The British royal family may be famous for being one of the world's most consistent and
stable political institutions, but the truth is that they've gone through a heck of a lot
over the years. Here are a few of the moments that drastically changed the royal family.
Born as Alexandrina Victoria, the future Queen Victoria was the only daughter of Edward,
Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III. Alexandrina's father died when she was
young, and although Edward's three older brothers had children, none of those children survived
to adulthood. As such, when the Duke of Kent died, she became the heir to the throne.
In 1837, Alexandrina took the throne as Queen Victoria at just 18 years old. Her reign,
one of the longest in history, was deeply associated with Britain's great age of industrial
expansion, economic progress and empire. Meanwhile, Victoria herself redefined the purpose and
potential of the British monarchy, restoring a reputation which had been torn to shreds
by her predecessors. At the height of her reign, she ruled over an empire that spanned
one quarter of the world and reached more than 400 million subjects, and today her name
is literally synonymous with the Victorian Age itself.
During World War I, anti-German sentiment began to grow in Britain. This came to a head
when German Gotha planes bombed a school in London in 1917, leading to the deaths of 18
schoolchildren. Unfortunately, the British royal family — who had German roots and
relatives — happened to share a partial name with the warplanes, as their surname
at the time was Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Hoping to distance themselves from the enemy, the
royal family decided to change their last name. In 1917, King George V proclaimed:
"The Name of Windsor is to be borne by His Royal House and Family and Relinquishing the
Use of All German Titles and Dignities."
This turned out to have been a fairly prescient move, too; one which likely saved the reputation
of the royal family after the outbreak of World War II some two decades later.
When King Edward VIII announced to his subjects in 1936 that he was abdicating the throne,
the world was stunned. Even more shocking, however, was the reason behind the abdication:
the king wished to marry Wallis Simpson, his twice-divorced American lover.
Unfortunately, a number of religious and cultural obstacles stood in his way of Edward's love
for Simpson. As such, he decided that life with his beloved was worth more than the throne,
declaring to the world:
"You must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy
burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without
the help and support of the woman I love."
Edward and Simpson went into exile and took up residence in Paris, France, where the disgraced
king eventually died in 1972. In Edward's place, his brother Albert became king, taking
the name and title King George VI. It was George VI's daughter, Princess Elizabeth,
who then became queen in 1953.
Elizabeth II's coronation at Westminster Abbey on June 2nd, 1953 was an event watched around
the world — with more than 27 million UK viewers and millions more overseas. In that
sense, the coronation was the first of its kind in British history, as it was the very
first to be broadcast on television.
The coronation, which took place in front of 8,000 guests, lasted three hours and featured
six parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture, the enthronement,
and the homage. One part of the coronation remained private, however, and the cameras
were turned off when the queen was anointed with holy oil. During the private anointing,
the Archbishop of Canterbury made a cross on Queen Elizabeth's forehead with holy oil,
and four Knights of the Garter held a silk canopy around the queen. The rest of the coronation
was broadcast in all its glory, — but the event marked another milestone of sorts: for
most people, this telecast was the first time they had ever watched a major world event
on television.
On July 29th, 1981, more than 750 million people in 74 countries watched the wedding
of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana. The wedding was of such immense
anticipation in Britain that the day was declared a public holiday, and 600,000 people turned
out to cheer for the newlyweds on the streets of London.
At the time, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's wedding was seen as a real-life
fairytale come true, with the heir to the throne marrying his beloved 19-year-old princess,
complete with a sweet demeanour, nursery teacher job, and impressive aristocratic lineage.
Of course, Charles and Diana were having problems even in the lead-up to the wedding, and their
marriage would eventually end in divorce and tragedy. On the day itself, however, the bride
and groom really did seem to be happy. Charles reportedly told a cousin that he was "close
to crying from the sheer joy of it all," while Diana later said:
"It was heaven, amazing, wonderful."
But the wedding also marked a watershed moment in the way the royals were treated in the
media. Diana was so popular after the wedding itself that press coverage of her life became
more and more invasive, leading to constant newspaper stories and a growing culture of
"tabloid fodder" — one that endures even to this day.
In 1995, Princess Diana sat down with the journalist Martin Bashir for a bombshell interview
on the BBC current affairs series Panorama. During the interview, Diana and Bashir covered
everything from the end of her marriage to Prince Charles to Charles' affair with Camilla
Parker Bowles.
"Well, there were three of us in that marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
The infamous interview, which also covered Diana's bouts with depression and bulimia,
had lasting implications for the royals. Her candidness opened up a conversation around
mental health in the royal family, leading to her sons' own focus on similar issues,
with both Princes William and Harry having frequently worked with mental health charities
over the years. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has also pointed to the Panorama interview
as a turning point for the way in which the royals were perceived by the public. He said:
"She was the first member of the royal family that people felt, behaved, and acted like
a normal human being."
