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Dive into the most jaw-dropping moments that rocked royal families around the globe. From secret affairs and explosive interviews to illicit friendships and shocking crimes, these controversies reveal the darker side of monarchy that the public rarely sees. Experience the intrigue, betrayal, and drama behind closed palace doors that continue to captivate history buffs and gossip lovers alike.
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00:00If a picture's worth a thousand words, the shell-shocked look on Andrew's face says it all.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today, we're counting down our picks for the most significant scandals in the history of royal families across the
00:14globe.
00:14Yet another royal scandal making headlines.
00:17Yet another bitter blow to a muskian crisis.
00:20Number 30. Squidgygate.
00:23Also known as Dianagate, this scandal was massive in 1992
00:27after private phone calls between Diana, Princess of Wales, and her secret lover were leaked.
00:34She was having flirty conversations with James Gilbey,
00:37who affectionately referred to her as Squidgy or Squidge.
00:41It was one of the first controversies that went against Diana.
00:46Of course, with a squeaky clean image and her often being the victim of Charles' actions,
00:50it led some to question whether she herself was being completely faithful in her marriage to the prince.
00:59The pair discussed a variety of intimate topics, such as the princess's suspected pregnancy.
01:05All this was allegedly leaked by a pair of independent radio hobbyists who just happened to eavesdrop on the conversation.
01:12The fact that the tabloids were willing to publish such a questionably obtained recording was major news.
01:19Plus, it further exposed to the issues within Diana's marriage.
01:22It's just so difficult, so complicated.
01:25It makes my life real, real torture.
01:28Number 29. Princess Michael's Brooch.
01:31Prince Michael is the grandson of George V, making him currently 53rd in line to the British Crown.
01:38He's married to Princess Michael, who got herself into a lot of bother in 2017
01:43after wearing a wildly offensive brooch to meet Prince Harry's then-fiancé, Meghan Markle.
01:49It had an incredibly racist design, leading to widespread public outrage.
01:54The image of the black and more has lots of racial negative connotations.
02:00The exotic wild man.
02:02The man who is closer to being an animal than to being a human being.
02:07That's what the black and more represents.
02:09Supposedly, she's worn it plenty of times in the past,
02:12but it seemed no one thought to mention how derogatory its design was.
02:16Either that, or she just didn't care until it became a major scandal.
02:21She later apologized, and it's unlikely she'll ever wear it again after the public's reaction.
02:26Maybe she thought there was a compliment, or she was like,
02:29connecting Meghan Markle with some sort of story of blackness in her own mind.
02:34If so, she was deeply misguided in that.
02:37Number 28.
02:38Queen Victoria's Two Special Relationships.
02:41It's well known that Queen Victoria began exclusively wearing black
02:45after the death of her husband in 1861.
02:48She never remarried, but rumors claim she didn't avoid intimacy entirely.
02:53My feelings of grief are not so strong.
03:03And I find myself leaning more on the comfort of living friends.
03:12Supposedly, she had two secret lovers after losing her husband.
03:16First was John Brown, a Scotsman who became close to the Queen after Albert's death.
03:21Then Her Majesty showered him with gifts.
03:24There was later Abdul Karim, who was close to the Queen during her final 14 years.
03:29This one was far more infamous, though nothing was ever confirmed.
03:33It was all just rumors.
03:35Abdul, I am your Queen.
03:37Your Majesty, I am your Moon Sheep.
03:39And I will never leave you.
03:41You are a fool.
03:44But I adore you.
03:48Number 27.
03:49Breaking into Buckingham.
03:51Michael Fagan is most famous for breaking into Buckingham Palace back in 1982,
03:56then sneaking into the Queen's bedroom, and may have had a short chat with Her Majesty.
04:01Fagan climbed the walls, then a drainpipe,
04:04then bumbled about the palace before finding his way into Elizabeth's bedroom.
04:08This was his second time breaking into the palace,
04:11and both times police believed the alarms he tripped were just faulty.
04:15Broke a window this time.
04:17Last time was you too?
04:19Yeah.
04:20What is the matter with you?
04:21This is private property.
04:22No, it's not estate property.
04:25Either way, you're trespassing.
04:26Which isn't a crime.
04:27At first, stories claimed they'd had an amicable conversation.
04:32In later interviews,
04:33Fagan instead claimed the Queen had dashed off for help as soon as she'd spotted him.
04:38The intruder was placed in a psychiatric hospital for a few months after,
04:42and received no criminal charges.
04:44It did precipitate a part of my breakdown,
04:47but I'm over that now,
04:48and I just wish to be allowed to lead my life as normal with my children.
04:52Number 26.
04:53Princess Anne's attempted kidnapping.
