The 30 Most Insane Royal-Family PR Scandals

Edward VIII took the throne in 1936, but renounced it a year later so that he could marry Wallis Simpson. The American socialite was a two-time divorcee and when Edward proposed, there was social and political uproar. The Church of England forbade him from marrying a divorced woman, and he was forced to abdicate the throne. This massive royal scandal changed the line of succession entirely, ultimately, pre-determining that 10-year-old Princess Elizabeth would become the future Queen of England.

As fans of The Crown know, Queen Elizabeth II’s uncle Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson were known to have many encounters with Adolf Hitler. British intelligence had reason to believe that Simpson was handing over information to the Germans from documents that Edward VIII did not secure. The British government went to extensive measures to keep their companionship hidden, but a document published in 1957 confirmed it.

At the age of 14, Prince Charles ordered a cherry brandy at a pub in the village of Stornoway Harbor. Little did the prince know, there was a tabloid reporter in the pub who overheard him order. A seemingly innocent prince recalled in an interview for Vanity Fair, “I said the first drink that came into my head, because I’d drunk it before, when it was cold, out shooting.” The incident became a royal scandal, appearing in headlines on almost every tabloid.

After admitting to his father, Prince Charles, that he’d tried marijuana on numerous occasions and participated in underage drinking, the 17-year-old Prince Harry was sent to a drugs rehabilitation clinic for a one-day stay. An official at St. James’ Palace said it was a way “to learn about the possible consequences of starting to take cannabis.”

Photos of Prince Harry show him completely naked, playing a game of strip billiards in Las Vegas. The 27-year-old prince was on a break before he was set to serve in Afghanistan for the British Army. He said after the incident, “At the end of the day I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down. But it was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince. It’s a simple case of that.”

After her split from former lover Peter Townsend, Princess Margaret married a photographer named Antony Armstrong-Jones. In 1976 they made their official split and Buckingham Palace put out an announcement that said, "HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and the Earl of Snowdon have mutually agreed to live apart. The Princess will carry out her public duties and functions unaccompanied by Lord Snowdon. There are no plans for divorce proceedings.” Her very high-profile divorce became official in 1978, and she became the first (but, not the last) royal to get a divorce since King Henry VII in the 1500s.

Lady Sarah McCorquodale, who is Princess Diana’s eldest sister, is most famously known for having introduced her to Prince Charles. McCorquodale is said to have dated the prince briefly in the 70s. Their romance quickly ended when she expressed that she’d never marry Charles “if he were the dustman or the King of England.”

In 1995, Princess Diana did an interview with Martin Bashir to discuss the pressures of being in the public eye. While she spoke about her issues with bulimia and postpartum depression, the princess also revealed that she knew about Prince Charles and Camilla’s affair, and even talked about her own love affair with her riding instructor, James Hewitt. The shocking interview led to their divorce in August 1996.

Sarah Ferguson (AKA Fergie) was married to Prince Andrew, Duke of York in 1986. Fergie took a vacation with an American financial advisor named John Bryan, where paparazzi captured images of him nibbling on her toes. Fergie and Andrew were divorced in May 1996 (one month before Charles and Diana!).

In 2010, a journalist went undercover as a businessman and offered Fergie £500,00 (which is about $633,000) in exchange for information about her ex-husband Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The Guardian reported that Fergie said to the reporter, “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.” The Duchess later apologized claiming she had “a serious lapse in judgement.”

The Sun ran a topless photo of Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, just months before she was to marry Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Buckingham Palace condemned the paper, calling this act “a gross invasion of privacy.” The editor, David Yelland, apologized to Sophie saying they’d never publish another picture of her.

Kate Middleton and Prince William went vacationing in Provence, France and returned to find that a photographer had taken pictures of the Duchess sunbathing topless on private property. Buckingham Palace came to her defense and said, “Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them." Criminal charges have been brought against the publication and the photographer.

The Duchess has not caught on to the Queen’s trick of sewing weights into the hemline of her dress yet...though, she might have after this incident. Us Weekly reported that a German tabloid published photos of her after the wind sent her dress flying in the air, Marilyn Monroe-style. The palace did not comment on the decision to publish the photo.

In 2014, 17-year-old Virginia Roberts claimed she “was forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations." She accused the prince and his billionaire friend, Jeffrey Epstein of keeping her as a “sex slave.” Buckingham Palace denied these allegations, and later a judge decided that all allegations against Prince Andrew be struck from court records.

George V and Queen Mary had a sixth son named John. Due to epileptic seizures, Prince John spent the last four years of his life living hidden away in York Cottage at the Sandringham estate. The royal family believed his seizures could not be known to the public because it would show a sign of weakness. Prince John died in the cottage at the age of 13 after a tragic seizure. He would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s uncle.