Illicit phone calls, rumored affairs, allegations of racism, and offensive costume parties.
The royal family is continually in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons!
Keep watching for some royal scandals that had the world's attention.
It's impossible to talk about royal scandals without mentioning Prince Andrew. Although he is
currently ninth in line to the throne, Andrew has always socialized with a so-called elite crowd.
In recent years, the prince came under fire for socializing with convicted sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein. This came to a head when, as reported by The New York Times,
Prince Andrew was accused of raping a minor, who had been trafficked by Epstein, in 2001.
"He knows what happened."
Andrew addressed his relationship with Epstein in a 2019 sit-down with the BBC.
However, the interview only sparked further outrage about his alleged behavior.
As the accusations became more severe and the prince faced legal proceedings,
Queen Elizabeth II stripped her son of his military titles and royal patronages.
As a result, he was forced to retreat from life as a public member of the royal family.
In March 2022, the BBC reported that Prince Andrew had decided to pay a financial settlement
to his accuser Virginia Giuffre, which formally ended the civil case she'd brought against him.
Although the exact amount of the settlement has not been revealed,
The Times speculated that it could be as much as $12 million.
The public has been fascinated with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship from
the very beginning. As a divorcee and a biracial American with an established acting career,
Meghan was not a typical royal spouse.
It's safe to say that she shook the royal family and the establishment to its core
when she married Prince Harry. And when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that
they were stepping back from their roles as senior members of the royal family,
everyone was speechless. In a statement sharing their decision, the Sussexes explained,
"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."
At the time, it was widely reported that the
couple didn't consult the palace before the announcement was made,
reportedly leaving the queen and other members of the family disappointed. After a short stay
in Canada, Meghan and Harry decided to start a new life in Los Angeles.
Not many would have predicted that Princess Diana would become embroiled in so many scandals.
One of the most indecent pieces of royal news came when a private phone call between Diana and
her rumored lover James Gilbey was leaked to the press. A transcript of the phone call made its way
to tabloid newspaper The Sun, and its editors knew that they had stumbled upon something truly wild.
The phone call started off with Diana airing her grievances about the royal family.
Then, the pair moved on to discuss normal subjects such as clothing,
society, and their mutual friends. But then things started to get a little questionable.
Gilbey kept calling Diana "darling" and "Squidgy" over and over again,
and at one point, the two seemed to make kissing noises towards each other. The man on the other
end of the phone even said to the princess, "Kiss me, please," among other explicit references.
The Sun's royal correspondent revealed that he and his team were mesmerized by the recording,
and knew they had a scoop on their hands. Unsurprisingly,
the recording of the phone call was later dubbed "Squidgygate."
Not too long after "Squidgygate" was released, news of "Camillagate" broke.
A similarly recorded phone call, this time between Prince Charles and his
long-rumored mistress Camilla Parker Bowles, was shared with the public.
From suggesting that he wanted to "fill" Camilla's tank to musing about becoming a tampon or a pair
of pants, the recorded conversation was less than flattering for everyone involved.
In retrospect, Charles is said to regret the phone call, with royal biographer Howard
Hodgson suggesting that the prince views the conversation through a negative lens.
In his book, "Charles: The Man Who Will Be King," Hodgson wrote,
"[Charles] remains deeply ashamed of the embarrassment that he caused his mother,
deeply sorry for the pain it caused both his and Camilla's children [...] He knows that
people not sympathetic to him or the monarchy will recall it at the time of his coronation
and at all other meaningful moments in his life."
Basically, if you're a member of the royal family,
it's worth triple checking that your phone calls aren't being tapped.
Though she tragically died in 1997, Diana Spencer's influence on the royal family is
very much alive and well today. Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, are determined to
keep their mother's memory alive, and they've regularly defended her honor. Perhaps the best
example of this is the fallout regarding Diana's 1995 interview with the BBC's Martin Bashir.
In the scandalous sit-down interview, Princess Diana made her feelings about the royal family
and her fractured relationship with Prince Charles clear.
During the interview, Diana famously referenced Charles' affair, saying,
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
At the time, it was truly remarkable for a member of the royal family to be so transparent
on camera, and the interview has been seen as a benchmark of royal scandal ever since.
