Why James Hewitt Ended His Affair With Princess Diana

As a royal married to the future King of England, Princess Diana had access to everything one could only wish for, including the finest jewels anyone had ever seen to the most luxurious accommodations behind closed doors at Buckingham Palace. But one thing that no amount of money could buy is the comfort of knowing that someone loves and trusts you as much as you do them. That might be the reason why there was so much speculation about alleged affairs in Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage, as they both at times looked happier separated than together.

In fact, Lady Di confirmed that she felt so lonely in her marriage that she did find herself in the arms of her horseback riding instructor, James Hewitt. During her interview with BBC Panorama in 1995, Princess Diana shocked the world when she admitted that their relationship was more than just an illicit affair. "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was very much in love with him," she said (via the BBC). She added, "But I was very let down."

Of course, a lot of people can't help but wonder why Hewitt decided to pull the plug on their secret relationship. And no, it's not because he was worried about cuckolding a man who would one day become the King of England. Read on below to find out why.

Princess Diana's most illicit affair was 'demanding'

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Princess Diana and James Hewitt reportedly began their affair in 1986 when he was asked to give the Princess of Wales horseback riding lessons. According to Anna Pasternak's 1994 book "Princess in Love," -- which, per the Independent, was written based on alleged steamy love notes sent from Diana to Hewitt — their tryst lasted five years and until 1991. Which was also a very turbulent period in Diana's marriage to Prince Charles.

According to Diana's former bodyguard Ken Wharfe's memoir, "Diana: Closely Guarded Secret," one of the reasons why Hewitt decided to end things with the Princess of Wales is simply because he couldn't keep up with her. Even though he was very enthusiastic about their relationship in the beginning, their secretive romances were beginning to become too much stress for him. In other words, their romance was getting too hot for Hewitt to handle and that's why he decided to end things.

"Ken, I need some time off," Hewitt reportedly begged to the bodyguard, according to Wharfe's memoir (via The Daily Mail). "The Princess can be so demanding."

Lady Di was left heartbroken by yet another man who couldn't commit to her

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Just how demanding Princess Diana was is something we might never know, nor the officer for that matter. James Hewitt got his wish when he was promoted to Major in the British Army and took a two-year posting position in Germany. His decision reportedly left Diana absolutely heartbroken, but little did she know at the time that Hewitt would later attempt to betray her. In 2003, Hewitt reportedly tried to sell his earlier mentioned personal letters from Diana to "the highest bidder," per the Daily Mail. 

He was reportedly ready to sell his collection, including two notes from a young Prince William, for $13 million. If that weren't enough, he was also reportedly the source of royal author Anna Pasternak's book, "Princess in Love" in 1994.

Being in love with a princess definitely took a toll on Hewitt's mental health as he even admitted to considering suicide after their affair had ended. Hewitt recalled (via The Telegraph), "I got in my car and loaded a few things up to get on the ferry to go to France –– to shoot myself ... And then my mother insisted on coming with me. ... So I owe her my life really." Princess Diana, of course, died in a car crash a few years later after their affair ended in 1997, owing her life to no one.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

Princess Diana's legacy is shaped by the way she weathered the many betrayals she faced, including Prince Charles' affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. However, multiple betrayals of the princess came as the result of a lesser-known affair: her own, with Major James Hewitt.

According to Anna Pasternak's 1994 book Princess in Love, Hewitt's affair with the princess began in 1986 and ended in 1991, per OprahMag.com. The pair reportedly met at a cocktail party, and shortly thereafter, the princess enlisted Hewitt to teach her how to ride a horse. "Only one thing went wrong," Hewitt wrote in his 1999 memoir, Love and War. "We fell in love." The affair ended shortly after Hewitt was posted to Germany to serve in the Gulf War.

