21 British Royal Family Scandals Throughout The Years That Are, Honestly, Really Interesting And Messy
If you've been anywhere on the internet over the last few weeks, you've probably noticed the absolute chaos that has erupted over Kate Middleton, aka the Princess of Wales.
It all started when Kensington Palace announced that Kate was admitted to a London hospital for surgery in January 2024, after her last public outing on Dec. 25, 2023. The palace noted in their statement that it was a "planned abdominal surgery" and she would not "return to public duties until after Easter."
On Jan. 29, 2024, Kensington Palace shared an update that Kate had been discharged from the hospital, with Prince William resuming his public duties on Feb. 7, 2024.
Throughout February, William attended a series of high profile events, like the BAFTAs, alone. Then, he had to miss the memorial service for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, due to a "personal matter." So, yes, he dropped out of a royal engagement.
By the time February ended, the entire internet was wondering where Kate was, with countless memes spreading about her whereabouts. A rep for Kate issued a statement saying that Kensington Palace "made it clear in January the timelines of the princess' recovery."
This statement also came after a grainy photo of Kate surfaced online, with many wondering why the photos of the princess were so unclear.
That brings us to just a few days ago, when things got arguably even more chaotic after the official Instagram account for the prince and princess shared a photo of Kate for UK Mother's Day. And, well, the photo appeared to be photoshopped. It was so badly edited that photo agencies refused to run the image.
All of this just fueled the "Where is Kate Middleton really?!" conspiracy theories, memes, and news coverage, with many even more invested in the saga now.
So, because we seem to be living through yet another British Royal Family scandal — and PR crisis — here are 21 real-life facts about other Royal Family scandals and events throughout the years that you might not know about:
1.First, King William II, who ruled from 1057 to 1100, died after he was shot through the chest with an arrow while out hunting. Walter Tirel, who was reportedly alone with the king at the time of the accident, fled the scene, with the rest of the hunting party not going to William's side. William's body was reportedly found by locals who transported him to Winchester Cathedral.
King William II's death has been debated for years, with many wondering if Tirel was an assassin. Others wondered about his brother Henry's involvement, who quickly ascended to the throne as King Henry I after their older brother was out of the country.
2.Known as the Princes in the Tower, the deaths of King Edward V and his brother, Richard, Duke of York, in 1483 in the Tower of London remains one of the most interesting Royal Family mysteries. Edward V and Richard were entrusted to be protected by the Duke of Gloucester prior to Edward's official coronation, however the Duke reportedly placed both Edward and Richard in the Tower of London. They were never seen alive again. The Duke of Gloucester, aka King Richard III, ultimately ascended the throne.
In 2013, the Guardian reported that the Church of England had "repeatedly refused" to allow forensic tests to be done on bones at Westminster Abbey to determine if they are in fact the bodies of Edward V and his brother Richard. According to the Guardian, "DNA testing was refused on the grounds that it could set a precedent for testing historical theories that would lead to multiple royal disinterments."
3.In May 1810, Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, and later King of Hanover, was woken up in his house and was reportedly wounded by a sabre. After calling one of his valets, people in the house quickly found Joseph Sellis, another valet, in his locked room with his throat slashed. Reports surfaced that Ernest might've murdered his valet, after it was believed that Joseph had been blackmailing him.
An inquest into Joseph's death later determined that he'd killed himself, however the public placed blame on the Duke, with many theories arising as to what could've caused the Duke to possibly kill his valet.
4.In December 1936, King Edward VIII shockingly announced he was abdicating the throne, thus reshaping the entire future of the monarchy. He voluntarily abdicated the throne in order to marry US socialite Wallis Simpson, who was divorced. The Church of England, the government, and Edward's advisors made it clear that marrying Wallis would be impossible while he was King. He had been reigning King for less than a year at the time.
A media blackout in the UK, based on an agreement with the press and government, meant many people were just finding out about Edward and Wallis's relationship during this announcement. Edward's abdication led to his brother, King George VI, ascending the throne, which in turn made George's eldest daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, queen.
5.As depicted in The Crown, Princess Margaret and her love affair with Peter Townsend was one of the earliest scandals during Queen Elizabeth II's reign. Margaret reportedly first fell in love with Peter when she was 17, while he was 32, married, and had two children. He'd later divorce his wife with every intention of marrying Margaret. Despite their engagement, the Queen did not grant Margaret permission to marry Peter, and it was called off.
Monty Fresco / Getty Images, Mondadori / Getty Images
The Church of England also had strict rules about remarriage after divorce. Speaking about her early love of Peter, Margaret reportedly said, "We rode together every morning in that wonderful country, in marvelous weather. That's when I really fell in love with him."