04:56Elizabeth II's only daughter has had a fairly interesting life,
05:00including one famous example of her standing up to a kidnapper in 1974.
05:05Princess Anne was driving to Buckingham Palace when a man named Ian Ball forced them to stop,
05:10then threatened her with a handgun.
05:12And he was really sort of shaking the door and trying to get in.
05:15Into the royal car.
05:17Into the royal car.
05:17Yeah, and Princess Anne and Mark were completely on their own.
05:20There's nobody else in the car at all.
05:21And they were sort of huddled over to the other side.
05:23Multiple people were shot, including her chauffeur and personal guard.
05:27Ball told her he was planning on holding her ransom,
05:30but Anne refused to exit the vehicle.
05:32Apparently, she politely told him to get lost,
05:35then got increasingly rude as he persisted.
05:37Silly to be, you know, too rude at that stage again.
05:43And we had a fairly low-key discussion about the fact that I wasn't going to go anywhere.
05:47And wouldn't it be much better if he just went away and we'd all forget about it?
05:51Ball's plan was foiled when a former boxer just happened to walk past
05:54and decided to give him a quick jab, letting Anne escape.
05:58And the police later apprehended the culprit.
06:01Number 25.
06:03Prince Philip's Car Crash
06:04The husband of Queen Elizabeth II lived to the grand age of 99 before passing away in 2021.
06:11In 2019, he had to give up his driving license after getting into a dangerous traffic collision.
06:16As we understand it, the Duke who was driving himself, the Range Rover,
06:21was pulling out of a driveway when there was a road traffic accident involving another vehicle.
06:27According to eyewitnesses, the Range Rover that the Duke was driving turned over.
06:33The Prince had collided with another car, injuring two women inside, who were rushed to the hospital.
06:39Thankfully, no one was gravely injured, but the cars were pretty beaten up.
06:43It was a mess. The glass was everywhere, all over the road.
06:47The light fittings out of the car, wasn't it?
06:49It's really surprising that someone got out of that, let alone the Duke of Edinburgh at 97.
06:53No charges were made against the Prince, who apologized for the accident shortly after,
06:58then relinquished his driving license as well.
07:00He was still allowed to drive around his private properties,
07:04but going out onto public roads became too risky.
07:07On the estate today, it appeared that another Land Rover, a green one, was being offloaded from a lorry.
07:12We don't know if it's for the Duke's use, but it seems there is a replacement available,
07:16should he still want to drive.
07:1924. Princess Anne's Vicious Dogs
07:22The first member of the modern British royal family to become a convicted criminal is Princess Anne.
07:28This happened in 2002, after one of her bull terriers bit a child at Windsor Great Park.
07:34As a result, the royal was taken to court, which resulted in her being fined £500 for the incident.
07:39Plus, she had to pay compensation and legal fees.
07:43The family of the injured boys later criticized the sentence given to the Princess Royal.
07:48In a statement, they said,
07:50we do not think justice has been done.
07:52The dog is still free and is a danger to society.
07:55The dog responsible, named Dottie, was nearly at risk of being put down,
08:00but managed to avoid this fate.
08:02That wasn't the only time Dottie misbehaved.
08:04Not long after she injured one of the Queen's corgis,
08:07which was so brutal, the corgi was sadly put down.
08:10Dear Rexy, gone forever.
08:15Oh, cheer up, old girl.
08:17He was only a bloody bow-wow.
08:19Do shut up, Philip.
08:21Number 23. Death of Jamal Khashoggi
08:25Mohammed bin Salman has been the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia since 2017.
08:29About a year after taking the title,
08:32he allegedly ordered the killing of one of his critics,
08:35the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
08:37Does that mean that there could be a prosecution
08:39from, say, the United States where Mr. Khashoggi lived?
08:42Well, that is her suggestion.
08:44One of her recommendations is that the FBI start investigating
08:47and that if needed, if appropriate,
08:52there should be criminal prosecutions.
08:54It's never been outright confirmed,
08:56but Western intelligence agencies believe the prince was behind it.
08:59The incident was extremely brutal,
09:02leading to widespread criticism of the Saudi Arabian government.
09:05In the end, 11 people were taken to court for the crime,
09:09five were given the death penalty,
09:11three ended up in jail,
09:12and then the final three were acquitted.
09:14Many believe Salman covered up his involvement in the assassination,
09:18but it's unlikely he'll ever be taken to court to prove it.
09:21The CIA has concluded with medium to high confidence
09:25that you personally targeted Khashoggi
09:28and you probably ordered his death.
09:32I hope this information to be brought forward.
09:35If there is any such information that charges me,
09:38I hope it is brought forward publicly.