In August 1997, the 36-year-old Princess Diana was involved in a fatal car crash that shocked
and horrified the globe. Diana had been traveling with her romantic partner Dodi Fayed when
they were pursued into a tunnel by paparazzi, resulting in a crash that killed both them
and their driver. After years of being hounded by photographers eager to capture her every
move, Diana had seemed like she had finally found happiness — and as a result, her death
was that much more shocking, resulting in a massive outpouring of public grief.
The queen was at Balmoral Castle with Princes Charles, William, and Harry when the news
of Diana's death reached her. Mourners waited to hear from her, but the queen grievously
misread the national mood, and instead employed her trademark stoic silence — thus angering
pretty much the entire nation. Nearly a week after Diana's passing, the queen finally addressed
a traumatized nation.
"I for one believe there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinarily
moving reaction to her death."
Queen Elizabeth's speech was uncharacteristically emotional for the monarch, and marked a turning
point in the way the royals were expected to behave at times of great personal hardship.
When it was announced in 2016 that the American actress Meghan Markle was dating Britain's
Prince Harry, it became immediately clear that the royal family had evolved — in more
ways than one.
In 2019, Meghan and Harry married at Windsor Castle. Meghan made headlines at the time
not only because of her glamorous past and previous divorce, but also because she was
the first biracial senior royal in the British Royal Family in modern times — if not ever.
According to a book written by the controversial royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell, the
queen felt Meghan's biracial identity made the monarchy more representative of a multicultural
Britain, and was very much in favor of Meghan entering the family to help the royal family
appear more modern.
Meghan's status as a divorcee was also groundbreaking. For hundreds of years, the British monarchy
had found the idea of marrying a divorced person to be a serious taboo. As such, Queen
Elizabeth's consent to Harry and Meghan's marriage seemed to suggest that the royal
family's principles had finally been dragged into the 21st century.
In 2019, Prince Andrew was interviewed by Emily Maitlis for BBC's Newsnight programme,
to discuss his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The interview was
meant to clear up supposed misconceptions about the pair's relationship, but was instead
seen as an unqualified PR disaster.
"I simply - it was, it was, it was almost impossible for me to sweat."
Repercussions were swift, with Prince Andrew — reportedly the queen's favorite child
— having his reputation tarnished by the scandal. Andrew gave up his office at Buckingham
Palace, and also stepped down from some of his charities.
The fallout extended to Prince Andrew's daughter, Princess Beatrice, who married Edoardo Mapelli
Mozzi in July 2020 in a tiny wedding in Windsor with only 20 guests. Regardless of the social
distancing measures in place at the time, the timing of the wedding was affected by
Andrew's scandal, and as such no plans were made to televise it or make it a public event.
By contrast, Andrew's other daughter, Princess Eugenie, enjoyed a large, televised wedding
in October 2018 — before Andrew's interview — at St George's Chapel in Windsor.
In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stunned the world when they announced that
they planned to step back from their royal duties. In a statement posted on Instagram,
the pair wrote:
"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially
independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."
The couple's struggles have been public ever since Meghan and Harry were interviewed for
the ITV documentary, Harry and Meghan: An African Journey, during which the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex revealed just a small taste of what they were going through.
With their duties doled out to other members of the royal family, Harry and Meghan became
free to collaborate with journalists of their own choosing and pursue private employment
— a privilege few royals have ever been afforded.
Wherever Queen Elizabeth was, her husband Prince Philip usually wasn't too far behind.
The couple spent more than 70 years together as husband and wife, so when Philip passed
away in April 2021, the dynamic of the modern royal family was changed forever.
A statement released from the palace shortly after said that the queen was experiencing
"deep sorrow" following the passing of her consort, and that she and the other members
of the royal family would be "join[ing] with people around the world in mourning his loss."
As a result of coronavirus restrictions in place at the time, Philip's funeral was an
understated affair. Only 30 people were in attendance, and the queen sat by herself for
the ceremony
The royal family is known for keeping a tight lid on their affairs, but that didn't stop
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from airing their grievances very publicly in March 2021.
In a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry and Meghan dropped bombshell after bombshell,
casting their time as senior royals in a very negative light indeed.
"And I just didn't… I just didn't want to be alive anymore."
Meghan revealed that she had felt suicidal while performing royal duties, and also claimed
that certain royals had made racist remarks regarding the tone of her unborn baby's skin.
"And you're not going to tell me who had that conversation?"
"I think that would be very damaging to them."
Meghan also said that the royal family jumped in and protected other family members who
were receiving negative press attention, but that the same courtesy was not extended to
her and Harry. Needless to say, the interview has changed just about everything for the
royals.
The palace released a statement after the interview, saying that the issues brought
up were "concerning." It also alluded to further tension between the two parties, mentioning
that:
"While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed
by the family privately."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Or Text HOME to the
Crisis Text Line 741741.