In the mid-’90s attitudes to the Royals were clearly changing as the public and press reacted to the litany of bad Royal behaviour. ibid.
But on one terrible occasion the Queen failed to speak and it proved to be the biggest regret of her reign: In 1966 an horrific mining accident in the Welsh mining village of Aberfan killed over 100 children. ibid.
2020: The Queen takes to social media and puts Harry and Meghan in their place. ibid.
1992: That year, three of her children’s marriages had fallen apart and the Queen also witnessed her beloved Windsor Castle ablaze … her ‘horribilis’ years. ibid.
The Royal Family and the tabloid press have a long and complicated relationship. Sometimes they’re friends, sometimes they’re not. This is the inside story of that fascinating relationship. Diana vs The Tabloids, Channel 5 2020
Over a light lunch in Diana’s private quarters she proposed a deal to the assembled press editors: she would feed them stories if in return they took a more respectful approach to her privacy. ibid.
Charles’s new girlfriend was a tantalising prospect for the tabloids. ibid.
It was very clear that Diana sold, Charles didn’t. ibid.
To the ever watchful tabloid press, the cracks they had always suspected in the royal marriage were beginning to show. Charles was an old-fashioned country gent while Diana was a young cosmopolitan city girl. And it wasn’t long before press rumours were circulating about extramarital affairs. ibid.
Camilla Tapes: Charles Rocked By Shock Camilla Tape. ibid. People
Dubbed Tampongate. ibid.
‘Effectively suggesting he would have liked to have been Camilla’s Tampax is probably the biggest low any member of the Royal Family has ever sunk to. ibid.
Turning against a money machine like the princess can damage sales. ibid.
Over time these acts of defiance became more public. ibid.
Just Di-Light-Ful … Daring Di: She’s All Things Bold & Beautiful … The Mouse That Roared. ibid. Sun
On 15th February 2020 Queen Elizabeth II said goodbye to her younger sister: Princess Margaret. The Queen never cries in public but on this day she appeared to wipe a tear from her eye. Elizabeth & Margaret: Love & Loyalty, Channel 5 2020
It’s a relationship threatened by love, the press, and duty. ibid.
The sisters spent all their time together at the family’s homes: 145 Piccadilly and Royal Lodge in Windsor. ibid.
The sisters came as a pair and the world loved to see them together. ibid.
Elizabeth’s & Margaret’s world changed almost overnight. ibid.
As Elizabeth spent more and more time with Philip, she started to pull away from her sister. ibid.
Princess Margaret – and the gallant pilot. ibid. Daily Mirror front page 31 July 1953
Hats, holidays and the high life. Meet princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. They’re the princesses we love to mock. Their parents Fergie and Andrew have brought shame and embarrassment on their daughters. The 9th and 10th in line to the throne have been subject to ridicule in the media. They’ve been accused of extravagance and privilege. Beatrice & Eugenie: Pampered Princesses?
‘Eugenie definitely got herself a bit of a reputation as a party princess.’ ibid. Emily Andrews, royal commentator
Prince Andrew’s insistent that his daughters be treated as senior royals would lead to criticism of the princesses as they grew older. ibid.
Fergie came in for a huge amount of criticism for her lifestyle, for her fashion, and what the tabloids called her workshy attitude, nicknaming her Her Royal Idleness. ibid.
Just why are we paying Princess Eugenie’s £100,000 gap-year security bill? ibid. Daily Mail 18th April 2009
‘They were called The Frumpy Sisters. The Two Ugly Sisters. The press were very cruel.’ ibid. friend
Even as they reached adulthood, the princesses struggled to escape their parents’ shadow. ibid.
Despite their dedication, their charitable efforts are often overlooked. ibid.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, known affectionately to millions as the Queen Mum, for many she is the most popular royal figure in recent history. Born a commoner, she married a prince, but she never expected or wanted to become Queen. The Queen Mother: The Reluctant Queen I, Channel 5 2020
Underneath the soft and smiley exterior there was a core of steel. ibid.
Elizabeth had become the first commoner to marry into the royal family in 250 years. When she married the King & Queen’s second son prince Albert, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon had become the Duchess of York. ibid.
Elizabeth believed Mrs Simpson was so damaging she might even end Edward’s reign … From the start Elizabeth had treated the arrival of Edward’s American mistress with deep suspicion. ibid.
And the boycott didn’t stop there: she was also behind the refusal to award Wallis the title of Her Royal Highness even though it should have been hers by law. And she was also responsible for their forced exile to France. ibid.
The Queen’s new role as a dazzling diplomat had been noticed in Germany. Hitler dismissed the new King as a weakling but he had no doubts about the strength of his wife. ibid.
In June 1939 they were dispatched to America. Their mission: to use their diplomatic skills to help gain American support in the ever more likely event of war. ibid.
The public, like Queen Elizabeth, had been kept in the dark about the King’s cancer, so they too were left reeling by the news of his sudden death. ibid.