6.Princess Margaret would marry Antony Armstrong-Jones, aka Lord Snowdon. Many reported that Antony was having extramarital affairs while they were married, with Margaret reportedly also known for carrying out affairs, too. Their marriage was believed to be in trouble when photos of Margaret with Roddy Llewellyn, a gardener, surfaced. In March 1976, the New York Times reported that they were separating after 16 years of marriage.
In 1978, Margaret and Antony's divorce was finalized, per the New York Times, with the publication reporting, "The marriage has broken down and the couple have lived apart for two years." Afterwards, Margaret was often branded as "unlucky" by the press, compared to her sister Queen Elizabeth II. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II granted Roddy permission to visit Princess Margaret's grave on the anniversary of her death.
7.In March 1974, Princess Anne was at the center of an attempted kidnapping when Ian Ball, an unemployed laborer, shot at her car as it was returning to Buckingham Palace. Her chauffeur and private detective were both injured, with Ball climbing in the front seat of the car. Eventually, after fending off Ball herself, Anne was helped by passerby Ronnie Russell.
Evening Standard / Getty Images, Bettmann / Bettmann Archive / Getty Images
Ball was eventually arrested by police officers nearby after fleeing the scene. Queen Elizabeth II later awarded Russell with the George Medal, Britain's highest civilian award for gallantry. At the ceremony, the Queen reportedly said, "The medal is from the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne's mother."
8.Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were both rumored to have extramarital relationships while they were married to each other from 1973 to 1992. In particular, Anne reportedly began her romance with Timothy Laurence, her current husband, around 1989 when letters between the pair were reportedly stolen and leaked to the press. As for Mark, in 1991 he was at the center of a paternity suit where a 37-year-old woman in New Zealand alleged that he was the father of her child.
Tim Graham / Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images, Dave Benett / Getty Images
A London paper reported at the time, per the LA Times, that Mark had "never accepted that he is the father." According to Tatler, a DNA test later confirmed that Mark was the father.
9.In 1992, months after Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and Prince Andrew separated, photos of Sarah on vacation with John Bryan, her financial advisor, were published in the Daily Mirror. The photos depicted Bryan seemingly sucking Fergie's toes. The photos were published alongside several other paparazzi photos from their vacation in St. Tropez.
According to her memoir, Fergie said she warned Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew about the photos possibly being published in advance. At the time Buckingham Palace issued a short statement in response to the photos, saying, "We strongly disapprove of the publication of photographs taken in such circumstances."
10.Queen Elizabeth II dubbed 1992 as "Annus Horribilis," aka a horrible year. The year proved to be one of the most difficult in her reign. Most notably, three of her four children's marriages were ending, conversations from Princess Diana and Prince Charles to their reported lovers were leaked, a book detailing Princess Diana's mental health struggles was published, and media and public scrutiny was at an all-time high.
At the same time, taxpayers were questioning the cost of the Royal Family, and a fire broke out at Windsor Castle, which burned for a reported 15 hours, which devastated the Queen. "She regarded it as home because she spent most of the Second World War there," recalled BBC correspondent Michael Cole.
11.In 1993, the British media published transcripts of private conversations between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Known as "Camillagate" or "Tampongate," the phone calls notably included Charles telling Camilla he would like to "live inside [her] trousers," joking that he would like to be a tampon. At the time, both Charles and Camilla were married to other people.
Princess Diana Archive / Getty Images, Tim Graham Photo Library / Getty Images
12.In November 1995, Princess Diana notably sat down for a TV interview with journalist Martin Bashir. The televised interview famously featured Diana confronting the Charles and Camilla rumors by saying, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." In 2020, a formal investigation was launched which found that Bashir "used fake documents to gain access to Diana."
According to BBC, Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, alleged that Bashir showed him "fake financial documents" from Diana's former private secretary in order to gain access to the princess. The BBC accepted the "serious harm" that was caused to Patrick Jephson, Diana's private secretary, and paid his legal costs.
13.Of course, all of this drama ultimately led to one of the biggest British Royal Family media frenzies, which was Prince Charles and Princess Diana's divorce. After separating in 1992, their divorce was finalized in August 1996. After their divorce, Princess Diana was under media attention even more, with her relationship with Dodi Fayed notably taking center stage. In one instance, photos of Diana and Dodi kissing were published on the front page of the Sunday Mirror and reportedly attracted bids of £500,000
Dave Hogan / Getty Images, APTV / Via youtu.be
Photographer Mario Brenna reportedly "made about £1.7 million, or $2.1 million, from the photos of the couple." British photographer Jason Fraser, who helped Mario sell the images, said that after they were published, "over 2,000 photographers arrived" hoping to capture photos of Diana and Dodi.
