Serena Armstrong-Jones, Countess of Snowdon

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 debutante. Her parents divorced when she was 13 years old. She has one older brother. Through her father, she is a descendant of King Charles II of England's illegitimate child, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton.[2]

She spent most of her childhood between Chelsea with her father and her father's girlfriend (and 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]

In 1989, she 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.

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]

• Montague-Smith, P. (editor). (1979). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage

• Portraits of Serena Armstrong-Jones, Viscountess Linley at the National Portrait Gallery, London