09:40Number 22, the Easter Crisis.
09:42The Danish monarchy never interferes with politics,
09:46mainly on account of the disastrous Easter Crisis.
09:48In 1920, King Christian X was upset
09:52with how little land they'd taken from Germany after World War I,
09:56so he used his special power to dismiss the ruling government.
09:59It resulted in the eruption of major protests across Denmark,
10:03leading many to worry about the end of their monarchy.
10:05This led Christian to cave and install a more popular cabinet.
10:09It motivated Christian and his descendants to never try this again,
10:13as it came so close to ending the monarchy.
10:16How would you say Denmark has changed over that period?
10:20In some ways, perhaps a lot.
10:23And in many ways, I feel that it is very much the same country,
10:26though the details change.
10:29Number 21, the Lockheed bribery scandal.
10:32Our next scandal relates to the Dutch prince Bernhard.
10:36It would go far beyond my position in our country,
10:45which, after all, is first in my mind to do anything in the political field on my own.
10:52I've never done so, and I never will.
10:54It turned out he'd been bribed by the American company Lockheed
10:57to convince the Dutch government to buy their aircraft.
11:01Bernhard reportedly accepted a $1.1 million bribe.
11:04The press reported this in 1976,
11:07and it led to the prince resigning from his role in the armed forces.
11:11Additionally, he wasn't allowed to wear his military uniform outside,
11:15unless on his own private property.
11:17Decades later, in 2008,
11:19the biography of a former Dutch PM claimed Bernhard had also taken bribes from Northrop,
11:25another American aircraft company.
11:27This was hidden to prevent even further controversies.
11:30I don't like negative criticism.
11:32I welcome very much positive criticism,
11:34so that you can learn where one's made a mistake.
11:37And that, I think, is awfully useful.
11:39And the more one can get at that,
11:41the better it is, whether from France or in public.
11:44Number 20, Princess Diana's panorama interview.
11:47Do you think Mrs. Parker Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?
11:52Well, there were three of us in this marriage,
11:54so it was a bit crowded.
11:55The tumultuous marriage between Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles
12:00more or less came to an end in 1992,
12:03when the two formally announced their separation.
12:05Seemingly of the opinion that senior members of the royal family
12:08were conspiring to get rid of her,
12:10Diana granted an interview to BBC journalist Martin Bashir in November of 1995.
12:15I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts in people's hearts,
12:19but I don't see myself being queen of this country.
12:23I don't think many people would want me to be queen.
12:25Actually, when I say many people,
12:27I mean the establishment that I'm married into.
12:30In the 54-minute special,
12:32the Princess of Wales revealed explosive details about her marriage,
12:35including her own affair and Charles' relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles.
12:39She also spoke candidly about her struggles with an eating disorder
12:42and post-natal depression.
12:44The spellbinding program was watched by around 200 million people worldwide,
12:48and was reportedly so damaging,
12:51it severed Diana's residual ties with Buckingham Palace.
12:54And so you feel that by speaking out in this way,
12:57you'll be able to reassure the people?
13:00Mm-hmm.
13:00The people that matter to me, the man on the street.
13:03Yeah.
13:04Because that was matter.
13:05That's what matters more than anything else.
13:06Number 19.
13:08King Henry VIII Creates the Church of England
13:10Years into his marriage to Catherine of Aragon,
13:13King Henry VIII was still without a male heir to his throne.
13:16Tired of waiting for a miracle,
13:19Henry sought to annul his marriage with Catherine and take Anne Boleyn,
13:22one of her ladies-in-waiting, as his new wife.
13:25You want me to retire and give up my daughter's claim
13:28as all rightful heir to the throne?
13:30Well, I shall not.
13:32Not in a thousand years.
13:33Catherine was not a fan of the idea,
13:35and the Pope, who had dominion over then-Catholic England,
13:39declined Henry's request for a divorce.
13:42This incensed the king,
13:43leading him to officially renounce papal authority.
13:46Establish the Anglican Church of England,
13:49and install himself as its head.
13:51The presumption of the Pope,
13:53thinking he could tell you,
13:54you,
13:55what to do.
13:56Now free to do his will,
13:58Henry divorced Catherine and married Boleyn in 1533.
14:02This marriage also did not last long,
14:04as the king had Boleyn executed only three years later.
14:08Thus I take my leave of the world,
14:09and of you.
14:13Bless you.
14:17And I heartily desire you all to pray for me.
14:20Number 18.
14:21Captain Mark Phillips' love child.
14:23Together,
14:25they face this great isle and the congregation,
14:29and all eyes are upon this couple.
14:32Captain Mark Phillips got married to Princess Anne
14:34in a beautiful ceremony on November 14th, 1973.
