Every family has their own dark secrets that they prefer not to bring to light and the British royal family is no exception. But sometimes, even the most powerful family can’t hide everything under the rug. The truth always comes to light.
Source: Business Insider India
The royal family has their fair share of embarrassing controversies. From a marriage that caused the line of succession to shift to secret bedtime calls with mistresses, here is a list of the biggest royal family scandals that would give any PR team nightmares.
The lost prince
King George V and Queen Mary’s youngest son, Prince John, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of four. He was sent away to Sandringham House where a governess looked after him. He was hidden because his condition might be seen as a weakness.
Source: Marie Claire
Sadly, John only lived up to the age of 13. He died in his sleep after having a severe seizure in 1919. Little is known about the young prince because he was kept hidden. Had he lived, he would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s uncle.
The king who gave up his throne for love
Imagine turning your back on royal life just to marry the woman that you love. King Edward VIII renounced the crown just one year after being king in 1936 so that he could marry the love of his life, Wallis Simpson.
Source: Marie Claire
Wallis was an American socialite and two-time divorcee. The Church of England forbade him from marrying a divorced woman and because of that, he chose to give up the throne. His decision changed the line of succession entirely.
Falling for a married man
In 1947, at 17 years old, Margaret fell in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend, who was 15 years older than her. The huge age gap was not the only thing scandalous about it. At that time, Peter was married and had two sons.
Source: Marie Claire
Peter ended up divorcing his wife and proposing to Margaret but their relationship did not work out. Divorcees were not allowed to remarry in the Church of England, she chose the crown and decided to end her engagement to Peter.
The German spy
Edward and his wife, Wallis Simpson, happened to be friends with Adolf Hitler. There have been numerous encounters and the British government went to extensive measures to keep this a secret. But a document published in 1957 confirmed their friendship.
Source: Marie Claire
The odd friendship caused British intelligence to suspect Wallis of being a spy. They believed she handed over information and documents to the Germans behind the back of Edward. The FBI also had files on her portraying her as a Nazi sympathizer.
Underage drinking
Back in 1963, a young Prince Charles made headlines when he was caught ordering a cherry brandy at the age of 14. This took place at a pub in the village of Stornoway Harbor. The young prince was unaware that a tabloid reporter was around when he made the order.
Source: Marie Claire
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Charles explained that he had just said the first drink that came into his head. He said that he had tried the drink before when they were out shooting and it was cold.
Her sister came first
Before Prince Charles and Diana became a thing, he actually dated Diana’s eldest sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale first during the 1970s. He dated several women after that before he started seeing Diana.
Source: Marie Claire
Sarah actually has no hard feelings about it. In fact, it is famously known that she was the bridge between the two. Besides, it was just a short romance since at that time, Sarah had expressed that she would never Charles even if he was the King of England.
The high-profile divorce
Margaret married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 and had two children together. However, both Margaret and Antony had extramarital affairs in their marriage, and this eventually led to their divorce in 1978.
Source: Marie Claire
The couple announced their official split in 1976, which shocked the world. This divorce made Margaret the first royal to get a divorce since King Henry VII, who got divorced in the 1500s.
Dated a porn star
Back when Prince Andrew was 22 in 1981, he arranged a secret meeting in the Caribbean with a beautiful woman. A paparazzi caught the couple traveling and the woman was recognized to be Kathleen “Koo” Stark, a 26-year-old soft-core porn star.
Source: Marie Claire
The British press was all over the story. Nude and sexy pictures of Kathleen were all over the tabloids. Rumors have it that Andrew even introduced her to the Queen. Buckingham Palace released a statement that the Queen was not aware of the girl’s career before.
Self-harm for attention
In 1982, while Princess Diana was four months pregnant, she threw herself down the stairs on purpose to get Charles’s attention. She was carrying William at that time. Diana and Charles had an argument about Camilla before she did it.
Source: Marie Claire
At this time, Charles had just rekindled his relationship with Camilla and Diana had already suspected that he was having an affair with her. Despite what she did, Charles continued to ignore her and painted her as a jealous and insecure wife.
Paternity rumors
It is no secret that Diana had several affairs during her marriage to Charles. Their marriage had been on the rocks ever since Charles and Camilla’s affair while she was still carrying William. So, when Harry came out as a redhead in 1984, rumors started flying.
Source: Marie Claire
It can be recalled that Princess Diana admitted to having an affair with army officer, James Hewitt. James happened to be a redhead so people started questioning. However, it was impossible for James to be Harry’s father since Harry was already born when he met Diana.
