HOW society has changed!

Today's front page was all about the announcement that Princess Margaret was to separate from her husband, Lord Snowdon.

At the time, it was extremely shocking for a member of the royal family to divorce.

It should be remembered that Princess Margaret was effectively banned from marrying Group Captain Peter Townsend because he was a divorcee.

Apparently, she said it was an event that ruined her life but she put duty first. The fact that she would have lost her civil list monies if she had gone ahead with it, may have also had something to do with her decision.

With three of the Queen's children going on to be divorcees, the Snowdons' separation now seems un-sensational in retrospect. But at the time, people couldn't get enough of the gossip.

Their marriage was troubled, with stories of drug-taking and other hedonism. In later years it was revealed that Lord Snowdon had fathered a love child just months before their 1960 wedding, and Margaret had an extra-marital affair with toyboy Roddy Llewellyn.

The royals - providing guaranteed entertainment for decades.