He was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, made beautiful furniture for Russian oligarchs (for a price!) and now advises King Charles III on style. Which important member of the royal family is celebrating his 62nd birthday today?

He once described a perfect Sunday as a cooked breakfast followed by a walk through the countryside with the dogs.

He comes from a famous outdoor family, so that makes perfect sense.

But the 2nd Earl of Snowdon has more to offer than just deep fryers and old Land Rovers.

David Armstrong Jones, as he was born, is the son and eldest child of the glamorous but turbulent marriage between Princess Margaret and society photographer David, the 1st Earl.

Known as Viscount Linley for most of his life, he became a furniture maker and designer.

A favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth II, he now advises his cousin King Charles III and is said to be responsible for the king’s sharp actions in recent months.

‘Insiders praise David Armstrong-Jones with Charles’ increasingly contemporary wardrobe – and trendy accessories –’, Kate Mansey wrote in The Mail on Sunday.

David, 62, was fifth in line to the throne when he was born, on November 3, 1961. Today he is 24th in line.

The young royal spent much of his early life at Buckingham Palace, where he was close to his younger sister Lady Sarah Chatto.

They became close to their cousins ​​in the royal family and spent time together both at home and on holiday.

He became the 2nd Earl of Snowdon after his father’s death in 2017.

David attended a number of schools including Gibbs Pre-Preparatory School in Kensington and Bedales School in Petersfield.

He enrolled at the School for Craftsmen in Wood at Parnham House in Beaminster, Dorset, in the 1980s before setting up his own furniture design company that sold to wealthy clients, who once included Russian oligarchs.

He also worked at Christie’s auction house.

In 1993, David married Serena Stanhope at St Margaret’s, Westminster.

They were the daughter of landowner the Earl of Harrington and a distant cousin of Princess Diana. They met when David was commissioned to design furniture by Serena’s father several years earlier.

The 650 guests included David’s parents, the Queen and Princess Diana.

The new Viscountess was praised for her Bruce Robbins dress, which was known for its similarity to Princess Margaret’s 1960 Norman Hartnell wedding dress.

They have two children: Charles Armstrong-Jones, 24, Viscount Linley and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 21.

David and Serena announced they were divorcing in 2020, with a spokesperson saying the couple had “amicably agreed that their marriage has come to an end.”

The 2nd Earl’s luxury furniture proved popular with the international wealthy and was at one point stocked by Harrods. Elton John and Mick Jagger would have been fans.

It is believed that David, along with his sister Sarah, inherited part of his mother’s estimated £20 million fortune in 2002.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in 2011, he described his perfect Sunday: ‘We have a cooked breakfast and then when we get to Gloucestershire we climb into the back of an old Land Rover with the dogs and head out. another walk.”

After spending much of his younger years in Buckingham Palace, David shared a bond with his aunt, Queen Elizabeth.

The Count and Queen often joked with each other at gatherings and events.

David was present in the funeral processions for both Prince Philip and the Queen, along with senior members of the royal family.

His daughter Margarita was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine in 2011. He was one of the guests at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018.

Margarita also sat next to her brother Charles, Viscount Linley and her father David at King Charles’ coronation in Westminster Abbey on May 6.