In William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, the king of England famously laments: “Uneasy is the head that wears a crown.” Although it is difficult to be a leader, it is also equally hard to be related to a sovereign. Both the monarch and their family members are held to high standards without much grace or freedom. This can be suffocating and cause people to act out.
From affairs to abdications, the Windsors are not immune to family drama. The British royal family has seen its members cracking from the pressure of it all. The 10 royal scandals on this list prove that wearing a crown or tiara does not make you perfect. Sometimes, it actually leads to very public missteps.
King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
Queen Elizabeth II was never supposed to be on the throne. Her uncle King Edward VIII was ruler and her father was considered the spare. This all changed in 1936, however, when Edward abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. Elizabeth’s father became King George VI, putting young Elizabeth next in line for the throne. Another royal scandal committed by Edward and Wallis was their proximity to the Nazi Party before World War II broke out.
Princess Margaret’s affair
Elizabeth’s life was not the only one impacted by the abdication. Her younger sister Margaret’s world also drastically changed. Margaret struggled to find her footing in the royal family. She didn’t love being second fiddle and had a disastrous love life. Elizabeth blocked her from marrying Group Captain Peter Townsend in the church because he was divorced. Margaret decided to put duty over love and ended the relationship. She married Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. This marriage ended when she had an affair with a much-younger gardener.
More from CafeMom: Scandalous Photos of Princess Margaret Are Rumored To Have Been Stolen in a 1971 Robbery
Prince Phillip's big mouth
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were married on November 20, 1947. Much like Margaret, it was not easy for him to be in her shadow. There were many rumors of alleged affairs over the years. Outside of the bedroom, he constantly put his foot in his mouth.
He visited China in 1986 and gave a racist warning to a British student. “If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes,” he declared. He told the president of Nigeria that he looked like he was “ready for bed.” The head of state was wearing traditional robes. He told a 13-year-old boy he was “too fat to be an astronaut.” Sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut.
The 'tampongate' scandal
Back when he was just a prince, Charles wasn’t always lucky in love. He married Diana Spencer in 1981 even though his heart longed for Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles and Diana separated in 1992. The following year ,Sunday People and Sunday Mirror published a transcript of a spicy private call between Charles and Camilla. During their conversation, the lovers joked that Charles should be a tampon inside Camilla. This call was recorded in 1989 while the lovers were married to other people. It confirmed their affair, tarnished their reputation, and made many question Charles’ ability to rule.
Fergie’s toes
King Charles is the eldest of four. His siblings have also caused royal scandals over the years. Prince Andrew married Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson in 1986. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. The same year the couple separated, naughty photos of Sarah and her financial adviser John Bryan were published in the Daily Mirror. In the snaps, it appeared as if John was sucking Sarah’s toes. John maintains he was just kissing them. Either way it caused a royal scandal.
Prince Andrew's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein
Prince Andrew is believed to have been Queen Elizabeth’s favorite child. His friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was problematic to the crown, to say the least. This first came to light in 2010 when photos of the buddies walking in Central Park were released. Virginia Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey in 2015 and claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three different occasions. Andrew denied these claims and gave a disastrous BBC interview in 2019.
The backlash from his attempt to repair his reputation caused him to step down as a working royal. In 2021, Virginia sued Andrew for his role in her sexual abuse. The parties ended up settling the following year. Elizabeth also stripped Andrew of his royal and military titles that same year.
Prince Harry's Halloween costume
Royal scandals are not just for the older generations. The millennial Windsors have also been in hot water. In 2005, when Prince Harry was 21, he attended a Halloween party as a Nazi soldier with a swastika armband. Someone at the party took a photo and sold it to the media. Harry apologized for his lack of judgment. “I am very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize,” he stated at the time. He met with the head rabbi of London afterward and traveled to Berlin to speak with a Holocaust survivor.
The incident has stayed with Harry. In 2022, he called it “one of the biggest mistakes of my life.” He also touches on it in his memoir Spare. “When I saw those photos, I recognized immediately that my brain had been shut off, that perhaps it had been shut off for some time,” he recalled.
Megxit
In January of 2020, Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle took to Instagram to announce they would be decreasing their royal duties, splitting their time between the UK and North America, and become financially independent from the Crown. A speedy family meeting which became known as the “Sandringham Summit” took place a week after the announcement. It was decided that Harry and Meghan would completely step down as working royals and no longer use the “Royal Highness” moniker. The couple was given a 12-month review period in case they wanted to come back, but that never happened.
Prince William’s alleged affair
In 2019, rumors began circulating that Prince William had an affair. His alleged mistress was Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. Rose and Kate had been good friends, making matters worse. Rose denied these claims via her lawyer in 2024.
Missing Kate
In January of 2024, Kensington Palace made a surprising announcement. Kate Middleton had undergone a successful “planned abdominal surgery” and would not be carrying out royal duties until Easter so she could fully recover. The public went crazy trying to figure out what was going on.
Conspiracy theories hit an all-time high when a heavily photoshopped picture of the Princess of Wales with her three kids was released by the palace. Kate broke her silence in March of the same year to reveal she was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer and was undergoing treatment for it.