There aren’t many royals you’d find cycling across London. But then again, Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones isn’t your average member of the royal family.
As she arrives on her bicycle for our exclusive photoshoot at a beautiful mews house in London’s Notting Hill, her fashionable vintage dirndl immediately evokes the spirit of her grandmother, Princess Margaret, after whom she was named.
Margarita – who was a bridesmaid at the age of eight for Prince William and Princess Kate – tells us she is influenced by her elegant grandmother and yet remains very much her own person.
"I think she was an international influence of style and fun," says the 28th in the line to the throne, the daughter of Margaret’s son David Armstrong-Jones, now 2nd Earl of Snowdon, and the Hon. Serena Stanhope – whose father is the 12th Earl of Harrington.
© HELLO!Lineage of style
"I think her style is loved by everyone," she adds. "I suppose it does play into me, but not solely. I think everyone’s different, and I do look up to her, but I do what comes naturally to me."
An up-and-coming jewellery designer with a brand named Matita, 22-year-old Margarita is as fascinating as her vivacious grandmother, who died just three months before she was born.
Christened Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne, she has a passion for travel, adores eclectic fashion and design, and loves to source jewels and fabrics from exotic places.
And when she looks for the first time at a selection of photos of Princess Margaret on the Caribbean island of Mustique, where she owned a home, she exclaims: "I like the peachy dress, that’s pretty cool," on seeing one of her grandmother’s pretty outfits.
The creative gene certainly runs in Margarita’s family: her father – formerly Viscount Linley and known professionally as David Linley – is a furniture maker and founder of the Linley interiors brand, while her grandfather Antony Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl of Snowdon, was a renowned British portrait photographer.
Being around such talent from a young age was a "big help", says Margarita, who says she was "always encouraged to be interested and to ask questions".
"That’s what Dad was pretty adamant about. He’d always say: 'Be curious and be different', which I carried with me."
© HELLO!On inheriting her photographer grandfather’s creative eye, she muses: "Well, it must have come from somewhere.
"He was a phenomenal photographer – weirdly, I’ve just bought one of his books about interesting places in London architecturally, so there is some ongoing overlap. The people that he photographed were just incredible."
The camera loves Margarita, too. She’s a natural on the shoot, posing in a series of designer looks, of which a quirky Louis Vuitton minidress is her favourite.
© Hello!Inspired by travel
Travel has been a part of her life since she was a child and inspires her jewellery design – her family own a farmhouse called Château d’Autet in Provence. "We were very lucky," she smiles.
She adores Mexico: "Seriously cool, just full of life and artistry and all sorts of things," and she's stayed with tribes in Indonesia.
© Hello!Her passion for globetrotting is entwined in her designs. "I have a lot of African influence, inspired by travelling and finding all these pieces and the part of the world that they’re from. It all tells a story," she says, explaining that she steers away from the jewellery industry norms to create a new style.
"I’m inspired by the stones, how they make you feel, what they look like."
Margarita’s jewellery line features a stunning collection of pieces, mainly colourful necklaces made from natural materials in vibrant shades.
© hello!"I would say they’re bold statement pieces for sure," she says of her designs. "Perhaps the bigger pieces aren’t an everyday wear, depending on the person, but mainly a party statement, a wow factor."
Might her royal grandmother, known for her love of bold colours, have liked her jewellery? "Maybe not the teeth!" she laughs, referring to a silver necklace strung with fang-like adornments.
Margarita says she finds it fun to wear her own jewellery, especially if she receives nice comments, but if no one notices it, she says: "I’ll just go home in a bit of a slump!"
The brand name has a charming family connection. "It was an old childhood nickname and when you have a name as long as mine, you have over 100," she says. "It was the nicest one."
© HELLO!She takes us through her collection, with pieces including a fabulous turquoise pebble necklace with teeth and recycled African beads; a spiked ebony and rock crystal necklace; an African glass bead with brass faces creation.
Her interest in jewellery making was first piqued at age 12, when the English jewellery designer William Welstead – who Margarita met after seeing his work at an exhibition – taught her the basics, a rosary link chain, which she says is "a stone, silver wire, stone, silver wire".
"I’d make for friends after that from the little that I knew," she says. "And it sort of snowballed."
Two years ago, she moved to Paris to study jewellery design, wax carving and stone setting at the prestigious Haute École de Joaillerie. Her time there was "probably the best year of my life".
"It was so fun, and everyone was experimental. The jewellery course was phenomenal – Cartier learned there. His name is actually scratched into one of the benches, which is quite cool."
So far, she has sold her jewellery at an exhibition by Loop Generation in London and via enquiries online.
Her jewellery-making process involves buying the stones first, sourcing many of her stones and beads from a contact in London’s Paddington.
"There’s a most amazing man called Peter Adler and his house is a treasure trove," she says. "His company is called Pebble London; it’s like walking into Pandora’s box."
Other materials including silver she sources from locations such as London’s Hatton Garden.
Then the making begins. "I’ll have a big collection of them, and lay them all out on a tray, then see what works. It sort of clicks and I’m like: 'OK, let’s make it.'" The process can take a while. "The knotting takes three to four hours and then the stringing is probably one hour, but the planning, shopping and sourcing takes a long time."
© HELLO!Adding another artistic string to her bow, Margarita often paints a watercolour of her design after the piece is finished. "It’s quite a nice way of recording what you’ve done, rather than just a photo."
She also loves seeing friends and family wearing her pieces, although she won’t share royal names.
"I think it’s the most touching thing anyone could do," she says. "It’s lovely when your friends buy it rather than sending it off somewhere and never seeing it again."
BRANCHING OUT
Thinking ahead, the royal would love her Matita brand to "have legs", preferably some "long, beautiful ones" she jokes.
She may be only 22 but her ambition is clear: "I would love to do a combination of jewellery, interior design and fashion – and see what people love more."
She is learning to sew and enjoys delving into the vintage and charity shops around Notting Hill. "I recently got into ancient textiles and fashion from Africa, China and Indonesia, among others, which is really interesting because they all used to serve a purpose," she says. "I find things with the story behind them interesting."
© HELLO!She’s also working on making pillowcases from 17th-century Anatolian trouser legs, as well as a coat out of an Uzbekistan banner.
"I love going to the Golborne Road; there’s a great shop there called Universal Providers – it’s full of curiosities and wacky as hell. There’s another place called Muirshin Durkin, which is a cool antique shop selling furniture and men’s French military gear."
Evidently a fan of the look, she tells us that at her home in West London: "You might find me in full French military uniform. I love military."
However, her focus for 2025 is jewellery.
"I would love to perhaps collaborate with someone in the same style," she reveals. "And to have another show. It’s fun to see the people that rock up and enjoy it as much as I do."
And of course, travel is always on her mind. "I would love to go back to Montana, to Kyrgyzstan and to parts of South America – because as much as I love London, I do quite like falling off the face of the earth for a bit."
To see more of Lady Margarita's jewellery visit @matitajewellery
Photographer: Christopher Fenner
Styling: Hannah Beck
Hair + MUA: Irina Cajvaneanu
