Only One Royal Family Member Has "Never Really Been Burned by the Tabloids," Says Royal Biographer

"After all the family dramas the House of Windsor have endured, it is surely a point of wonder."

The Royal Family gathers on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
(Image credit: Getty Images)

As public figures, members of the Royal Family have regularly found themselves the subject of tabloid stories and rumors. However, there appears to be just one Royal Family member who escaped tabloid evisceration, and has managed to remain relatively unscathed.

Writing in his book, The Last Queen: Elizabeth II's 70 Year Battle to Save the House of Windsor, Clive Irving noted, "After all the family dramas the House of Windsor (and we) have endured, it is surely a point of wonder that The Queen was the one person in the family who had never really been burned by the tabloids."

Irving continued, "She remained the calm stoic at the center of many storms. And the greatest storm of her life since [World War II] came, as it did to all of us, stealthily, invisibly, and lethally. With her government and her country struggling to contain and defeat a ravaging modern plague, [COVID-19], The Queen was called upon to bring her own uniquely calming qualities to her people."

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Queen Elizabeth wearing a blue coat and hat smiling during the Platinum Jubilee

"The Queen was the one person in the family who had never really been burned by the tabloids."

(Image credit: Getty Images)

According to Irving, Elizabeth's 2020 speech regarding COVID-19 was a poignant moment, which combined all of her many strengths.

"[S]he embodied the full span of her years as the connecting tissue between one time of mortal terror and another, in a speech to the nation," the biographer shared.

Queen Elizabeth smiling and wearing sunglasses

"She remained the calm stoic at the center of many storms."

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While most modern royals have faced scandals and difficulties, many of which have been covered extensively by the press, Queen Elizabeth appears to have avoided any such pitfall. Instead, the late monarch is largely remembered very positively.

Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.