14.Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were killed in a fatal car crash in Paris in August 1997, with the entire world mourning Diana's passing. Alongside widespread rumors surrounding her death, the royal family was criticized for their strict adherence to protocol, and there was reportedly "angry public response" to the family's initial refusal to lower the flag to half-mast at Buckingham Palace.
Eventually, the Queen ruled that all flags at royal residences would be lowered to half-mast. The royal standard traditionally is never flown at half-mast because it's the sovereign's flag, and there is never a vacancy in the monarchy. The Union flag was placed at half-mast after the Queen left for Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey.
15.In 2002, Prince Harry was reportedly taken to a rehab facility for a single day after Prince Charles discovered Harry was "regularly smoking" marijuana. At the time, the Guardian reported that the incident was "highly embarrassing for the royal family," and the incident put a spotlight on Harry, who was still coping with Princess Diana's death.
Prince Charles reportedly requested that Prince William suggest to Harry that he spend some time at Featherstone clinic to "familiarize himself with the dangers of drugs."
16.In 2005, photos of Prince Harry wearing a Nazi costume at a Halloween party were published by British tabloids, with many calling for him to be disqualified from joining the army and calling him out for minimizing the Holocaust. In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry wrote about the incident, saying, "I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said."
Harry added that they "both howled" when he tried it on, saying that even at the party, which he recalled had a "cringy" theme of natives and colonials, "no one looked twice at [his] costume." He continued, saying, "There were moments over the course of the next several weeks and months when I thought I might die of shame. The typical response to the photos was: What could he have been thinking? The simplest answer was: I wasn't."
17.In 2010, Sarah Ferguson, aka Fergie, was caught offering access to Prince Andrew, her ex-husband, for a reported £500,000. In a video obtained by an undercover journalist posing as a businessperson, you can reportedly hear Fergie say, "500,000 pounds when you can, to me, open doors." She later issued an apology saying she "deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused."
The statement continued, saying, "It is true that my financial situation is under stress, however that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgement and I am very sorry that this has happened. I can confirm that The Duke of York was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred."
18.In 2012, photos of a naked Prince Harry from his trip to Las Vegas surfaced. TMZ posted the photos of Harry online, which featured Harry engaging in a game of strip billiards at a "high rollers hotel suite." At the time the Daily Telegraph reportedly said the publication of the photos "risks embarrassing Buckingham Palace and raises questions about the prince’s security arrangements."
In 2021, Harry opened up about the incident on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, recalling it took place before he shipped out to Afghanistan, and he recalled feeling like he needed to get away and it stemmed from him knowing he needed help. He said, "Any single one of us, whoever we are, wherever we come from, we're always trying to find some way to be able to mask the actual feeling. And be able to try and make us feel different to how we are actually feeling, perhaps from having a feeling, right?"
19.In 2019, Prince Andrew spoke to BBC about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, with Vanity Fair viewing the interview as a "clumsy attempt to clear his name." This came after photos of Andrew and Epstein walking together in NYC surfaced in 2010. At the time, Virginia Roberts Giuffre came forward with a photograph of herself and Andrew, and alleged she had sex with him three times. Prince Andrew settled his sexual abuse lawsuit with Giuffre in 2022.
In 2024, Giuffre claimed Epstein paid her $15,000 to have sex with Prince Andrew. In 2022, Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal patronages and military titles, after Queen Elizabeth II's "approval and agreement," according to Buckingham Palace. All of his royal duties were also halted.
20.Also in 2019, rumors began circulating that Prince William was cheating on Kate Middleton with Rose Hanbury, a friend of Kate's. The rumors resurfaced after a new book titled Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival was published in 2023, which mentioned the rumors. They've now resurfaced again in 2024 following Kate's absence from her royal duties. The rumors have never been directly addressed by the royal family.
Max Mumby / Getty Images
Author Omid Scobie spoke about including the rumor in his book, saying, "For legal reasons there are so many things that one can't go into but I thought it was really important, even if a rumor is a rumor. And I really don't see proof that there is more to this than just a tittle-tattle, you know."
21.And finally, in January 2020, Queen Elizabeth II released a statement detailing the royal family's summit in Sandringham to discuss Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's exit from their duties as senior royals. The news came after increased media intrusion, with the toxic dynamic being a catalyst for their departure, according to Harry.
In 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah to discuss their time as working royals and what it was like stepping down. Notably, Meghan discussed how there was "concerns and conversations about how dark" their son Archie's skin would be when he was born, and she talked about "being silenced" by the Royal Family. Harry was also vocal about fearing Meghan would end up like his mother, Princess Diana, if they stayed. The Palace issued a response to the interview on behalf of the Queen as well, saying, "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan."
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