From Henry VIII all the way to Prince Harry quitting the royal family.

With money, titles, media scrutiny, and seemingly unlimited power comes…a lot of drama, turns out. It’s hard to understate how many royal scandals have taken place since we’ve had monarchies (frankly, it’s hard to create a list of just 32), and many have become legendary. Obviously, there’s a bit of recency bias (plenty of people remember where they were when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gave their bombshell Oprah interview), but there are scandals on here where people were kidnapped or literally killed. Also worth noting: There are many, many royal scandals throughout history. These are the ones that captured public interest in a way that hadn’t happened before, which is why there are a lot of modern ones. The advent of online news and social media has super-charged the way we report on the royals, and (as you’ll see) there are direct connections to some of our biggest scandals.

Below, the 32 biggest royal scandals ever.

Prince Rainier Of Monaco And Grace Kelly

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Kelly was extremely young when she married Prince Rainier Of Monaco (quitting Hollywood in the process), and there were a number of reports that even though she was interested in acting after her marriage, Rainier (allegedly) put the kibosh on it.

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

(Image credit: Getty Images)

There was some chatter after Princess Beatrice got engaged to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi because he had a child and was previously engaged to his ex (they share custody). But (like others who have married into the royal family) this didn’t preclude the relationship.

Lady Susan Hussey

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Queen’s lady in waiting and close friend, Lady Susan Hussey, resigned in 2022; To quote The Telegraph, she had been accused “of ‘interrogating’ a Buckingham Palace guest [Ngozi Fulani, a charity founder] about where she was ‘really’ from.”

Prince Bernhard

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the 1960s, Prince Bernhard had apparently accepted a more than $1 million bribe from Lockheed (one of a series of bribes they’d made) to ensure their fighter jet was selected for a purchase contract. He denied the claims but admitted it in interviews published after his death.

The “Annus Horribilis”

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Latin phrase for “terrible year” was popularized by Queen Elizabeth in 1992 in a public speech (three of her children were experiencing very public marital problems, and there had been an intense fire at Windsor Castle). It was an extremely rare admittance of the scrutiny and backlash the monarchy was facing.

Caroline Lacroix

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Beloved mistress of King Leopold II of Belgium, Lacroix became an exceptionally wealthy woman during the king’s life, and he gave her even more assets after his death—to the exclusion of his legitimate daughters. The two even married (in a non-legal ceremony) before he died.

Princess Michael of Kent

(Image credit: Getty Images)

With a father who was reportedly a Nazi party member, and after numerous problematic statements, Princess Michael of Kent had her most intense controversy when wore a “racially tinged blackamoor brooch” (per People) on the day Meghan Markle was introduced to the royal family.

Read More – The 32 Biggest Royal Scandals Ever [Article from 30/01/24]