(Adds spokesman's comment) LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Earl...

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    LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Earl of Snowdon, the nephew of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, and his wife of 26 years are to divorce.

    The earl, David Armstrong-Jones, is 21st in line to the throne and has two grown-up children with wife Serena.

    "The Earl and Countess of Snowdon have amicably agreed that their marriage has come to an end and that they shall be divorced," a spokesman for the couple said in a statement.

    "They ask that the press respect their privacy and that of their family."

    The Earl, who has a furniture company under his professional name David Linley, is the son of the queen's sister Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, and photographer Lord Snowdon, who died in 2017.

    The news comes after a tough few months for the queen. Prince Harry and wife Meghan plunged the royal family into crisis in January when they announced they were cutting back on official duties. Harry said last year he felt Megan had faced "bullying" from some British tabloid newspapers.

    The queen's second son, Prince Andrew, stepped down from public duties in November over his connections to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was facing charges of trafficking underage girls for sex when he killed himself last year.

    Last week, the queen's eldest grandson Peter Phillips and wife Autumn said they were divorcing after 12 years of marriage.

 
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