14:38But sadly,
14:39just like her older brother Charles,
14:41Anne's marriage eventually hit the rocks,
14:43and the Princess Royal separated from Phillips in 1989.
14:47There have been rumors recently about divorce and unhappiness.
14:51Are they true or untrue?
14:59Three years later,
15:00Phillips was taken to court by Heather Tonkin,
15:02an art teacher from New Zealand,
15:04who claimed that he was the father to her then five-year-old daughter Felicity.
15:08A DNA test was carried out,
15:10which confirmed that Phillips was indeed the young girl's dad.
15:14Phillips and Tonkin allegedly had a one-night stand after meeting in New Zealand
15:18while he was still married to Anne.
15:20The ensuing scandal possibly contributed to the Princess Royal filing for divorce in April 1992.
15:26I feel that I'm sort of dying to get an opportunity to say something to knock it all over.
15:33Number 17.
15:34Prince Albert II's illegitimate children.
15:37There was that famous quote that Monaco is a sunny place for shady people.
15:41Was that fair?
15:42Since his ascension to the throne of Monaco in 2005,
15:46Prince Albert II has made headlines on multiple occasions
15:49following claims that he had fathered children out of wedlock.
15:53Mere days before his coronation,
15:54the prince announced that he had fathered a son with a former flight attendant from Togo.
15:59Less than a year later,
16:00Albert found himself in the news again
16:02when a DNA test confirmed that he had a daughter back in the 90s with an American woman.
16:07Prince Albert shares Jasmine with Tamara Rotolo
16:09and Alexandra with Nicole Kost.
16:12And because he wasn't married to either of them,
16:14the two aren't in line for succession to the throne.
16:17In 2011, he got married to Olympic swimmer Charlene Whitstock amid rumors of yet another
16:22illegitimate child, which the prince denied.
16:25The couple has since welcomed a set of twins.
16:28The update comes after the twins and Prince Albert reunited with Princess Charlene in South Africa
16:33in late August after months apart.
16:35Number 16.
16:36The Duke of Kent, Prince George's Wild Lifestyle.
16:39Now watch the Prince of Wales.
16:42There.
16:43I wonder what he's telling his brother.
16:45A highly decorated pilot and military officer,
16:48Prince George was the uncle of Queen Elizabeth II.
16:50But when he wasn't flying planes for the Royal Air Force,
16:54George was leading a pretty scandalous life.
16:56Although married to his second cousin, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark,
17:01the Duke reportedly had extramarital affairs with both men and women.
17:04As quickly to be denied.
17:06But even if it isn't true,
17:08then we're all thrilled to even the suggestion of a royal romance.
17:12He was also rumored to have substance use disorder,
17:15which were notoriously linked to his relationship with socialite Kiki Preston,
17:19a socialite known as, quote,
17:20the girl with the silver syringe.
17:22Once George turned to the UK with Kiki,
17:24Prince Edward was aghast to discover his little brother's new habit
17:28and did what any good brother with a lot of money and influence would do,
17:32effectively banned Kiki from the country
17:34and locked George up in a palace to go fully cold turkey.
17:37Prince George's rollercoaster life came to a sad end on August 25th, 1942,
17:43when he was killed in a plane crash aboard a military aircraft bound for Iceland.
17:47Number 15.
17:49King Albert II's Love Child.
17:51Back in 1999, an 18-year-old journalist named Mario Doniels
17:56released an unauthorized biography of Belgian Queen Paola.
17:59In the book, Doniels suggested the existence of an illegitimate daughter
18:04born to Paola's husband, King Albert II.
18:07Oh, a lot of Belgians were appalled.
18:08Yeah, a lot of Belgians thought it was an attack on the monarchy.
18:11This statement made headlines around the world
18:13and resulted in an investigation that revealed the identity of the love child
18:18to be Delphine Boulle.
18:20After Albert abdicated the throne in 2013,
18:23Boulle filed a paternity lawsuit against him,
18:25but the case dragged on for years.
18:27When he literally dumped her and, you know,
18:30pretend that she didn't exist anymore,
18:33she just stood up for herself and said,
18:35this is not right, this is not okay, you know?
18:39And she took on a king and she fought for her right.
18:42It was finally resolved in 2020
18:43when Albert was compelled to produce a DNA sample,
18:46which confirmed him as her father.
18:49Boulle became legally recognized
18:50as a member of the Belgian royal family
18:52and was granted the title of princess.
18:55Delphine Boulle will henceforth be known
18:57as Her Royal Highness Delphine de Saxe-Goburg.
19:01Her children will be treated as Belgian princes and princesses.
19:05Number 14.
19:07Prince Ernst August of Hanover caught cheating.
