There aren’t many royals you’d find cycling across London. But then again, Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones isn’t your average member of the royal family.
As she arrives on her bicycle for our exclusive photoshoot at a beautiful mews house in London’s Notting Hill, her fashionable vintage dirndl immediately evokes the spirit of her grandmother, Princess Margaret, after whom she was named.
Margarita – who was a bridesmaid at the age of eight for Prince William and Princess Kate – tells us she is influenced by her elegant grandmother and yet remains very much her own person.
“I think she was an international influence of style and fun,” says the 28th in the line to the throne, the daughter of Margaret’s son David Armstrong-Jones, now 2nd Earl of Snowdon, and the Hon. Serena Stanhope – whose father is the 12th Earl of Harrington.
Lineage of style
“I think her style is loved by everyone,” she adds. “I suppose it does play into me, but not solely. I think everyone’s different, and I do look up to her, but I do what comes naturally to me.”
An up-and-coming jewellery designer with a brand named Matita, 22-year-old Margarita is as fascinating as her vivacious grandmother, who died just three months before she was born.
Christened Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne, she has a passion for travel, adores eclectic fashion and design, and loves to source jewels and fabrics from exotic places.
And when she looks for the first time at a selection of photos of Princess Margaret on the Caribbean island of Mustique, where she owned a home, she exclaims: “I like the peachy dress, that’s pretty cool,” on seeing one of her grandmother’s pretty outfits.
The creative gene certainly runs in Margarita’s family: her father – formerly Viscount Linley and known professionally as David Linley – is a furniture maker and founder of the Linley interiors brand, while her grandfather Antony Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl of Snowdon, was a renowned British portrait photographer.
Being around such talent from a young age was a “big help”, says Margarita, who says she was “always encouraged to be interested and to ask questions”.
“That’s what Dad was pretty adamant about. He’d always say: ‘Be curious and be different’, which I carried with me.”
On inheriting her photographer grandfather’s creative eye, she muses: “Well, it must have come from somewhere.
“He was a phenomenal photographer – weirdly, I’ve just bought one of his books about interesting places in London architecturally, so there is some ongoing overlap. The people that he photographed were just incredible.”
The camera loves Margarita, too. She’s a natural on the shoot, posing in a series of designer looks, of which a quirky Louis Vuitton minidress is her favourite.
© Hello!Inspired by travel
Travel has been a part of her life since she was a child and inspires her jewellery design – her family own a farmhouse called Château d’Autet in Provence. “We were very lucky,” she smiles.
She adores Mexico: “Seriously cool, just full of life and artistry and all sorts of things,” and she’s stayed with tribes in Indonesia.
© Hello!Her passion for globetrotting is entwined in her designs. “I have a lot of African influence, inspired by travelling and finding all these pieces and the part of the world that they’re from. It all tells a story,” she says, explaining that she steers away from the jewellery industry norms to create a new style.
“I’m inspired by the stones, how they make you feel, what they look like.”
Margarita’s jewellery line features a stunning collection of pieces, mainly colourful necklaces made from natural materials in vibrant shades.
© hello!“I would say they’re bold statement pieces for sure,” she says of her designs. “Perhaps the bigger pieces aren’t an everyday wear, depending on the person, but mainly a party statement, a wow factor.”
Might her royal grandmother, known for her love of bold colours, have liked her jewellery? “Maybe not the teeth!” she laughs, referring to a silver necklace strung with fang-like adornments.
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
Photographer: Christopher Fenner
Styling: Hannah Beck
Hair + MUA: Irina Cajvaneanu
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