Queen’s nephew the Earl of Snowdon applies to become a member of the House of Lords
THE Queen’s nephew has applied to become a member of the House of Lords, it emerged today.
The Earl of Snowdon - whose mum was Princess Margaret - is trying to be elected as a crossbench peer.
The move risks embarrassing Her Majesty - because it could mean Lord Snowdon having to express a view on controversial political issues.
The peer was known as David Armstrong-Jones or Viscount Linley until his father Tony Armstrong-Jones, the society photographer who became the first Earl of Snowdon after marrying the Queen’s sister, died last year.
Lord Snowdon, 56, is a furniture maker and was previously the boss of top auction house Christie’s.
His parents married in 1960 and divorced in 1978, and he is 19th in line to the throne.
Margaret and Tony’s bohemian relationship was featured in hit Neflix show The Crown - although a raunchy sex scene featuring the couple was cut out of the final version.
Lord Snowdon is one of 19 hereditary peers who are standing for election to the House of Lords in a bizarre procedure originally invented by Tony Blair.
The only people eligible to vote are the 31 hereditary peers who currently sit as crossbenchers in the Lords.
They will vote by post over the next two weeks, and the result will be announced on July 4.
If Lord Snowdon wins, he will be able to speak in all House of Lords debates and vote on laws, as well as claiming expenses of up to £300 a day.
The other candidates include 24-year-old Lord Glenconner, whose grandfather left the family’s entire wealth to his servant after living on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.
Lord Snowdon is the only one of the candidates not to have submitted a statement explaining why he deserves to be elected.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
His dad served in the House of Lords until he died - embarrassing ministers who expected him to quit when most hereditary peers were thrown out in 1999.
Only 92 hereditary lords were allowed to stay - and whenever one of them dies or retires, there is an election to replace them with another peer.
Although Tony Armstrong-Jones was partially alienated from the Royal Family after divorcing Princess Margaret, the current Lord Snowdon remains close to his relatives and was a guest at Prince Harry’s wedding last month.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online politics team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours