30 Worst Royal Family Scandals of All Time
It's not all fun and games with the royal family. Queen Elizabeth is a direct descendant of King Alfred the Great, considered the first king of England. The royal family, then, has been in power since 871, more than a thousand years.
That's a long time, and during that time, there have plenty of royal scandals. No house has had as many as the current House of Windsor.
These are the most controversial royal family scandals in history.
30. The Princesses' Night Out
Year: 1945
Royal family members involved: Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
Why it was scandalous: When the Allies won World War II, everyone in England wanted to celebrate, including the royal princesses. Princess Elizabeth, then 19, and her sister, Princess Margaret, then 14, went out to celebrate with the commoners. At least those glitzy enough to party at the Ritz.
Elizabeth and Margaret enjoyed conga dancing and returned home at about 1 in the morning. It’s laughable to think that this was once considered a scandal, given all the real scandals that were to come.
But at the time, the idea of a future queen mingling and dancing with commoners was absolutely wild.
29. Buckingham Palace’s Faulty Security
Year: 1982
Royal family members involved: Queen Elizabeth
Why it was scandalous: In the early 1980s, a creeper named Michael Fagan decided to see if he could break into Buckingham Palace. It turns out that he actually could with surprisingly little effort, breaking in twice and even going into Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom.
Though Fagan didn’t cause any harm, having a strange man break into your bedroom is a traumatizing experience, no matter who you are.
The moment was a public scandal that mostly put palace security at shame and threw open the vulnerability of one of England’s most important symbols.
28. Prince Andrew’s Inappropriate Date
Year: 1982
Royal family members involved: Prince Andrew
Why it was scandalous: In 1992, Prince Andrew — the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who’d prove to be the sketchiest of their children — brought home Kathleen Stark to meet his mother.
Though Stark, known as "Koo" was an American, this isn’t what the often ethnocentric British public has issues with. Rather, they labeled her as a soft-core adult movie star actress, which caused a public uproar.
Koo has since won lawsuits over what she claims is libel. The actress claims that she has never been involved in the adult movie industry. Rather, the press labeled her as such because she starred in a film called "Emily," which centered around the character’s sexual awakening.
27. Prince Harry’s Paternity Rumors
Year: 1995-present
Royal family members involved: Princess Diana, Prince Harry
Why it was scandalous: It is well known that Princess Diana had an affair with an army officer named James Hewitt (a controversial moment that appears further down this list). This has led to persistent rumors that Hewitt, not Prince Charles, is Prince Harry’s actual father. It doesn’t help that Hewitt is also red-haired, which has only added fuel to the gossip.
There is no evidence for this theory, and Hewitt has claimed that the prince was already a toddler when his relationship with Princess Diana began. However, this hasn't stopped people from speculating.
26. Prince Harry’s Wild Youth
Year: Early to mid-2000s
Royal family members involved: Prince Harry
Why it was scandalous: Prince Harry was deemed a "wild child" by the media throughout much of his youth, and the press didn't mind the scandals he provided. This included a one-day stint in rehab in 2002 — an incredibly silly PR stunt.
He also had a reputation for partying and womanizing. He was caught playing strip poker in Las Vegas in 2012, when nude photos of him were leaked. Of course, taking non-consensual nude photos of someone and then publishing them seems worse than partying in Vegas, but the tabloids had people blaming him.
Another scandalous moment happened in 2004, when Harry allegedly got into a physical fight with the paparazzi. Given the role leech-like paparazzi had in his mother’s death and how terrible they are in general, we’ll admit we’re on his side on this one.
25. The Violation of Kate Middleton’s Privacy
Year: 2012
Royal family members involved: The Duchess of Cambridge
Why it was scandalous: Just like Prince Harry in the Vegas scandal, Kate Middleton was the victim of photographers incapable of human decency. In her case, the paparazzi got pictures of her sunbathing topless and subsequently published them in Closer Magazine.
The Duchess was topless in a private vacation home with no one around but her husband, yet people came out to criticize her rather than the creeps that think it’s OK to post pictures like this without consent.
Luckily, Prince William and her were able to sue Closer and won more than $100,000 in damages.
24. Prince Andrew’s Separation
Year: 1992
Royal family members involved: Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson
Why it was scandalous: 1992 proved to be one of the worst years for the royal family in terms of scandal. The queen has even dubbed it her "Annus Horribilis." Though the rest of the events that made it terrible appear higher up the list, one of those events was Prince Andrew’s separation from Sarah Ferguson.
The most scandalous part wasn’t the separation itself, but rather the events that surrounded it. That year, The Sun published photographs of Ferguson apparently getting her toes sucked by her financial advisor.
Some claim he was kissing them, but the undeniable truth is that her feet were near his mouth and that they were having an affair.
23. Princess Margaret’s Photographs
Year: 1959, 1967
Royal family members involved: Princess Margaret, Antony Armstrong Jones
Why it was scandalous: For her 29th birthday, Princess Margaret had future husband Antony Armstrong Jones photograph her with bare shoulders wearing a diamond necklace and earrings. The photograph is tame by modern standards but was extremely improper at the time, given that it showed too much of the princess’ skin.
Eight years later, Armstrong Jones, then married to the princess, took a similar photograph that made her look almost naked. The second photograph didn’t cause quite as much stir as the first one, but it did not go unnoticed either.
22. Captain Mark Phillips’ Illegitimate Child
Year: 1991
Royal family members involved: Captain Mark Phillips
Why it was scandalous: A year before the aforementioned annus horribilis, Princess Anne’s husband was wrapped in an infidelity scandal on his own.
In 1985, Mark Phillips fathered a child with a teacher in New Zealand. The teacher, Heather Tonkin, went to the press, allegedly wanting Phillips to acknowledge her child after he stopped providing financial support.
Princess Anne’s marriage already had been rocky for a while and this revelation, as well as the public humiliation for her and the royal family that it brought, did not help.
21. Sarah Ferguson’s Bribe
Year: 2010
Royal family members involved: Sarah Ferguson
Why it was scandalous: Sarah Ferguson managed to put herself in the tabloids a good 18 years after her divorce from Prince Andrew. This time, for accepting a bribe.
In 2010, undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood secretly recorded a meeting in which he offered about $700,000 for access to Prince Andrew. In the recording, Ferguson tells him that she will get him everything that he needs.
While she apologized for her lapse of judgement, we have a hard time believing that this was the first — or last — time this happened.
20. Princess Margaret’s Engagement to Peter Townsend
Year: 1953
Royal family members involved: Princess Margaret
Why it was scandalous: Engagements are usually joyous news, but Princess Margaret’s first engagement, which never came to a marriage, was a scandal.
First of all, the princess had her heart set on marrying Captain Peter Townsend, one of her equerries and a commoner. Though the practice is normalized now, it was basically unheard of at the time. Townsend was also recently divorced, which meant that the marriage was against the Church of England, whose head is none other than Queen Elizabeth.
There was also speculation of infidelity, since Townsend divorced his wife and proposed to Princess Margaret in the same year. The engagement was dissolved two years later.
19. Princess Anne’s Divorce
Year: 1992
Royal family members involved: Princess Anne
Why it was scandalous: We already know Princess Anne’s ex-husband had a one-night stand that resulted in an illegitimate child. This compounded into further scandal when it led to divorce.
But the tabloids got another ready-made story when the princess announced almost immediately that she was going to marry Timothy Laurence. In a perfect example of cyclical family history, Laurence was her equerry. Unlike her unfortunate aunt, Princess Anne got to marry him, thanks to a change of attitudes about divorce and marrying commoners.
However, the moment still fanned the flames of gossip, since a 1989 series of leaked letters had alleged an affair between the princess and Laurence, which was all but officially confirmed with their engagement.
18. Prince Philip's Alleged Infidelity
Year: 1948
Royal family members involved: Prince Philip
Why it was scandalous: If you’ve ever seen the hit series, "The Crown," then you know that the late Prince Philip is assumed to have been a prolific adulterer.
The truth is that, unlike with his children, there are no confirmed affairs. That hasn’t stopped rumors from circulating, especially surrounding a 1948 affair with Pat Kirkwood, an actress, singer and dancer.
Though both have denied the affair, the rumor heavily damaged Kirkwood’s career.
17. Princess Margaret’s Affair
Year: 1976
Royal family members involved: Princess Margaret
Why it was scandalous: After Princess Margaret's engagement to Townsend fell through, she married the man who would take controversial pictures of her for a couple of decades. However, their marriage was tumultuous with Antony Armstrong Jones having several affairs.
There was much more public outcry, however, when the princess had a highly publicized affair in 1976. A paparazzi (they really are the worst) managed to get pictures of the princess and her lover on the Caribbean island of Mustique.
The two were subsequently photographed together several times, as the affair continued for years despite the scandal.
16. Princess Margaret’s Divorce
Year: 1978
Royal family members involved: Princess Margaret, Antony Armstrong Jones
Why it was scandalous: Two years after her affair with Roddy Llewelly was made public, Princess Margaret did something that no member of the royal family had done since 1542: She got divorced.
That’s right. Henry VIII’s hot mess of a love life was so traumatic to the royal family (and the rest of England) that no royal had gotten divorced since he had made it legal in order to marry Anne Boelyn, whom he later beheaded.
Taking this into account, you can see how shocking this moment was at the time. It also set precedence for a great number of subsequent royal divorces.
15. Princess Michael of Kent's Racism Scandals
Year: 2004, 2017
Royal family members involved: Princess Michael of Kent
Why it was scandalous: Only hardcore followers of the royal family even know who she is, but Princess Michael of Kent, the wife of the queen’s cousin, has been at the center of several racism scandals.
The most recent scandal was in 2017, when she wore a blackamoor brooch to a dinner where she would be meeting Meghan Markle. Many saw the choice of the racially charged brooch as an affront to Markle.
The conclusion was also drawn because she had been involved in a 2004 scandal where she allegedly shouted at a group of Black diners in a restaurant to go back to the colonies. Her defense? She had told them to remember the colonies, which she somehow thought would be better.
What’s worse, she tried to deny her racism by saying she once pretended to be half-Black, which turned into a scandal itself.
14. Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla’s Wedding
Year: 2005
Royal family members involved: Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla
Why it was scandalous: The world is somewhat used to Prince Charles and Duchess Camila being a couple now, though "The Crown" certainly did not help the couple’s public image. In 2005, many still remembered the media storm that followed the reveal of the couple’s affair, which will be explained further down the list.
After meeting in the 1970s, and spending almost three decades trying and failing to be together, the couple officially tied the knot in 2005. Charles became the first crown prince in British history to ever remarry after a divorce.
The Duchess was not allowed the usual title of princess seemingly out of respect for the late Princess Diana.
13. The KGB Spy Secret
Year: 1979
Royal family members involved: Queen Elizabeth
Why it was scandalous: Anthony Blunt was a Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures and a former KGB spy. He confessed to passing secret information to the Soviets during World War II.
Though there is no evidence that he provided intelligence to the KGB during his time working with the royal family, the queen decided to keep this a secret after it was revealed to her. The logic, it’s assumed, was that it would put British intelligence and palace security in public ridicule.
Ridicule still came when Margaret Thatcher found out about this and made a public declaration that not only outed Blunt but also the queen. Thatcher threw the queen under the bus, disclosing that she had known about Blunt and kept it a secret to save face. We’re not ones to praise Thatcher, but in this case, she was right.
12. Hiding Disabled Members of the Royal Family
Year: 1986, 2003
Royal family members involved: George V and Queen Mary, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth
Why it was scandalous: Powerful families used to think that it was OK to simply hide members who were mentally or physically disabled. The royal family was no exception to this, with several extended and immediate members sent away to institutions or kept locked inside closed walls.
One famous example of this is the queen’s uncle, Prince John, who was sent away to Sandringham House after he was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 4. He was kept out of the public eye until he died at age 13.
Similarly, three of the Queen Mother’s cousins, Rosemary, Etheldreda, and Ideona Bowes-Lyon and two of Queen Elizabeth’s cousins, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, were sent to institutions for mental disabilities.
They were kept completely from the public eye and presumed dead until a reporter found Nerissa’s grave in 1987. The grave was marked by a plastic tag, which outraged the public.
11. Queen Elizabeth’s Tax Scandal
Year: 2017
Royal family members involved: Queen Elizabeth
Why it was scandalous: In 2017, the so-called "Paradise Papers" were leaked, revealing that several prominent figures owned illegal offshore investments to evade taxes. One of those figures was Queen Elizabeth.
The queen reportedly had around $13.1 million in these funds. British people, especially anti-monarchists were understandably livid. Though the queen is not legally required to pay taxes for all her income, she "voluntarily" does and is expected to.
Taxpayers were definitely not happy with the news.
10. Prince Harry’s Nazi Costume
Year: 2005
Royal family members involved: Prince Harry
Why it was scandalous: He may be a media darling now, but in 2005, Harry was caught at a party wearing a Nazi German Afrika Korps costume that prominently displayed a swastika. It’s not just the costume that was incredibly horrifying, but the party’s theme "Colonials and Natives."
The scandal highlighted the royal’s not-so-secret pride in their colonialist past and continues to be one of the things Prince Harry is constantly called out on.
9. Megxit
Year: 2020
Royal family members involved: The former Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Why it was scandalous: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially stepped back from their royal roles in 2020. This caused a storm of media speculation and numerous theories as to how and why this would have happened.
But, of course, anyone following the British media already knew that the pair had been heavily targeted and that their relationship with the royal family was strained.
The couple revealed what caused the so-called "Megxit" in an even more scandalous moment. The event received its name because it was largely and unfairly seen as Meghan Markle’s fault.
8. Squidgygate
Year: 1992
Royal family members involved: Princess Diana
Why it was scandalous: Now we’re back to yet another event of 1992, the annus horribilis.
During this year, media outlets somehow got their hands on a private conversation between Diana and her alleged lover, James Gilbey. In the conversation, Gilbey called Princess Diana "Squidgy" more than 50 times, which gave the scandal its unusual name.
The princess denied that the conversation was romantic, though the nickname seemed to imply otherwise.
7. Camillagate
Year: 1992
Royal family members involved: Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla
Why it was scandalous: As bad a Squidgygate was, what followed it was even worse. "Camillagate," which was also called "Tampon-gate," saw the same thing happen to Princess Diana’s confirmed adulterous husband and his now-wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.
At the time, both were still married to their partners, and the conversation is irrefutably romantic in nature. The recording was actually from 1989, when a radio enthusiast reportedly intercepted the conversation by mistake and recorded it after recognizing Prince Charles.
The most mortifying part isn’t even the fact that he’s cheating on Princess Diana — though that’s bad — but that he mentions wanting to live in Camilla’s "trousers," jokingly saying that with his luck, he’d come back as a tampon rather than her underwear.
6. Lady Diana’s BBC Interview
Year: 1995
Royal family members involved: Lady Diana
Why it was scandalous: After Squidgygate and Camillagate, the whole world knew the crown prince’s marriage was over, but it wasn’t officially ended until 1995.
This year, Diana gave what is considered a bombshell interview that detailed all the horrible things she had endured after marrying Prince Charles. This included feeling jealous and neglected as she was aware of the prince’s affair with Camilla. She also talked about developing an eating disorder and being refused help from anyone in the family. As the cherry on top, she confessed to her own infidelity.
