, and they began a private four-year relationship.
"At first, Tony and I kept our meetings between us. No one at work knew the truth of Jasper's parentage, and he was simply referred to as the 'office baby'. But the secret could not be kept for long," she said in the MailOnline, explaining the "intense fear" she experienced when paparazzi followed her and baby Jasper after the news of his birth broke.
© Photo: Getty ImagesAntony was married to his second wife Lucy (pictured) when he had an affair with Melanie Cable-Alexander
Reliving the "stressful" time in her life, she added: "Some commentators concluded I was 'ugly', had become pregnant 'deliberately' to ensnare Snowdon, was a money-grabbing 'harlot' and more."
However, Melanie has chosen to keep details of their relationship largely private over the years, which is why she is surprised by Prince Harry's bombshells in Spare.
Antony went on to divorce Lucy in 2000 following the birth of Jasper, and he and Melanie also split years later, but she said they "remained close" until his death aged 86 in 2017.
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