The constitutional crisis that the proposed marriage caused was public. The Queen was advised by Lascelles to post Townsend abroad, but she refused and instead transferred him from the Queen Mother's household to her own,Warwick, p. 187 although Townsend did not accompany Margaret as planned on a tour of Southern Rhodesia. Winston Churchill personally approved of "a lovely young royal lady married to a gallant young airman", but Clementine Churchill reminded her husband that he had made the same mistake during the abdication crisis. The Cabinet refused to approve the marriage, and Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, did not approve of Margaret marrying a divorced man; opponents said that the marriage would threaten the monarchy as Edward VIII's had. The Church of England Newspaper said that Margaret "is a dutiful churchwoman who knows what strong views leaders of the church hold in this matter", but the Sunday Express—which had supported Edward and Wallis—asked, "IF THEY WANT TO MARRY, WHY SHOULDN'T THEY?".
The constitutional crisis that the proposed marriage caused was public. The Queen was advised by Lascelles to post Townsend abroad, but she refused and instead transferred him from the Queen Mother's household to her own,Warwick, p. 187 although Townsend did not accompany Margaret as planned on a tour of Southern Rhodesia. Winston Churchill personally approved of "a lovely young royal lady married to a gallant young airman", but Clementine Churchill reminded her husband that he had made the same mistake during the abdication crisis. The Cabinet refused to approve the marriage, and Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, did not approve of Margaret marrying a divorced man; opponents said that the marriage would threaten the monarchy as Edward VIII's had. The Church of England Newspaper said that Margaret "is a dutiful churchwoman who knows what strong views leaders of the church hold in this matter", but the Sunday Express—which had supported Edward and Wallis—aske!d, "IF THEY WANT TO MARRY, WHY SHOULDN'T THEY?".