When Princess in Love — which detailed Princess Diana's alleged affair with Hewitt — was published, the public perception was lukewarm; it was seen as a royal romance novel at best, and baseless tabloid fluff at worst. However, Hewitt himself served as a source for the book, and even gave Pasternak 64 letters the princess had written to him while he was serving in the war, according to Pasternak's 2020 essay in Tatler. Though Pasternak has since claimed Princess Diana knew about and even encouraged the book's publication, Hewitt's testimony to Pasternak was not the last time he aimed to exploit his affair with the princess.

James Hewitt tried to cash in on his affair with Princess Diana

Princess Diana discussed Anna Pasternak's Princess in Love and Major James Hewitt's role in it in her infamous 1995 Panorama interview. "There was a lot of fantasy in the book," she said, "and it was very distressing for me that a friend of mine, who I had trusted, made money out of me." Despite the princess' distress, Hewitt went on to publish his own tell-all memoir, Love and War, in 1999, which further detailed their five-year affair.

In 2003, Hewitt announced that he was prepared to sell the letters he exchanged with the princess for the right price. "I was interested when someone offered me a large sum of money," he told Larry King of CNN. "I think it's important to understand that they are or will become important historical documents." By 2015, Hewitt was still attempting to sell his private correspondence with the princess to the "highest bidder," per the Daily Mail. He was reportedly prepared to sell the entire collection, including two notes from a six-year-old Prince William, for the equivalent of approximately $13 million. Ultimately, Hewitt got "cold feet" and dropped the sale.

The affair and its aftermath are perhaps best summed up in Princess Diana's own words. "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very let down."

The Real Reason Prince Charles Was Jealous Of Princess Diana

Since Netflix released Season 4 of The Crown, many fans have begun to dive deeper into Princess Diana and Prince Charles tumultuous relationship. The streaming service's original drama series follows Queen Elizabeth II's reign from the 1940s to modern times. Thus, the fictionalized show explores an array of rumored royal secrets and scandals. Season 4, in particular, piled on the drama since it primarily revolves around Princess Diana, Prince Charles, and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, the now-Duchess of Cornwall. While Prince Charles' relationship with Camilla caused his marriage to crumble, it appears that there were other factors involved, including his jealousy toward Princess Di. 

So why was Prince Charles so jealous of his then-wife? In the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, fans of The Crown can get an inside look at Princess Diana's personal life and her thoughts about Prince Charles. The documentary shares archival footage where Diana not only opens up about her struggles with Charles, but also her issues when adapting to life inside the royal family. In one segment of the documentary, The People's Princess gets rather candid about her former husband's jealousy. As it turns out, Charles does not like sharing the spotlight. Keep reading to hear what Diana had to say about the matter. 

Prince Charles didn't like that Princess Diana stole his thunder

While Prince Charles was born to be in the spotlight, the future king grew jealous after he married Princess Diana because she consumed the public's interest.

In a personal recording from Diana: In Her Own Words, Princess Diana reveals,"Everybody always said, when we were in the car, 'Oh we're on the wrong side. We want to see her, we don't want to see him.' And that's all we could hear as we went down these crowds. And, obviously, he wasn't used to that. Nor was I. He took it out on me. He was jealous." She continued, "I understood the jealously, but I couldn't explain that I didn't ask for it. I kept saying, 'Whoever you married would have been of interest for the clothes, and how she handles this, that, and the other. And you've built the building block for your wife to stand on to make her own building block.' He didn't see that at all. I learned to be a royal in one week. I was thrown into the deep end, which, now, I prefer it that way."  

Diana further highlighted an instance of increased tension after William and Harry were born. "By then there was immense jealousy 'cause every single day I was on the front of the newspapers." After Harry was born, she claimed that their marriage officially "went down the drain." Perhaps it was because Prince Charles just could not accept that Diana was indeed the People's Princess, as he obviously wished the spotlight would stay on him. 

Netflix's The Crown has finally caught up to the more recent chapters of the royal family's life in Season 4, and, according to sources, the palace is not happy with the portrayal of their family dramas. Up until 2020, at least, no one from the royal family has ever commented on the series, though it was reported that Princess Eugenie told star Vanessa Kirby that her "granny" was a "big fan of the show," according to Marie Claire. At the very least, they're all watching now. 

