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The Right Honourable

The Countess of Snowdon
The Right Honourable; The Countess of Snowdon
Born	Serena Alleyne Stanhope; 1 March 1970 (age 54); Limerick, Ireland
Noble family	Stanhope (by birth);
Spouse(s)	David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (m. 1993; sep. 2020)
Issue	Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley; Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones;
Parents	Charles Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington; Virginia Freeman-Jackson;
Education	St Mary's School, Wantage

Serena Alleyne Armstrong-Jones, Countess of Snowdon (née Stanhope; born 1 March 1970) is married to David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon.

Early life and education

She was born The Honourable Serena Alleyne Stanhope^[1] in Limerick, Ireland, the daughter of the then Viscount Petersham and his wife Virginia Freeman-Jackson, a socialite. Her parents divorced when she was 13 years old. She has one elder brother. Through her father she is a descendant of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England.^[2]

She spent most of her childhood between Chelsea (with her father and his girlfriend, later wife, Anita Howard, Countess of Suffolk) and Monaco (with her mother).^[3] She went to St Mary's School, Wantage, where she was described as being "more interested in lacrosse than Latin".^[3] After leaving St Mary's School, she went on to study art in Italy. She also attended a finishing school in Switzerland.^[4]

Career

In 1989, Armstrong-Jones joined Sotheby's as a trainee. She then worked as a publicist for Giorgio Armani until August 1993, two months before her wedding.^[4] She subsequently had her own shop called 'Serena Linley Provence'.^[5] The store closed in 2014.

Marriage and children

On 8 October 1993, she married David Armstrong-Jones (then known as Viscount Linley),^[6] – the only son of Princess Margaret, a nephew of Queen Elizabeth II, and first cousin of King Charles III – at St Margaret's Church, Westminster. They had met when her father commissioned Linley to design a walnut dining table for his Chelsea house.^[3]

There were 650 guests in attendance at the wedding, including Elton John, Jerry Hall, the Aga Khan, and Constantine II of Greece.^[7] In addition, there were an estimated 5,000 spectators in the streets.^[3] She wore a $9,000 dress designed by Bruce Robbins, noted for its resemblance to Princess Margaret's 1960 Norman Hartnell wedding dress, and the 'Lotus Tiara', which was on loan from her mother-in-law, Princess Margaret.^[8] Her going-away outfit was designed by Robinson Valentine.^[9]

They have two children together:

Charles Patrick Inigo Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (born 1 July 1999 at Portland Hospital in London), a former page of honour to Queen Elizabeth II.^[10]
Lady Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne Armstrong-Jones (born 14 May 2002 at Portland Hospital).

When Viscount Linley became the Earl of Snowdon on the death of his father in 2017, she became the Countess of Snowdon.^[11]

In February 2020, she and the Earl of Snowdon separated, and a spokesperson confirmed they will be getting a divorce.^[12]

References

^ Syal, R. (10 February 2002). "Children spent much of last years with mother". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 January 2019. He married the Hon. Serena Stanhope, the daughter of the landowner Viscount Petersham, in 1993
^ >Mosley, Charles (ed.), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, DE: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 1796
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Green, Michelle. "Windsor Knot". People Magazine. Time Warner. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ ^a ^b Brozan, Nadine. "Chronicle". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
^ "Serena Linley Provence Chelsea SW3". Jonathan Clark Architects. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
^ "No. 53385". The London Gazette. 28 July 1993. p. 12599.
^ "Serena Stanhope and Viscount Linley's wedding". Tatler. 10 January 1994. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
^ "Royal wedding dresses through the years". The Telegraph. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
^ Rumbold, Judy (8 July 2007). "The sainted Valentine". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
^ Walker, Tim (1 March 2012). "The Queen turns a page for Viscount Linley's son". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
^ Colacello, Bob (10 March 2017). "How the Earl of Snowdon Turned His Heritage into a Lifestyle". vanityfair.com. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
^ Mackelden, Amy (17 February 2020). "Princess Margaret's Son, the Earl of Snowdon, Is Getting Divorced". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved 17 February 2020.