during a trip to Belfast in October 1947. In November 1948, they attended the inauguration of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. In later life, Townsend admitted at this point there was an attraction between them, but neither of them ever acknowledged it to one another. Not long after, he discovered his wife Rosemary was involved in an extramarital affair, which ended. Contemporary anecdotes about their closeness then dissipated until late 1950, when friendship seems to have rekindled, coinciding with Townsend's appointment as Deputy Master of the Household and the breakdown of his marriage. From the spring of 1951 came several testimonies of a growing romantic attraction. A footman told how the King diverted the pair's picnic plans, adding that whatever the King and Queen knew about the developing relationship, few royal staff failed to notice as it was obvious to them. Townsend said that his love for her began in Balmoral in 1951, and recalled an incident there in August when the princess woke him from a nap after a picnic lunch while the King watched, to suggest the King knew. Townsend and his wife separated in 1951, which was noticed by the press by July. Margaret was grief-stricken by her father's death and was prescribed sedatives to help her sleep. Of her father she wrote, "He was such a wonderful person, the very heart and centre of our happy family." She was consoled by her deeply held Christian beliefs, sometimes attending church twice daily. She re-emerged attending events with her family in April and returned to public duties and the social scene when official mourning ended in June. American newspapers noted her increasing vitality and speculated that she must be in love. With the widowed Queen Mother, Margaret moved out of Buckingham Palace and into Clarence House in May 1953, while her older sister, now Queen, and her family moved out of Clarence House and into Buckingham Palace. After the king's death, Townsend was appointed Comptroller of Margaret's mother's restructured household. In June 1952, the estranged Townsends hosted Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Princess Margaret at a cocktail party at their home. A month later, Rosemary Townsend and her new partner John de László attended judging at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. It is thought the romance between Margaret and Townsend began around this time. The first reports that Townsend and Margaret wished to marry began in August