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 a member of the extended British royal family, an English furniture maker, and honorary chairman of the auction house Christie's UK.[1] He is the only son of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon and Princess Margaret, and through his mother a grandson of King George VI and first cousin of King Charles III. When he was born, he was 5th in the line of succession to the British throne; as of May 2023[update], he is 25th, and the highest who is not a descendant of Queen Elizabeth II, his aunt.
At the age of five, Linley began lessons in the Buckingham Palace schoolroom with his cousin Prince Andrew.[5] He went to several independent schools: first, to Gibbs Pre-Preparatory School in Kensington in London, now known as Collingham College.[6] Followed by the pre-preparatory section of Ashdown House School, East Sussex, then on to Millbrook House School, near Abingdon, in Oxfordshire,[7] 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.[8]
He has one full sister, Lady Sarah Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones), and two paternal half-sisters, Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal (née Armstrong-Jones) and Polly Fry.[9] He also has a half-brother, Jasper Cable-Alexander, son of his father and Melanie Cable-Alexander, an editor at Country Life magazine.[citation needed]
Linley 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.[10] His work is sold in retail stores in Belgravia, Harrods, and overseas, including the Bespoke Collection.[11] He borrowed from his company by causing it to make loans, acquiring some £3 million in debts, a situation eventually resolved by the sale of controlling shares for £4 million in 2012;[12] he thereby lost control of the company.[13]
On 1 December 2006, Linley took up the post of chairman of Christie's UK, having joined the board in 2005 as a non-executive director.[10] In 2015, his position was changed to honorary chairman of Christie's EMERI (Europe, Middle East, Russia, and India).[14]
Linley dabbled in the restaurant business with his friend and second cousin Patrick Lichfield; they established a restaurant called Deals in Chelsea, London.[2][15] According to Princess Margaret's biographer, Theo Aronson, Linley had a flair for the networking aspect of business and was successful in getting people to come through the doors.[2]
Candidacy for the House of Lords
Linley's father was originally a member of the House of Lords by virtue of his being granted an hereditary peerage. When the House of Lords Act 1999 unseated most hereditary peers, those whose peerage had been newly created for them (as opposed to inherited from a relative) were offered life peerages to allow them to remain in the Lords. Accordingly, the first Earl Snowdon was also created Baron Armstrong-Jones, and retained his seat in the Lords until his death in 2017, whereupon his son inherited the earldom but not the life peerage or the seat.
In 2018, Linley became a candidate in a by-election to fill a vacancy among the ranks of the crossbench peers.[16] Only hereditary peers are eligible to stand in this election, and only the 31 currently sitting in the Lords as crossbenchers are eligible to vote. Unlike other candidates, he did not write a statement accompanying his announcement of candidacy.[17] He later withdrew from consideration for the seat. Reportedly, his candidacy had "raised eyebrows" due to his relation to the royal family.[18]
Personal life and family
Pictured with his daughter in 2017
In 1990, Linley took legal action against the Today newspaper for an article accusing him of "rowdy behaviour in a pub". He was eventually awarded £30,000 in damages.[19]
In October and November 2007, rumours 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 Viscount Linley came from the journalist Nicholas Davies.[24] Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan tried to extort £50,000 from Linley in September by threatening to release video footage showing sex acts and cocaine use (allegedly by Linley and a male royal aide) on a mobile phone.[24] Linley contacted the police. Strachan and McGuigan were arrested after showing their video footage to an undercover detective,[24] and at trial were sentenced to five years in prison.[25]
Niagara Foundation. Introductions by Viscount Linley, Julian Smith, and Peter Strokes. Early Architecture of the Town and Township of Niagara. Dundurn Press, 2015. ISBN978-1927371404.
Reginato, James. Foreword by Viscount Linley. Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats.Rizzoli, 2016. ISBN978-0847848980.
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