Infamous Royal Scandals: Part 4: Juan Carlos I & Queen Elizabeth II "Annus Horribilis"

 Royal scandals are nothing new. Recently the History Channel put together a list of 8 Royal Scandals. Since you may be unfamiliar with them, this is the final of 4 blogs on them! 

8 Infamous Royal Scandals (PART 4) 

These scandals drew public fascination and scrutiny, compromising the mystique of monarchies across Europe.

  BY: JESSICA PEARCE ROTONDI, HISTORY COM PUBLISHED: MARCH 15, 2024

7. Juan Carlos I of Spain Shoots His 14-Year-Old Brother Dead, 1956 

On March 29, 1956, the 14-year-old Infante [Prince] Alfonso of Spain was shot in the forehead with a .22-caliber revolver. Several accounts of what happened that night exist, but one thing is clear: The shooter was the prince’s own brother, 18-year-old Juan Carlos. The boys’ father, Infante Juan, rushed into the room and attempted to revive his son, but the teenager died in his arms. The death was ruled accidental and no autopsy was performed. After his burial, the exiled king threw the pistol that had fired the fatal shot into the ocean.

This was far from the last controversy to plague Juan Carlos. He abdicated the throne in 2014 and left Spain in 2020 following a series of financial scandals.

8. Queen Elizabeth’s 'Annus Horribilis,' 1992 

Queen Elizabeth II called 1992 her “Annus Horribilis” after a series of misfortunes plagued the royal family. Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, and Prince Charles announced their divorces; Windsor Castle caught fire; and leaked phone calls and an explosive book intensified the “War of the Waleses” between heir to the throne Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Andrew Morton’s Diana: Her True Story named Camilla Parker Bowles as Prince Charles’s lover and divulged details about Princess Diana’s mental health struggles. “Morton’s book effectively shattered the mystique of the monarchy,” says Carly Ledbetter, a senior reporter at HuffPost who covers the royal family. “One could easily conclude that The Firm was messy, it was human, and it wasn’t as impenetrable as everyone thought.”

Scrutiny intensified when phone conversations between Diana and her lover, James Gilbey, were released, followed by a private conversation between Charles and Camilla. The media had a field day, nicknaming the scandals “Squidgeygate” and Tampongate” based on intimate details from the calls. “Tampongate and Squidgeygate had an enormous impact on the credibility of the royal family,” says Ledbetter. “The recorded phone calls greatly impacted the public perception of the heir to the throne and called into question Charles’ ability to one day be king.”