However, in recent years, Diana's interview has been at the center of growing controversy.
Shockingly, it was discovered that Bashir had used falsified documents to convince the
princess to be interviewed in the first place. The BBC was forced to admit that the interview
did not live up to the high standards the news organization sets for itself. Both William and
Harry released statements defending their mother, and calling for change at the BBC.
"The interview was a major contribution
to making my parents' relationship worse, and has since hurt countless others."
There's nothing more cringe-worthy than a celebrity's estranged family
coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of the spotlight. However,
that's arguably what happened in the lead up to Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry.
Firstly, Meghan's now-estranged father, Thomas Markle, reportedly arranged for
paparazzi pictures to be taken of him shortly before the wedding was set to take place.
Despite Thomas telling the press that he didn't want to be in the spotlight,
his actions seemed to tell a very different story. Thomas was photographed trying on suits, and
reading a book about England in a coffee shop, in a thinly-veiled effort to rehabilitate his image.
"First of all, the rumors about a photo scandal were just that. They were rumors."
There was also a slew of familial drama surrounding the big day,
and Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle, has been bashing the duchess ever since.
Unfortunately, Meghan's father never made it across the pond for the royal wedding, pulling out
of the wedding at the last minute due to "medical reasons." Prince Charles stepped in to walk the
bride down the aisle, but her family drama must have weighed heavy on Meghan on her big day.
Prince Harry's life has not been free from scandal,
and the royal certainly made some mistakes when he was younger.
Perhaps one of the worst was when he decided to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party.
As reported by The New York Times, a 20-year-old Harry was photographed
wearing the shocking outfit while holding a cigarette. Understandably,
people all over the globe were shocked and offended by the prince's choice of outfit.
Prince Harry released a statement shortly after the incident, saying,
"[I'm] very sorry if I caused any offense or
embarrassment to anyone. [...] It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."
Of the incident, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair weighed in, with his office remarking,
"Clearly an error was made. That has been recognized by Harry, and I think
it is better that this matter continues to be dealt with by (Buckingham) Palace."
It seems as though extramarital affairs are a dime a dozen in the royal family.
However, when rumors of marital trouble between Prince William and Kate Middleton arose, things
got messy. Per Yahoo! News, whispers surrounding William's love life popped up on people's radars
when it was alleged that he was having an affair with Rose Hanbury, one of his wife's friends.
What made the rumors even worse was the suggestion that William allegedly
conducted the affair while Kate was pregnant with their third child,
Prince Louis. However, it's unclear as to whether there was any truth to the rumors.
Yahoo! News reported that there was an alleged "falling out" between Kate and Rose.
It was also suggested that William and Kate decided to phase Rose and
her husband out of their lives altogether. Further adding fuel to the fire, William
sprang into action to bury the story before it turned into a full blown tabloid scandal.
Despite his efforts, and legal threats to British publications,
the rumors about William's affair hit the United States and, of course,
the internet. While the relationship has never been confirmed, it's worth
mentioning that Rose's family has reportedly been connected to the royals ever since the 1940s,
so it definitely would've taken something big to ostracize the Hanburys from royal circles.
It's an understatement to say that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's infamous interview with Oprah
Winfrey revealed some shocking information about the royal family. As they told Winfrey,
the couple faced intense media scrutiny, a lack of support within the royal family, racism, and more.
One of the most shocking elements of the interview was Meghan's admission that she was suicidal
while working as a senior member of the royal family. Meghan explained that she was ashamed
to tell her husband what she was going through, particularly as he had already dealt with so much
loss in his life. However, she realized that she needed help and found the strength to tell him.
"I just didn't want to be alive anymore."
Another shocking moment in the couple's interview came when it was revealed that
the color of Archie's skin was questioned by an unnamed royal family member.
Meghan and Harry have refused to reveal which member of the family made the comments.
"And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."
Oprah was visibly shocked by Meghan's words, which understandably sparked
some intense debate about the prevalence of institutionalized racism inside the royal family.
Without a doubt, the couple's interview with Oprah started some important conversations.