19:10After divorcing her first husband
19:12and losing her second to a speedboating accident,
19:15Princess Caroline of Monaco got married for the third time
19:18to Prince Ernst August of Hanover in 1999.
19:21A match much more in keeping with her royal position
19:24than either of her previous marriages,
19:26especially in view of her status
19:28as presumptive heir to the throne.
19:29Their royal matrimony was plagued
19:31by Ernst August's very public controversies,
19:34including a diplomatic mishap at Expo 2000
19:37and an assault conviction in 2004.
19:40By 2009, the couple had announced their separation,
19:44with Caroline moving back to Monaco.
19:46A few months later,
19:47the prince was photographed on a beach in Thailand
19:49getting extra cozy with another woman.
19:51The pictures received a four-page spread
19:54in a French magazine
19:55and seemed to worsen Ernst August's relationship
19:58with Caroline,
19:59who was said to testify as an eyewitness
20:01in his assault appeal.
20:03Her charity work now takes priority over her social life.
20:06Number 13.
20:07King Wahira Longkorn Imprisons His Mistress
20:10King Wahira Longkorn of Thailand
20:13officially recognized his longtime mistress,
20:17Suninat Wangvajir Apakhti,
20:19as a royal noble consort.
20:20This position put her in a polygamous relationship
20:23with the king and queen.
20:25However, it didn't take long
20:26for the arrangement to turn sour.
20:28Thai kings over the centuries
20:30have maintained a harem
20:31enjoying the company of thousands of concubines.
20:36But Suninat was the first to get the title
20:38of royal consort in nearly a century.
20:42She was then rumored to have been thrown in prison.
20:44Less than a year later,
20:46she was released from custody by the king
20:48with all her titles, ranks, and honors duly restored.
20:51But in October,
20:52Suninat was stripped of her titles over disloyalty
20:55and for plotting against the queen,
20:56along with six other palace officials
20:58who allegedly committed quote-unquote evil actions.
21:02Yet it didn't take long
21:03for another controversy to emerge.
21:05In December of 2020,
21:07hundreds of explicit images of Wangvajir Apakhti
21:10were stolen and leaked
21:11in an apparent bid to ruin her reputation.
21:14Number 12.
21:15Infanta Cristina of Spain's Corruption Scandal
21:18I didn't pay for these trips.
21:20It was my husband who took care of it.
21:22I don't know how.
21:24As I said at the beginning,
21:26we divided household responsibilities
21:28and my husband handled the family expenses.
21:31A sister to Spanish king Felipe VI,
21:34Princess Cristina was at the center of controversy in 2014
21:38when she was charged with tax fraud and money laundering.
21:41According to reports,
21:43the princess and her husband,
21:44Inaki Urdangarin,
21:46had allegedly embezzled millions of dollars
21:48in public donations to the Nowos Institute,
21:51an NGO they both ran.
21:53My husband and I never talked about these topics,
21:55so he never told me how it was managed.
21:58He never told me about the revenue
22:00and expenditure of Aizun.
22:02In light of the criminal charges,
22:03King Felipe stripped Cristina
22:05and her family of their royal titles
22:07and barred them from attending any royal events,
22:10including his own coronation.
22:12Following a publicized trial,
22:14the princess was acquitted of the fraud charges.
22:16While her husband was found guilty
22:17and handed a six-year prison sentence,
22:20which was eventually reduced slightly.
22:22Despite her acquittal,
22:23she has to pay a 265,000 euro fine
22:27as she has a civil responsibility
22:30for benefiting from the crime,
22:32even if she was unaware of the misdemeanor.
22:34Number 11.
22:36Sarah Ferguson's Cash for Access Controversy
22:39What's Sarah Ferguson's hand?
22:41The gesture says,
22:42give me the money.
22:44Fondly referred to as Fergie,
22:46the Duchess of York was married to Prince Andrew
22:48from 1986 until their divorce 10 years later.
22:51The couple first separated in 1992,
22:54the same year in which Ferguson was photographed
22:56sunbathing topless while frolicking with another man.
22:59Sucking Sarah's toes, mummy.
23:02What?
23:03I know.
23:04People tell me I put my foot in it from time to time.
23:07At least I don't put it in someone's mouth.
23:09After getting a divorce from Andrew in 1996,
23:12the Duchess soon fell out of grace with the royal family,
23:14and her finances struggled.
23:16This all led to the May 2010 incident,
23:18in which Ferguson was secretly recorded collecting a bribe
23:21from an undercover journalist
23:23in exchange for unfettered access to her ex-husband.
23:26500,000 pounds when you can, to me.
23:32Open doors.
