15 Scandalous Facts About Queen Elizabeth II and Her Family

When it comes to the Royal family, they are always under the scrutiny of the public eye. Little they say or do goes unnoticed. Whether it’s a kind gesture or something a little more—scandalous, everything is noted, published, discussed, and met with opinion.  With so many viewers, it’s hard to believe that there could be anything kept hidden.

However, this is Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal family we are talking about. They are held to a high standard and prefer to remain drama-free and scandal-free. They attempt to cover up anything that casts them in a negative light. Throughout her reign, poor Queen Elizabeth II was faced with some pretty big scandals. A few things about her family members are sure to raise some eyebrows. Some will blow your mind.

During this somber time, with the queen’s passing, old scandals are coming back to the surface. Everyone has a little dirt on them and we’re prepared to sift through it. We’ve scoured the internet, gathered our sources, and the results are in. In this article, we’ve listed the 15 most scandalous facts you may or may not know about Queen Elizabeth II and her family. We’ll ease into the scandals and work our way up to the most tea-worthy fact about the royals.

Okay, so this one isn’t so much of a scandal as just a mind-blowing fact. One would assume the woman who has run the country for decades would have the largest bank account, but no! In fact, it might be one of the very last royals you would suspect.

Well, technically, it’s not in her bank account, but Princess Charlotte is estimated to have a net worth of $5 billion versus the Queen’s $550 million. This is due to her fashion influence. With the entire nation watching her style, the “Charlotte Effect” has the potential to drive billions in sales—therefore, her generous net worth.

When you hear the phrase “broke protocol” you might think of some rebellious act against the Crown. However, the only thing Kate Middleton is guilty of is giving warm hugs to children. What a rebel!

That’s right, protocol suggests greeting the public with a formal handshake, but Kate jumped right in with an embrace. The kids, from a charity that supports kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, were, needless to say, delighted.

It’s hard to imagine a British family that has removed the word “tea” from their vocabulary, but that’s exactly what the royal family has done. In fact, they’ve removed several words that are associated with the lower, working classes.

The banned terms include: tea, portion, pardon, toilet, patio, lounge, couch, perfume, posh, function, refreshments, dessert, and mum and dad. Apparently, royal life is a game of Taboo where they have to find a similar word for what they really want to say.

For the royal family, tradition is sacred. To switch things up can be sacrilegious, especially at a royal wedding. Leave it to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to break tradition.

For their wedding, American Bishop Michael Bruce Curry was invited to speak. He honored Meghan’s American heritage with a moving wedding address and even quoted Martin Luther King Jr. He also discussed America’s history of slavery and racism. Sounds like a British royal wedding if I've ever heard of one.

At it again, Harry and Meghan broke another tradition during their royal wedding—this time, cake was involved. Instead of serving the traditional fruitcake typically served at royal weddings, they decided to serve a lemon elderflower cake.

Honestly, what they chose does sound more delicious, but was it really worth it to break such a traditional routine? Of course, the press ate it up—no pun intended—and talked about what a horrible snub the move was towards the royal family. Maybe the couple just really likes lemon elderflower cake?

Upping the “scandal-o-meter”, what a lot of people don’t know is that Queen Elizabeth’s reign as a whole was an accident. She was not meant to rule. Her legacy was brought about not by her own scandal, but by Edward VIII’s.

Edward’s choice to abdicate the throne left the monarchy in turmoil. Not just because he willingly gave up the crown, but because he did it in order to marry the woman he loved—American divorcee Wallis Simpson. For obvious reasons, the marriage would be unacceptable so Edward said, alright, I’mma head out.

When you’re a part of the royal family, a trip to Vegas on its own doesn’t look the best. Top it off with photographs of you naked in a hot tub? The Queen isn’t going to be happy with you.

In the photographs, Prince Harry can be seen in the heart of Sin City surrounded by beautiful bikini-clad women. In one, he is wearing just a necklace with a naked female behind him. After a game of strip pool, he can also be seen giving the same woman a naked bear hug. Yikes.

Megxit is a slang term for the decision of Harry and Meghan to step back from their senior roles in the British royal family. In 2020, the couple announced their decision on Instagram. Classy, right?

In the post, they also stated that they aimed to become financially independent and spend equal amounts of time in North America and the UK. Not long after, they participated in an interview with Oprah, revealing several scandalous bombshells about the royal family. That’s one way to separate yourself from royalty!

As part of the three divorces within the royal family all occurring the same year, in 1992, Princess Anne’s split from her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, was far from overlooked. Though the marriage was full of drama by itself, divorce within the royal family is looked down on even more. It was a lose-lose situation.

The couple didn’t try to hide that their marriage was going poorly. They were said to have a mutual indifference for one another. Mark went on to father a child with another woman while still married to Anne. After that came to light, reports of affairs plagued the marriage, on both Mark and Anne’s part. Talk about messy.

It is never, NEVER a good idea to dress like a N*zi. It’s an exceptionally poor choice when you’re in the royal family. Harry was in full N*zi uniform attending a costume party in 2005. Though he issued an apology, it still left a bad taste in the public’s mouth—understandably so.

Around the same time, he had been photographed drinking in nightclubs and was sent to rehabilitation for substances center after being caught with Mary Jane. The early 2000s were a bit of a wild ride for the royals thanks to Harry—do you think he’s been less scandalous in recent years?

Queen Elizabeth II’s controversial cousins have delivered decades of poor press coverage. Princess Michael wore a “Blackamoor” brooch to Meghan Markle’s first royal Christmas lunch. Coincidence? Many people believe not.

This is not her only racist moment. In 2018, she told NY diners to “go back to the colonies”. A close source also claimed the royal had named two black sheep on her country estate Venus and Serena. The royal couple has since “retired from public life”.

Adding to the 1992 royal family divorces, Charles and Diana are perhaps the most notable. Much to the chagrin of the Queen, every dramatic detail played out in the press. Some of it rumor, some of it through voluntary interviews. Diana dropped this famous bombshell during one of the interviews: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”

While it is well known Charles had a long-time affair with now-wife Camilla, Diana had also fallen in love with her protection officer, who was moved off royalty protection once discovered and died in a car crash months later. The royals filed for divorce in 1996, and Diana died in a car crash the following year.

As the third couple who filed for divorce in 1992, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s marriage ended in an absolute scandal. In what is arguably the Royal family’s biggest scandal ever, compromising photographs of Sarah with her “financial advisor” were published.

And these weren’t just photos of an intimate embrace or a kiss on the cheek—these were taken by the pool, where Texan millionaire John Bryan was kissing and sucking her toes and foot. We don’t know what’s worse, that, or a royal member being dubbed “Randy Andy” and known for being a womanizer. What a pair.

The scandals just keep coming. Speaking of "Randy Andy", he was also close buddies with the infamous Jeffrey Epstein. Their friendship began when Prince Andrew was introduced to Epstein by Ghislaine Maxwell. He was accused of having relations with a minor.

When asked whether he regretted his relationship with Epstein, Andrew said, “Do I regret the fact that he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes.” If a sex offender’s actions are “unbecoming” to Andrew, he should have had more than just his titles stripped away and outcast.

It’s hard to imagine the Queen giving a *azi salute, but when she was a young child, she did just that. While it is unsettling, it’s not really her fault. She was just a child who was imitating her mother.

The video was taken in 1933, when H*tler had just been named chancellor. Outside Germany, many were blind to his intentions. Many viewed him as a man not to be taken seriously. So while the salutes were made in good fun, they certainly didn’t age well.