David Armstrong Jones, Viscount Linley

Education

At the age of five, Linley 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 College in the small town of Beaminster in Dorset, for craftsmen in wood.

Professional life

Linley opened a workshop in Dorking where he designed and made furniture for three years before setting up his own company David Linley Furniture Ltd, 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, Burlington Arcade and overseas including the Bespoke Collection.

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.

Duties

As the Queen's nephew, Linley takes part in royal family events such as Trooping the Colour and Christmas celebrations at Sandringham. He does not have an official royal role.

On 8 April 2002, Linley, 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 2011, Linley's daughter, Margarita Armstrong-Jones, was a bridesmaid at the wedding of the Duke of Cambridge.

In 2013 Linley became a Patron of the Greenpower Education Trust, which inspires young people towards careers in engineering.

Personal life and family

Lord Linley had romances with Susannah Constantine, Kate Menzies and Nicola Formby. On 8 October 1993 he married the Hon. Serena Stanhope, a daughter of Viscount Petersham (later the 12th Earl of Harrington) at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster.

Viscount Linley and his wife have two children:

Linley has one full sister, Lady Sarah Chatto (nee Armstrong-Jones); and one paternal half-sister, Lady Frances von Hofmannsthal (nee Armstrong-Jones). Viscount Linley also has a half-brother, Jasper Cable-Alexander, son of his father and Melanie Cable-Alexander, an editor at Country Life magazine.

From 2000–2002, Viscount Linley, his wife and baby son lived in Kensington Palace with his mother, Princess Margaret, in her declining years.

The Linleys 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.

Title

Succession

Lord Linley 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. Though his mother was a princess, in the United Kingdom royal titles and styles are passed only from the father. He does not hold the title Viscount Linley in his own right; rather, it is a courtesy title used by the eldest son and heir apparent of the Earl of Snowdon. If he outlives his father, Viscount Linley will assume the title, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, in his own right. 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 the Queen.