23:34The scandal further worsened Ferguson's relationship
23:37with Buckingham Palace and damaged her public image,
23:40which she has now focused on rebuilding.
23:43It's very hard for me,
23:44because I long to be with the girls in their finery
23:47and looking lovely,
23:48and I long to be part of it all,
23:50to be with the girls.
23:52But you cannot have your cake and eat it.
23:54Number 10.
23:56Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Step Down
23:58In his young adult years,
24:00Prince Harry found himself in hot water multiple times,
24:03particularly for his wild partying habits.
24:05He was seen wearing a Nazi costume in 2005,
24:08and in 2012,
24:10was photographed naked in Las Vegas.
24:12But all of that seemed to have been forgotten
24:14when he wedded former Hollywood actress
24:16Meghan Markle in 2018.
24:18Their marriage was soon plagued
24:19by seemingly racist prejudices against Markle
24:22by the British tabloid press.
24:23This contributed to the couple's announcement
24:26in January 2020,
24:27that they will be stepping back
24:28from official royal duties.
24:30We really wanted to remove
24:32the supposed public interest argument
24:33that the press had
24:35over every element of our lives.
24:37After moving to California later that year,
24:39Harry and Meghan generated further controversy
24:41with their highly publicized
24:43Oprah Winfrey interview,
24:44and the release of the Prince's 2023 memoir, Spare.
24:47I'm sorry that me owning my story
24:51and being able to tell my own story
24:53is upsetting to some people,
24:56but I have to rely on the truth.
24:58Number nine, Edward VIII's abdication.
25:01In the history of the great British monarchy,
25:03only once has a sovereign
25:05willingly stepped down from the throne,
25:07and that was King Edward VIII.
25:09That I have found it impossible
25:11to carry the heavy burden of responsibility
25:16and to discharge my duties as king
25:19as I would wish to do
25:23without the help and support
25:25of the woman I love.
25:28Born in 1894,
25:30Edward VIII became the ruling monarch
25:32following the death of his father,
25:34George V, in 1936.
25:36Just a few months later,
25:38the new king decided to settle down
25:39with American divorcee Wallace Simpson.
25:42This was a highly contentious move at the time
25:44as the Church of England
25:45forbade divorced people from remarrying,
25:48unless their ex-spouse was deceased.
25:50Unthinkable.
25:52Can he do it?
25:54Absolutely not.
25:56It is going to anyway.
25:57All hell's broken loose.
25:59Facing overwhelming opposition
26:00from the church and the British government,
26:02Edward chose to abdicate the throne
26:04to be with the woman he loved.
26:05The two got married in June 1937
26:08and remained together
26:09until his death in 1972.
26:12I think happiness is a great secret too.
26:15How you feel and look, perhaps.
26:19We've been very happy.
26:20We sure have.
26:21Number 8.
26:22King Carl XVI Gustav's Wild Lifestyle Exposed.
26:26Meet King Carl XVI and Queen Sylvia.
26:29Carl has been a largely progressive king,
26:32but his playboy past
26:33would come back to haunt him.
26:35Once a widely beloved 21st century monarch,
26:38King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden
26:40had his entire reputation turned on its head
26:43with the release of a controversial book in 2010.
26:46Titled The Reluctant Monarch,
26:47the book claimed that the king
26:49frequented underground strip clubs
26:51and was involved in an extramarital affair
26:53with a Swedish celebrity.
26:55To top it all off,
26:56the authors also alleged
26:57that a secret police force called Sapo
27:00had worked to keep these activities under wraps.
27:02Carl later addressed the allegations
27:04at an outdoor press conference saying,
27:07I've spoken with my family and the queen
27:09and we choose to turn the page
27:10and move forward
27:12because as I understand,
27:13these are things that happened a long time ago.
27:16The book's release was met
27:17with a strongly negative reaction
27:19from the Swedish populace,
27:21most of whom directed their vitriol
27:22at its writers.
27:23As a result,
27:25one of the co-authors
27:25was reportedly fired from her job in public media.
27:28And it's clear that the king
27:30has a special place in people's hearts.
27:33Number seven, Nepalese royal killings.
27:36He was a gentleman and a modernist,
27:39a man who wanted to make the monarchy
27:41and the palace more progressive,
27:43a man who was always smiling.
27:46How could he have turned suddenly
27:48into a trigger-happy monster?
27:51On the 1st of June, 2001,
27:53members of the Nepalese royal clan
27:54gathered at the Narayanhiti palace
27:57for a family event.
27:58What started out as a night of celebration
28:00turned into a national tragedy
28:02when crown prince Dipendra
28:04reportedly killed several of his relatives,
28:07including his parents,
28:09King Birenda and Queen Aishwarya.
