The dark secrets of the British royal family

Sarah Ferguson tried to sell access to Prince Andrew - She promised to obtain access to her former husband in return for £500,000. It was reported that she was recorded offering an undercover reporter "everything you would ever wish for. I can open any door you want, and I will for you. Look after me and he'll look after you… you'll get it back tenfold."

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Sarah Ferguson tried to sell access to Prince Andrew - The ex-wife of the Queen's son reportedly told the reporter that she "has zero money" after taking a divorce settlement of just £15,000.

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Sarah Ferguson tried to sell access to Prince Andrew - She later issued a statement: "I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused. It is true that my financial situation is under stress however, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened."

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Prince Andrew introduced the Queen to a controversial actress - In the early 1980s, a young Prince Andrew was spotted in the Caribbean with a beautiful woman.

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Prince Andrew introduced the Queen to a controversial actress - The tabloids identified her as Koo Stark, an American actress who had appeared in erotic films.

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Prince Andrew introduced the Queen to a controversial actress - Reporters found that the prince had earlier taken Koo to meet his family at Balmoral and possibly even introduced her to his mother. Buckingham Palace issued a statement that "We do not know if the Queen was aware of the girl’s acting career before she was invited to Balmoral."

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Prince Charles was a teenage drinker - When he was just 14, Prince Charles ordered a cherry brandy at a pub in Stornoway.

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Prince Charles was a teenage drinker - Unfortunately for the young prince, a tabloid reporter overheard him order and the incident made headlines.

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Is Princess Michael of Kent racist? - Princess Michael of Kent reportedly has two black sheep that she named Venus and Serena Williams.

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Is Princess Michael of Kent racist? - She also wore a Blackamoor brooch to the Queen's Christmas lunch, where she met Meghan Markle. Blackamoor jewelry romanticizes slavery and is generally considered racially insensitive today.

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Is Princess Michael of Kent racist? -

In 2004, she reportedly told a group of black patrons at a New York City restaurant to "go back to the colonies". She then told the New York Post, "I did not say ‘back to the colonies'. I said ‘you should remember the colonies’. Back in the days of the colonies, there were rules that were very good".

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Mike Tindall went to a dwarf-tossing club - In 2011, Zara Phillips's rugby playing husband and several of his teammates admitted attending a dwarf-tossing event in a New Zealand bar.

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Mike Tindall went to a dwarf-tossing club - He later said that he did not regret attending the tasteless event and that "Not one player threw a dwarf."

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Mike Tindall went to a dwarf-tossing club - Actor Peter Dinklage used his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes the next year to condemn the event, asking viewers to look up Martin Henderson.

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Mike Tindall went to a dwarf-tossing club - Henderson was injured when he was picked up and dropped on the floor by a drunken crowd, which was blamed on the antics of the England rugby team.

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Edward VIII had Nazi connections - King Edward abdicated from the throne after less than a year to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.

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Edward VIII had Nazi connections - But the real cause for concern was the couple's ties to the Nazi party. Before, during, and after World War II, they were suspected of being Nazi sympathisers. In 1937, they toured Germany as guests of Adolf Hitler.

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Edward VIII had Nazi connections - In 1940, the Duke was appointed governor of the Bahamas, in what is regarded as a political attempt to distance the former monarch from the Nazi party.

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Prince Philip's mum was committed to an asylum and became a nun -

Princess Alice of Battenberg, who had been born deaf, was committed to a secure psychiatric sanatorium in 1931 after suffering a nervous breakdown.

(Photo: Wikimedia/Public domain)

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Prince Philip's mum was committed to an asylum and became a nun -

The strain of being exiled from Greece took its toll on the princess, and her religious beliefs became extreme. By 1930 she was reportedly hearing voices and believed she was having physical relationships with Jesus and other religious figures.

(Photo: Wikimedia/public domain)

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Prince Philip's mum was committed to an asylum and became a nun - Years later she hid a Jewish family on the top floor of her house, only yards from Gestapo headquarters. In her later life she founded a nursing order of Greek Orthodox nuns.

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Prince Philip's mum was committed to an asylum and became a nun - After her death, she was interred on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and honoured as Righteous Among the Nations for having hiding persecuted Jews in her house in Athens.

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The Queen stopped her own sister's marriage - In the early 1950s it was revealed that the Queen's sister was very close to the married Royal Air Force Officer Captain Peter Townsend.

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The Queen stopped her own sister's marriage - When rumours became too much to ignore, Townsend divorced his wife and immediately proposed to Princess Margaret.

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The Queen stopped her own sister's marriage - Townsend's divorced status made it impossible for Princess Margaret to marry him, as both the Church of England and parliament were firmly against the match.

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The Queen stopped her own sister's marriage - As Margaret was under the age of 25, the Queen had to approve of her sister's marriage to a divorced man. As head of the Church of England, she was unwilling to do so.

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The Queen stopped her own sister's marriage - Even after she was 25, the princess would be stripped of all her royal privileges and her income. Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend eventually called off their engagement and she married the more respectable Antony Armstrong-Jones.

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The Queen stopped her own sister's marriage - The couple had two children but very publicly separated in 1976. Buckingham Palace stated "HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and the Earl of Snowdon have mutually agreed to live apart. The Princess will carry out her public duties and functions unaccompanied by Lord Snowdon. There are no plans for divorce proceedings.” They divorced in 1978.

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Princess Margaret had many affairs - But the princess's indiscretions had started years earlier.

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Princess Margaret had many affairs - In 1973, she reportedly started an affair with a gardener 17 years her junior.

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Princess Margaret had many affairs - In 1976, a picture of the princess with her lover, Roddy Llewellyn, appeared on the front page of the News of the World.

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Princess Margaret had many affairs - It later emerged that Princess Margaret reportedly had her first extramarital affair in 1966, with her daughter's godfather Anthony Barton.

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Princess Margaret had many affairs - Intimate letters also indicate that she had a liaison with Robin Douglas-Home, a nephew of former British Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home.

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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were cousins - It's true. The Queen and her husband were first cousins and their family encouraged the pairing.

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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were cousins - They had nine children together. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are third cousins, which is still a little close for comfort.

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Prince Anne's husband had a love child - In 1973, Princess Anne married Lieutenant Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey.

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Prince Anne's husband had a love child - They separated in 1989 and divorced in 1992, but before then scandal rocked their marriage.

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Prince Anne's husband had a love child - Phillips had an affair with New Zealand art teacher, Heather Tonkin and their daughter was born in 1985.

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Prince Anne's husband had a love child - Phillips reportedly asked Tonkin to get an abortion but after she refused, paid her just £6,000 a year through an associate for what his accounts described as "equestrian consultancy".

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Prince Anne's husband had a love child - When the payments reportedly became erratic, Tonkin went public about the details.

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The dark secrets of the British royal family

Scandal and intrigue in the monarchy

11/21/19 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Scandal

Historical stories of royalty are filled with drama and scandal, but the contemporary royal family isn't squeaky clean either. Take a look at the dark secrets they'd rather hadn't got out.