The unacknowledged lovechild
While he was still married to Princess Anne, Captain Mark Phillips had a one-night stand with Heather Tonkin, an art teacher from New Zealand and got her pregnant. It was revealed when the news came out that Mark asked Heather to get an abortion.
Source: Marie Claire
Heather decided to keep the baby and Mark just gave her child support. When the payments stopped coming, Heather decided to bring the matter to the public. In 1991, a court-ordered DNA test proved that Mark was indeed the father.
Falling for a royal staff member
Princess Anne’s marriage to Olympic equestrian Mark Phillips ended in 1992. Their marriage was often described as a joyless one. But apparently what prompted the divorce was when The Sun claimed they had received letters written to the princess.
Source: Marie Claire
They never published the letters but it was later revealed that Anne had fallen in love with one of her equerries, British Naval officer Timothy Laurence. The two got married in 1992 after her divorce to Mark was final.
Toe licking fetish
In 1992, Duchess Sarah more known as “Fergie” was embroiled in a huge scandal that ended her marriage with Prince Andrew. Compromising photos of Fergie and her financial advisor, Texan millionaire John Bryan, during a vacation in St. Tropex was published.
Source: Marie Claire
The intimate photos caught the two kissing and hugging. But the most scandalous of all was the shot of the millionaire sucking on Fergie’s toes. There was also a shot of Princess Eugenie, who was still 2 years old then, watching as her mother and John made out.
An affair and special pet name
In 1992, The Sun released the transcript of a recorded phone call between Princess Diana and her lover and childhood friend, James Gilbey. The conversation happened in 1990 and during that time, she was still married to Charles.
Source: Marie Claire
In the conversation, it was revealed that James had a pet name for Diana, which was “squidgy.” In fact, he mentioned it 53 times in that one call and also mentioned that he loved her. The affair was called “Squidgygate” by the British press and tabloids.
Recorded naughty thoughts
A month after Prince Charles and Dianna announced their split, a scandalous transcript of a sexy and dirty conversation between Charles and Camilla was leaked. This phone call confirmed the longtime rumors of their affair. The incident was called “Camillagate.”
Source: Marie Claire
The conversation was filled with dirty jokes and lustful wishes between the two. The most scandalous of which was Charles wishing he was a tampon so that he could “live inside” Camilla’s trousers all the time. The call happened in 1989 and was published in 1993.
The rogue and revealing interview
In 1995, Princess Diana went rogue and sat down in an interview with Martin Bashir. The interview became a popular and controversial one because of the many revelations that Diana shared as they discussed the pressures of being in the public eye.
Source: Town & Country Magazine
Diana opened up about postpartum depression, bulimia, and she also talked about Charles’ affair with Camilla and her own affair with James Hewitt. The shocking interview was instrumental to their divorce in 1996.
Rumors about a tragic death
In 1996, a few months after her divorce from Prince Charles was final, Diana was traveling with her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, when their car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma underpass in Paris. This led to her tragic death.
Source: Marie Claire
The timing of her death had caused the rumor to go around that it was a planned accident and that Prince Charles was actually behind it. The rumor was fueled by the fact that the royal family disapproved of Diana’s relationship with her billionaire boyfriend.
The topless bride-to-be
Back in 1999, weeks away from her royal wedding to Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, Sophie Rhys-Jones found herself in a scandal. The Sun published topless pictures of her from 1988 while she was on a roadshow with DJ Chris Tarrant.
Source: Marie Claire
On the same day the pictures were published, The Sun editor David Yelland, apologized to Sophie and the Palace. The scandal was a shock to royal family fans who thought that Sophie had a squeaky-clean image.
The prince goes to rehab
In 2002, When Harry was 17, Charles found out that Harry had tried marijuana on numerous occasions with his friends and that he was underage drinking. Charles decided to send him to rehab for a day to teach him a lesson.
Source: Marie Claire
Charles enrolled Harry in the addiction treatment program at the Featherstone Lodge Rehabilitation Center for a day. The facility was assigned to teach Harry the effects of having vices like drugs and alcohol and see for himself how the patients are doing.
Unfortunate costume
In 2005, Harry made headlines when he was photographed wearing a Nazi costume clearly featuring the swastika armband. The royal wore the outfit while he was attending a “native and colonial” themed party hosted by Olympic showjumper Richard Meade.
Source: Marie Claire
The royal family was quick to issue a public apology after the photo was published by The Sun. Harry also released a statement saying, “I am very sorry if I have caused any offense. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize.”
