Not ones to shy away from the spotlight, the royal family have definitely had their fair share of ups and downs throughout the years. And with so many eyes glued to the illustrious lineage, it seems virtually impossible at this point to hide anything from the public.
With new scandals arising each year, Buckingham Palace has become well accustomed to defending the family through formal apologies, however, it takes more than an official statement for the people to forget. From a few raunchy photos to many messy marriages, these are just a few of the biggest jaw-droppers the royal family have experienced in front of the public eye.
Arguably the most publicised royal couple in history, Prince Charles and Princess Diana were at the root of many royals scandals during their marriage. While their wedding drew in a colossal crowd of viewers in 1981, it wasn’t long into the coupling that Charles kicked off his affair with his now-wife Camilla Parker-Bowles. While the public was clueless, Diana was very much aware of the affair and even confessed to throwing herself down a flight of stairs whilst pregnant with her first child, Prince William, just to get Charles’ attention not long after he and Camilla had rekindled.
However, Diana soon ignited her own scandal when she began an affair with her horse-riding instructor, James Hewitt. After several years of back and forth between Charles and Diana, the couple controversially announced their separation in 1992, and after Diana began speaking publicly about the marriage in a less than positive light, they decided to part ways for good in 1996 when the couple finally filed for divorce.
Long before they were even married, Charles and Camilla found themselves in a pickle when their hot and heavy phone conversation was leaked to the public in 1993. It’s hard to forget the classic lines that popped up throughout the conversation, the most interesting of which was when Charles claimed he wanted to “live inside” Camilla’s trousers as a tampon.
Fergie has long struggled with her place in the palace and, following her separation from Prince Andrew, became no stranger to a good scandal. Not long after she became a single woman, the former royal was pictured on holidays with an American businessman. However, the moment that really sent the public wild was when photos were released of the man ‘nibbling’ on her toes as she lazed on a beach chair.
Princess Margaret’s first scandal began when she fell in love with Peter Townsend, which seemed harmless enough – except for the fact that Townsend was already married at the time. During the love affair, Townsend divorced his wife and immediately asked Margaret to marry him. However this didn’t sit too well with the palace who went out of their way to stop the wedding by forbidding the marriage completely.
Margaret eventually parted ways with Townsend and, shortly after, met Anthony Armstrong Jones who she wed in no time at all. But due to an unhappy marriage, the couple filed for divorce 16 years later which at that point in time was incredibly controversial as it made Margaret the first royal to get divorced since King Henry VIII in the 1500s.
Before he was the married father he is today, a young Harry was known as the rebellious royal. After confessing to his father about his numerous experiences with underage drinking, the palace sent him off to a single day in rehab to open his eyes to the dangers of bad behaviour.
However, this tactic wasn’t the most effective as Harry became the centre of a slew of scandals including the Nazi-themed costume he was pictured wearing at a party as well as being pictured completely nude during a strip-billiards game in Las Vegas.
Nowadays, his scandals are much more tame – but sadly still well publicised – as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have recently been under fire due to accusations of the couple choosing to fly by private jet rather than choosing budget airlines.
In 2014, a 17 year old woman accused Prince Andrew of having sex with her. The palace denied the allegations and a judge later struck them completely from court records. However, the scandal is far from over after the recent arrest and consequential suicide of Andrew’s billionaire friend, Jeffery Epstein, who at the time of death was awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking. Prince Andrew’s name became linked to Epstein’s trial, however, the palace said Andrew was “appalled” by the crimes of his former friend.