Scandalous affairs, messy divorces,
and international scandals. Which members of the royal family have angered the queen with
their behavior? Join us as we take a look at the troubled children of the royal family.
In his teen years, Prince Harry was known as a hard partier. He made headlines for
things like dressing up as a Nazi for a fancy dress party and partying naked in Las Vegas.
It wasn't until years later that Harry finally opened up about his past,
which was less about partying and more about coping, it turns out.
"28 to probably 32 was a nightmare time in my life."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for docuseries "The Me
You Can't See" on Apple TV+, Prince Harry explained,
"I would probably drink a week's worth in one day on a Friday or a Saturday night [...] And I would
find myself drinking not because I was enjoying it but because I was trying to mask something."
Prince Harry revealed that he was gravely affected by the trauma of losing his mother, telling Oprah,
"I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs.
I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling."
It was Meghan Markle that persuaded her husband to attend therapy and confront
his long-standing issues. Ironically, it was also his relationship with Meghan that
furthered his reputation as a problem child, when the couple abruptly announced that they
were leaving their positions as senior members of the royal family in early 2020.
Since Prince Harry stepped down from his role within the royal family, much of the focus has
been on what part his brother, Prince William, might have played in the Sussexes' departure. The
trouble allegedly started when Harry first started dating Meghan Markle. William reportedly urged his
brother against moving too fast with the actress, whom he allegedly referred to as "this girl." As
noted in the biography "Finding Freedom," Harry was apparently angered by his brother's comments.
While racist press surely pushed the Sussexes to leave their roles,
rumors suggest that William's treatment of Harry was the final nail in the coffin.
Royal expert Andrew Morton claimed in his book, "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess,"
"The Duchess of Cambridge's coolness toward Meghan, and William's alleged
bullying contributed to a devastating 'Cain and Abel' fallout between the brothers."
After Prince Philip's funeral in 2021, there was reportedly
visible tension between the siblings, with a source telling the Daily Mail,
"There they were, at each other's throats as fiercely as ever."
Prince Andrew's problems have been incredibly public, after he found himself embroiled in
legal troubles resulting from his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
During an appearance on BBC's "Panorama" in 2019, Virginia Giuffre claimed that Andrew
sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions when she was being trafficked by Epstein as a teenager.
She also brought a sexual abuse lawsuit against Andrew, and the prince reached an
out of court settlement with Giuffre in 2022.
"It was a really scary time in my life."
Queen Elizabeth, reportedly at the urging of Prince William and Charles,
ultimately decided to publicly distance herself from Andrew. As a result, the monarch rescinded
Andrew's royal patronages, military affiliations, public duties, and charitable initiatives.
As Queen Elizabeth II's eldest child, Prince Charles has been in the spotlight since birth,
and his personal life has always been a topic of debate. The public first soured
towards Charles in the '80s when he was married to Princess Diana,
but was proven to be in an illicit relationship with his ex Camilla Parker Bowles. The scandalous
affair reportedly damaged Charles' relationship with his mother too.
More recently, the queen has apparently expressed dismay at the way Charles handled Prince Harry's
departure from royal life. Describing it as "drama she could do without," a source told Us Weekly,
"With the way things are going, Charles may never forgive Harry, which hasn't gone down well with
Elizabeth [...] She feels that he's putting his pride before the best interest of the monarchy."
Just like her brother, Princess Anne had a messy divorce and was linked to a series of scandalous
affairs. In 1973, Anne married Mark Phillips, whom she met riding horses in Mexico. However,
both Anne and Phillips allegedly engaged in extramarital affairs during their marriage.
Anne is believed to have begun an affair with her bodyguard,
a man named Peter Cross, in 1979. And in 1989, it was revealed that Anne had been receiving
private letters from the queen's equerry, naval officer Commander Timothy Laurence.
Anne announced her separation from Phillips that same year, and in 1992, she wed Laurence.
As for Phillips, a 1991 DNA test confirmed that he had fathered a
child with a New Zealand school teacher in 1985, while married to the Princess Royal.
Though Anne eventually found happiness with her second husband, her divorce reportedly
deeply disappointed the queen, as did the marital splits of Princes Andrew and Charles.
Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Tindall, hasn't been without her own share of public scandal.
In 2011, Zara married Mike Tindall, a professional rugby player.
Within a few months, the union was reportedly in trouble, after Mike was caught on CCTV
getting cozy with a blonde woman at a bar in New Zealand, per the Daily Mail.
At first, Mike denied any wrongdoing, but he eventually confirmed he was the man in
the videos. Zara was reportedly upset, both by Mike's dishonesty
and what she saw as a betrayal by her friends, with a source telling the Daily Mail,
"He's surrounded by people who she probably knows and who she
might have expected to step in and tell him to behave himself."
Zara made the difficult decision to give her marriage another shot. Today, things seem to
have calmed down, but Mike is the first to admit that marriage isn't always easy. During ITV's
"Loose Men" special in 2021, he revealed that he likes to hug it out after a fight,
but his wife prefers to stay angry. However, he seems to be dedicated to making it work, saying,
"A marriage or long-term relationship can't always be roses and rainbows."
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