After the interview, the queen finally gave Prince Charles her blessing for a divorce and effectively kicked Princess Diana out of the royal family.
5. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah Interview
Year: 2021
Royal family members involved: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
Why it was scandalous: In another example of how history repeats itself, Meghan Markle sat down to give a bombshell interview of her own. In her case, however, the interview happened after she and Prince Harry had stepped down as senior royals, and her husband participated in part of it.
In the interview, the couple explained to Oprah why they had left the royal family. Like Diana, Markle felt ostracized by the royal family and did not receive support when she told them that her mental health was suffering. She and Prince Harry also claimed that members of the royal family had been concerned about their son Archie’s skin color.
Since the interview, people have come out to support the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex, with a special interest in Meghan Markle.
4. Prince Andrew’s Ties to Jeffrey Epstein
Year: 2019
Royal family members involved: Prince Andrew
Why it was scandalous: Yes, Megxit was important, but few things can overshadow the scandal that surrounded Prince Andrew — though the royal family has certainly done their best to sweep it under the rug.
The queen’s son was close friends with sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. One of Epstein victims claims to have been forced into sexual acts with the prince when she was still underage.
The prince denies claims he willingly gave a BBC interview in 2019 where he said he didn’t regret his friendship with the sex trafficker because of the connections they were able to make. He also gave questionable alibis to argue against his allegations. The interview caused such a scandal that he stepped away from his royal duties afterward.
3. The Queen’s Silence After Princess Diana’s Tragic Death
Year: 1997
Royal family members involved: Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth
Why it was scandalous: Princess Diana’s tragic death is one of the darkest moments in royal family history. When the accident, caused by the paparazzi happened, the royal family retreated to their private home in Scotland to grieve away from the public eye.
Modern readers might feel that this is fair, especially considering that her sons were only 15 and 12, but the public was not happy at the time. Given that the queen’s animosity toward Princess Diana was public knowledge after the 1995 interview, the public saw this as yet another snub against the people’s princess.
The British public was so enraged that the royal family’s popularity reached an all-time low, with one in four citizens supporting the abolition of the monarchy. Because of this, the queen gave a public statement some days after the accident, and the funeral procession was highly televised and public.
2. King Edward VIII’s Abdication
Year: 1936
Royal family members involved: The Duke of Windsor
Why it was scandalous: The abdication of a king is an extremely shocking event, since most people fight to be in power rather than to let it go. King Edward VIII’s decision rocked British society and changed the course of history. If not for his abdication, Queen Elizabeth would never have been more than a member of the extended royal family.
William was known as the Duke of Windsor after his abdication, and the reason for his move has been highly romanticized because he did it in order to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite. In the 1930s, the head of the Church of England was not allowed to marry someone who was divorced. The fact that she was a commoner and an American made it even worse.
This may seem like a romantic story you should swoon about, but there was nothing admirable about them. And their affair wasn't even the most controversial thing about their relationship.
1. Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson Were Nazi Sympathizers
Year: 1937, 1957
Royal family members involved: The Duke of Windsor
Why it was scandalous: Soon after he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, the Duke of Windsor and his wife went to visit Hitler in Nazi Germany. The two privately met with him and reportedly gave the Nazi salute. Lest anyone say this was before the war and the events of the Holocaust, we’ll remind you that Hitler and the Nazi Party were outspokenly anti-Semitic from the beginning.
But that’s not where the couple’s Nazi ties end. In 1957, secret files were published that revealed that the duke had actively planned to collaborate with the Nazis during the war. It is believed that he was promised to be reinstated as the king if Germany won the war.
What’s worse, the royal family knew. As punishment, his brother, now king, sent him on a luxurious retreat to the Bahamas. Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill also knew of the papers and both chose to hide them from the British public.
To make matters worse, the Nazi-sympathizing couple lived out the remainder of their lives as socialites in Paris, courtesy of British taxpayers.