My annus horribilis
How the famously stoic monarch revealed her anguish over the break up of her children’s marriages and the Windsor Castle blaze
CHARLES & DI Cracks were beginning to
THE Queen described 1992 as her “annus horribilis” when disaster after disaster hit the Royal Family.
Three of her children divorced or separated, Windsor Castle was severely damaged by a fire and an explosive biography lifting the lid on Charles and Diana’s unhappy marriage was published.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s separation was announced in March and, in an unprecedented move, the statement detailed the Queen’s unhappiness, saying she found it “undesirable” during the country’s general election campaign.
Just one month later Princess Anne divorced Mark Phillips.
And in June 1992 the biography Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton was published.
It detailed the rejection the Princess felt by Charles and the Royal Family, her battles with the eating disorder bulimia and the revelation that she tried to kill herself as many as five times during the 1980s. Her separation from Charles was announced on December 9, 1992.
In August that year, there was scandal when Fergie was staying with the Royals at Balmoral. The Daily Mirror published pictures of the Duchess of York having her toes sucked by financial adviser John Bryan.
And in November the Queen’s beloved Windsor Castle was set on fire after a spotlight ignited a curtain.
The £37 million restoration of the castle led to questions about the Queen’s finances, and later to the opening of Buckingham Palace to the public.
Three days after the Queen toured the castle ruins she made one of her most famous speeches as she marked the 40th anniversary of her ascension. She reflected she would not look back on 1992 with “undiluted pleasure”.
Speaking at London’s Guildhall, she said: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribillis.”
Just 10 days later, Charles and Diana’s separation was official. But even that wasn’t the end of the drama.
“Camillagate” followed, with details emerging of intimate conversations between Prince Charles and mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles at the start of 1993.
The Queen Mother’s health was in sharp decline and the headlinegrabbing stories about Charles and Diana just kept on coming.
The Prince of Wales took part in an extensive interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, opening up about his infidelity – as well as his distant parents. Dimbleby asked him: “Did you try to be faithful and honourable to your wife?” The Prince paused before replying: “Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.”
Prince Philip was said to have been “incensed” at his son’s comments.
Diana hit back in 1995 with an astonishing tell-all interview, baring her soul to Panorama’s Martin Bashir about her love affair with James Hewitt and her struggle with bulimia. But it was her comments about her marriage that made headlines around the world. Bashir had asked her: “Do you think Mrs Parker Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?”
The Princess replied: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
After the programme aired, the Queen wrote to both Charles and Diana advising them to divorce.
But while it drew a line under the disastrous marriage, Princess Diana’s devastating fate and its huge impact on the British monarchy was still to come.
Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.
Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir was explosive
SHE shook hands with movie superstars, political greats, religious leaders and sporting icons.
But no matter how huge the celebrity, the Queen outshone them all.
Following her father’s sudden death in 1952, the new monarch was welcomed home to UK soil by Winston Churchill, the first of her 14 prime ministers. She also met almost all the 14 US presidents who were in power during her reign.
World leaders from across the world were hosted at her lavish state banquets and she in turn travelled to greet political and spiritual giants including Nelson Mandela in 1995 and Mother Teresa in 1983.
She rubbed shoulders with Hollywood royalty at some 30 Royal Film Performances including Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra.
And she continued to embrace popular culture at Royal Variety Performances by warmly greeting everyone from the Spice Girls to Lady Gaga.