The Biggest Royal Scandals Of All Time

In the royals‘ lives, not everything is always as well-behaved as we might think. Several Royal families already had to cope with different kinds of scandals. We are going to show you the biggest Scandals the royals had to face in recent history…

King Edward VIII gave up the throne so that he could marry American Socialite Wallis Simpson. He had fallen hard for Simpson the year he became King but was not permitted to marry her by the Church of England because she was divorced two times over to he renounced his royal position and married her. 

This wild move ultimately changed the Royal line of succession forever, and ensuring that 10-year-old Elizabeth (at the time) would become the future Queen!

The Queen's sister Princess Margaret was also a tabloid headline attractor. She first drove the media wild when she fell for married Royal Air Force Officer Peter Townsend. Peter divorced his wife to marry Princess Margaret but sadly they split two years into their royal engagement. Spicy Margaret later married photographer Antony Armstrong Jones in 1960 and divorced in 1978. She was the very first Royal family member to get a divorce since King Henry VII in the 1500s!

One thing is for sure – the Queen was not amused when she found out about Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s separation in 1992.Prince Charles and beloved Princess Diana's marriage was wrought with scandal, like Charles blatantly cheating with friend and also married Camilla Parker-Bowles and Diana throwing herself down the stairs while pregnant with William when Charles reignited his affair with Camilla. Then of course the leaked sexual phone calls rocked Buckingham palace!

Prince Andrew's wife Sarah Ferguson split in 1992 when "Fergie" was caught in compromising photographs with her financial advisor who was licking her toes! Ouch!

Later Sarah was also swindled by an undercover journalist who offered "Fergie" £500,000 for information about her ex-husband to which she accepted hook line and sinker! According to The Guardian, "Fergie" told the journalist "That opens up everything you would ever wish for. I can open any door you want and I will for you. Look after me and he'll look after you... you'll get it back tenfold. Sarah later claimed she made "a serious lapse in judgment."

The Queen's only daughter Princess Anne had been married to Olympic equestrian Mark Phillips for almost 20 years when Mark's illegitimate love child was discovered. Captain Mark Phillips had a one-night stand with a New Zealand teacher Heather Tonkin and she became pregnant with Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips half-sister.

On top of that, Princess Anne announced that she would be divorcing Mark and marrying a member of her staff, Timothy Laurence, a British Naval Officer!

Prince Andrew has been a source of royal scandal a few times...

Once Prince Andrew introduced his soft-core adult film actress girlfriend Kathleen "Koo" Stark to his mother Queen Elizabeth without her knowledge of his girlfriend's career. 

After his wife's affair Prince Andrew made headlines again in 2017 when his connection with Jeffrey Epstein came to light and allegations from underage girls Andrew had allegedly been with came forward. In 2019 he did a disastrous interview with the BBC regarding his friendship and connection to convicted and now deceased pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. He made such a mess of things that his public relations professional quit and he was forced to step down from royal duties for the time being.

Recently, photos were published of Jeffrey Epstein's right-hand woman and accused sex-trafficking aide Ghislaine Maxwell and Kevin Spacey sitting on the Royal Thrones! Allegedly, Prince Andrew who was friends with Ghislaine and Epstein coordinated the two to be able to enter the premises.

RELATED CONTENT: The Ghislaine Maxwell-Kevin Spacey Royal Thrones Photograph Explained

A biography about Carl Gustav of Sweden revealed several dark secrets about the King involving sex clubs, strippers, affairs, bribery, the list goes on and on. Nevertheless, his wife, Queen Silvia, never wavered and had his back all the way!

Gorgeous Prince Harry was the wrench thrown into the mix. The endlessly fun wild child went through scandal after scandal in his heyday. Whether it was being photographed naked, in an offensive costume, making out with his girlfriends, being photographed with strippers, or his single day rehab stint for simply trying cannabis, Harry was a tabloid headline magnet.

Even the Norwegian Prince Royal Haakon was in the headlines in the past. When marrying Mette-Marit, she also brought her illegitimate son with her, causing a big controversy about the couple and what it meant to the crown. Fortunately, in the end, the couple‘s love and happiness was much more important than any royal rules and conventions.