Fergie takes a bribe
In 2010, a journalist went undercover and offered Fergie about $633,000 in exchange for information about her ex-husband and Duke of York, Prince Andrew. The whole exchange was caught in film and Fergie had bragged about her connections.
Source: Marie Claire
The bribery scandal did a lot of trouble for Fergie’s already damaged reputation. She later made a public apology claiming that everything was a “serious lapse in judgment.” To be fair, she sounded and acted drunk during the conversation.
The topless Duchess
In 2012, Kate and William were having a vacation in Provence, France, in a remote and private villa. The duchess thought she was far away from the public eye and decided to do some sun tanning topless. Unfortunately for her, there was a paparazzi with a long lens.
Source: Marie Claire
This invasion of privacy was condemned by the royal couple and Buckingham Palace. Kate and William decided to bring the photographer and the publications that printed the photo to court. The court decided in their favor and the parties involved faced criminal charges.
Dating a significantly younger woman
In 2012, Captain Mark Phillips made the headlines again when it was revealed that he was having an affair with American Olympic show jumper Lauren Hough. They met while he was coaching the US eventing team.
Source: Marie Claire
What made it scandalous was the fact that Mark was 63 years old and Lauren was 35 years old at that time. The revelation ended up with Mark divorcing his second wife and resigning from his job in the US eventing team.
The naked noble
Sometime in 2012, Harry took a break with some of his friends before he would be sent to Afghanistan to serve in the British Army. Harry and the gang were in Las Vegas at the time and unfortunately, what happened in Vegas did not stay in Vegas.
Source: Marie Claire
Harry was 27 years old at that time and had been playing a game of strip billiards with his friends. It did not take long before he lost all of his clothes and was photographed in his naked state.
Her inner Monroe
A German tabloid published photos of Kate Middleton’s Marilyn Monroe moment when a gust of wind sent her dress flying in the air. The moment happened during a royal tour of New Zealand and Australia in 2014.
Source: Marie Claire
The strong gust of wind was created by the royal helicopter, which happened to be nearby the couple. They are completely exposed to Kate’s bum side. Guess she should learn from the Queen who sewed weights into the hemlines of her dress.
Sexual assault accusations
In 2014, Prince Andrew found himself in an international scandal as he was named to be one of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s friends who engaged in using underaged girls as sex slaves.
Source: Marie Claire
Andrew was named by 17-year-old Virginia Roberts who claimed she had forced sexual relations with the prince. Buckingham Palace denied these allegations and there was no proof found of his involvement. However, the scandal did a lot of damage to his reputation.
Dancing with models
A wild weekend in Switzerland was caught in a video starring William. The prince and his friends were captured living it up drinking and partying in the Swiss ski town of Verbier during a ski holiday in 2017.
Source: Nicki Swift
Everyone found it a scandal to see the prince dirty dancing with a model. Not only that but he was also filmed putting his hand on another woman’s waist. All this while Kate was at home with the kids.
The racist princess
In 2017, Princess Michael of Kent was caught wearing a racist brooch to the Queen’s Christmas luncheon. People were quick to point out the dated and racist jewelry and wondered if it had to do with the attendance of Meghan Markle.
Source: Marie Claire
Meghan had just been engaged to Harry a few months ago and it is widely known that she is a biracial woman. The princess apologized and added that she has worn the brooch a lot of times before without it becoming controversial.
Tax haven accusations
In 2017, it was discovered and reported by Newsweek that the Queen had invested at least $13.1 million into offshore and tax-sheltered funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. The Queen was said to be unaware of this.
Source: Marie Claire
The article prompted party leaders and anti-monarchists to launch an investigation into the Queen’s finances and private funds. This led to the discovery that the Queen is avoiding over $15 million in taxes on her duchy $680 million duchy.
The related royal couple
In 2017, Business Insider published an article exposing the fact that the queen and her husband share the same bloodline. It was discovered that they are both direct descendants of Queen Victoria.
Source: Marie Claire
Elizabeth is a direct descendant of her father’s side. Meanwhile, Prince Phillips is a descendant on his mother’s side. This makes the couple distant cousins!
They did not want to work
On January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced on their official Instagram page their decision to step back as senior members of the British royal family. They have decided to split their time between the UK and North America and become financially independent.
Source: Royals Review
The announcement was said to be a shock not only to the world but to the royal family themselves who were blindsided by the news. They had no idea that this announcement was coming. The scandal was popularly called “Megxit.”