28:12Dipendra then turned the gun on himself,
28:14eventually slipping into a coma
28:16and dying three days later.
28:18The massacre shook the entire nation of Nepal,
28:21with many still in doubt
28:22over the prince's involvement in the murders.
28:24Within hours of taking over,
28:25the new king described the massacre
28:27as an accident,
28:29an explanation no one was willing to buy.
28:31To the people,
28:32the attempt later to swing the needle of suspicion
28:35on prince Dipendra
28:36smelt inevitably of a cover-up.
28:39To date, the motive is still unclear.
28:41Although a popular theory suggests
28:43a family dispute over his choice of bride,
28:46Dipendra's uncle,
28:48Yanendra,
28:49ascended the throne,
28:50ruling until the monarchy
28:51was abolished in 2008.
28:53Privileges are gone,
28:55the tax-free status has gone,
28:57and so too the army.
28:58Even the national anthem
28:59praising the king has gone.
29:01Number six,
29:02Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend's
29:05forbidden romance.
29:06Not on our romantic trip to reduce love.
29:08Official duty to reduce you.
29:10With the man I love.
29:12Secretly love.
29:13I will be the happiest.
29:15The short-lived romance between Princess Margaret
29:18and Captain Peter Townsend
29:20captured the public's attention in the 1950s.
29:23The two first met when Margaret was still a teenager,
29:25and Townsend was an equerry for her father,
29:28King George VI.
29:29They developed a romantic relationship later on,
29:32which was confirmed in the public
29:33by a subtle interaction
29:35at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.
29:37Picking fluff off a man's jacket,
29:39that's a gesture as intimate as a kiss.
29:42More intimate since it suggests
29:43the kiss has already happened.
29:45Although the public loved them together,
29:47Townsend was, however, a divorcee,
29:49forbidden by the Church of England from remarrying.
29:52Thus, the Princess Royal was left with two options.
29:55Either marry Townsend
29:56and forfeit her right to succession,
29:58or call off her engagement to the man she loved.
30:01Ultimately, she chose the latter.
30:03We have resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice
30:06and break off our relationship with immediate effect.
30:09Number 5.
30:10Prince Geoffrey's Extravagant Criminal Lifestyle
30:12The younger brother of the Sultan of Brunei,
30:16Prince Geoffrey is well-known
30:17for his extravagant lifestyle,
30:18which has put him in trouble on multiple occasions.
30:21Their wow parties are the stuff of legend.
30:24Free-flowing booze,
30:26while hundreds of women are flown in
30:27from all over the world
30:29to cater to their every whim.
30:31Geoffrey first made international headlines in 1997
30:34after he was sued by Shannon Marketic,
30:37a former Miss USA,
30:38who alleged that he and Sultan
30:40forced her to perform acts against her will
30:43and assaulted her.
30:44The case was eventually dismissed
30:46on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
30:48In 2000, Geoffrey was charged by his brother
30:51with embezzlement of billions of dollars
30:53from his time as the country's finance minister.
30:55Although he denied the crime,
30:57he eventually signed an agreement
30:58to turn over his assets,
31:00including over 500 properties,
31:022,000 cars,
31:03100 paintings,
31:055 boats,
31:05and 9 aircraft.
31:06The Sultan's brother,
31:08Prince Geoffrey,
31:09has recently been welcomed back to the country
31:12with open arms
31:13and has not lost either of his hands
31:16over his $14 billion theft.
31:19Number 4.
31:20Edward VIII's ties to the Nazis
31:22After his abdication from the throne in 1936,
31:26Edward VIII was conferred the title Duke of Windsor,
31:30eventually moving to Paris with his new wife.
31:32He's not just going to retreat
31:34into being a playboy on the Riviera.
31:37No, he is a big figure
31:40and he wants to be recognized as a big figure.
31:43The next year,
31:44the couple went on a highly publicized tour
31:46of Nazi Germany,
31:48during which they met with Adolf Hitler.
31:50Edward was even photographed giving the Nazi salute.
31:53Twisted ideology of Nazism,
31:56that appealed to him.
31:57His arm went up like that,
31:59you know,
32:00vague sort of salute.
32:01The controversial pictures
32:03and the Duke's relationship with the Führer
32:05were largely suppressed by the British government
32:07and only emerged in the public space decades later.
32:10After World War II broke out in 1939,
32:13Edward became the subject of a foiled plot by the Germans,
32:16who planned to kidnap and reinstate him as sovereign
32:19following their intended conquest of the UK.
32:22There is no possibility of my forgiving you.
32:24The question is,
32:26how on earth can you forgive yourself?
32:30I suppose one has to be aware of it in the room.
32:34Just feel one's way along with it,
32:36if you know what I mean.
