11 Windsor SCANDALS

From wild nights out, fancy dress and royal love letters to cash for access and an Old Bailey murder trial, here are the biggest scandals to rock the royals in recent decades

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Megxit

Prince Harry shocked the world when he announced in January 2020 that he and his wife, Meghan, were choosing to 'step back as senior royals'.

The decision seemed to arise from Harry and Meghan's feeling that they were at the sharp end of hostile and intrusive treatment from the British press. Harry had spoken in the past about the impact of press intrusion on his mental health, while Meghan was given a rough-ride when her estranged father gave a number of critical interviews. Rather than live under never-ending scrutiny, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wanted to split their time between Britain and North America but continue to carry out some duties for the late Queen. A face-to-face meeting concluded with an agreement that the Sussexes would no longer represent the monarch in an official capacity (contradicting their earlier wish to carry out some duties), would no longer use their HRH titles (although they would technically keep them), and receive no financial support from the British taxpayer. Commentators were quick to dub the clean break as a 'hard Megxit'.

Fergie's embarrassing photos

Just months after the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York in 1992, humiliating photos of Sarah appeared in the tabloids - sunbathing topless in the south of France was one thing, but having her toes sucked by wealthy financial adviser John Bryan while she did so was quite another. It was an embarrassingly undignified way to be captured by the paparazzi.

Sarah's relationship with the royal family broke down, not least because she was staying with the late Queen at Balmoral when the photos were first printed. It must have been an uncomfortable moment at the breakfast table when those newspapers were delivered.

The Epstein Affair