32:41You're awfully good at feeling your way along.
32:44Stop it.
32:45Today, they're king and queen consort of the United Kingdom,
32:48but back in the 90s,
32:49the relationship between Charles III
32:51and Camilla Parker Bowles was highly scrutinized.
32:54While still married to their respective partners,
32:56their illicit affair became public knowledge
32:58after an intimate call between the two
33:00was secretly recorded
33:01and leaked to the British tabloid press.
33:04In the transcripts,
33:05which were widely published
33:06in both national and international newspapers,
33:09Charles joked about wanting to become Camilla's tampon.
33:12Perhaps you could just come back as a box.
33:15What sort of box?
33:16A box of Tampax.
33:19You could just keep going.
33:21Referred to by Princess Diana as, quote,
33:23sick, the graphic conversation became a source
33:25of embarrassment for the royal family
33:27and called into question Charles' fitness to lead.
33:31Eventually, after divorcing their spouses,
33:33the couple got married in 2005.
33:35By thy blessing, let these rings be to Charles and Camilla,
33:38a symbol of unending love and faithfulness
33:41and of the promises they have made to each other.
33:44Number two,
33:45Juan Carlos I's multiple scandals.
33:48Throughout his rule,
33:49Juan Carlos I was rumored to have had multiple affairs
33:52while married to Queen Sophia.
33:54However, the Spanish king was widely beloved
33:56and his reputation remained largely untarnished until 2012.
34:01Here's the International Business Times
34:02with the king's statement.
34:03I'm sorry, very sorry, I made a mistake.
34:07It won't happen again.
34:08That year, while Spain was in a recession,
34:10the king went on a lavish hunting trip to Botswana,
34:13during which he sustained a serious hip injury.
34:16Even worse,
34:17he traveled with Corina Susanne Wittgenstein Sein,
34:20a Danish businesswoman who was rumored to be his mistress.
34:24The resulting backlash was so severe,
34:26it played a part in Carlos's decision
34:28to abdicate the throne just two years later.
34:31The prime minister, Mariano Rajoy,
34:33who worked closely with the 86-year-old
34:35after he decided to make way for his son, Felipe,
34:38endorsed the law with his signature.
34:40In 2020,
34:41the former king went on a self-imposed exile to Abu Dhabi
34:44after corruption investigations were opened
34:47into his involvement in a Saudi rail deal.
34:50For now,
34:50the palace is saying nothing over Juan Carlos' whereabouts,
34:54despite fierce speculation in local media.
34:56The king emeritus, though,
34:58did say in his letter
34:59he'd cooperate with judicial authorities
35:01in the investigation.
35:09Before we continue,
35:11check out this single from Sound Mojo's audio,
35:13Songs from Iran,
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35:19Check out the full track and album below.
35:21Where are you, my love zone here?
35:23Say the word and I'll appear
35:25I wrote this song just for you
35:27To tell you what I always knew
35:36Number one,
35:37Prince Andrew's felonious friendship.
35:39Perhaps the most catastrophic scandal
35:41for the British monarchy in recent history
35:44came with the revelation of the ties
35:46between Prince Andrew
35:47and disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
35:50That never happened.
35:51Epstein's housekeeper,
35:53also in a Florida court legal deposition,
35:55said that you visited the Palm Beach residence
35:58around four times a year.
36:00You got a daily massage.
36:01Four times a year?
36:02In 2011,
36:04the Duke of York was forced to quit his role
36:06as Britain's trade envoy
36:07once his friendship with Epstein came to light.
36:10Andrew was also alleged
36:11to have had intimate relationships with minors,
36:15notably Virginia Giuffre,
36:17who later filed a lawsuit against the prince.
36:19It was disgusting.
36:23He wasn't mean or anything,
36:25but he got up and he said thanks
36:28and walked out and I sat there in bed just horrified.
36:34In the wake of Epstein's death in 2019,
36:37Andrew sat for a disastrous interview with Emily Maitlis,
36:40in which he addressed the allegations.
36:42The Duke eventually resigned from all public duties
36:45and was more or less banished from Buckingham Palace
36:48by his brother, King Charles III.
36:50Then following the official release
36:52of the Epstein files in 2026,
36:55he was put under formal investigation
36:56for misconduct in public office.
36:59I think, you know, the royal family,
37:01well, they've cut Andrew off from public duties.
37:04They've airbrushed him out of royal life.
37:06But I think a lot of people are saying,
37:08well, you know, that's not enough.
37:09He needs to answer those allegations.
37:11Were there any other major scandals
37:14you felt deserved to mention
37:15or did we cover all of the ones you expected?
37:17Let us know in the comments.
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