 Per Forbes, Season 4 covers all of the drama throughout the '90s, including Prince Charles' marriage to Princess Diana, his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, Diana's reported eating disorder, and political events like "the ousting" of Margaret Thatcher in 1990. 

It's some of these portrayals that have bugged some members of the royal family and they're finally speaking out about it in the name of protecting their mother's image, if nothing else. 

The royals think The Crown is 'callous'

Per The Daily Mail, a source close to the royal family said that the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, is "none too pleased with it." The source reportedly added, "He feels that both his parents are being exploited and being presented in a false, simplistic way to make money. In this case, it's dragging up things that happened during very difficult times 25 or 30 years ago without a thought for anyone's feelings. That isn't right or fair, particularly when so many of the things being depicted don't represent the truth."

Another source said, per the Daily Mail, "But it is the depiction of a callous and self-serving Charles meeting and marrying an innocent Diana while maintaining his affair with the then-married Camilla Parker-Bowles which has sparked such anger." Another added, "There is no sense of telling carefully nuanced stories — it's all very two-dimensional. This is trolling with a Hollywood budget. The public shouldn't be fooled into thinking this is an accurate portrayal of what really happened." 

Of course, no television show can be perfectly accurate when it comes to the history of the royal family, given that the public can ever only know so much. But that doesn't mean it's not entertaining. 

The late Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell has been described as the royal's "closest confidante" and her "keeper of secrets," two descriptors that don't quite take into account the blabby butler's willingness to share her confidences at the drop of a black-and-white boater hat. (Despite the fact that she evidently took the secret of Burrell's homosexuality to her grave.)

Burrell first became Queen Elizabeth II's footman at the age of 18, moving to Highgrove in 1987 to tend to Prince Charles and Princess Diana (via The Telegraph). He subsequently joined Princess Diana in Kensington Palace after the royal marriage dissolved. Over the years, they reportedly developed quite a close relationship — to the point that Princess Diana would refer to Burrell as "her rock." But ever since her untimely death in a 1997 car accident, he's done a brisk business of serving up royal secrets. In 2002, he allegedly sold his "story" to British tabloid the Daily Mirror for somewhere between £250,000 and £500,000. He's also written two dishy memoirs (A Royal Duty and The Way We Were: Remembering Diana), performed a one-man show spilling even more secrets, and divulged yet more gossip during an appearance on the reality show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

From alleged sexual liaisons to rumored late-night rendezvous with street prostitutes, these are the royally scandalous secrets shared by this particularly mouthy manservant.

She allegedly sought out prostitutes

Did Princess Diana have a soft spot for sex workers?

In November 2002, Paul Burrell was acquitted on charges that he swiped hundreds of Princess Diana's belongings. The list of improbable items included a pepper grinder, an "Indiana Jones whip," several photos (one signed "Diana"), a Prada Milano bag, and a Baywatch trading card autographed by David Hasselhoff to Prince William (via ABC News). 

Following his acquittal, a voluminous, highly sensitive "statement of proof" from Burrell was leaked to the News of the World, as reported by The Telegraph. In an article inelegantly headlined "Di's Whore-Able Secret," the New York Post picked up one of its most scandalous claims: Burrell allegedly would escort Princess Diana to Paddington Station so she could hang out with prostitutes. In her book The Fortune Hunters, author Charlotte Hays claimed the ladies would politely chit-chat with Princess Diana outside her BMW: "Hi, Princess Di. How are you?" She would allegedly respond with something like, "I'm fine. Have you been busy?" According to Burrell, she even took out "two crisp fifty-pound notes" on occasion, saying, "Look, girls, have the night off on me. Go home to your children."

Princess Diana allegedly tried placating Burrell on those wild nights, saying, "Oh, Paul, lighten up. Those girls need help."

Princess Diana allegedly thought Prince Charles wanted her dead

A few hours before royal coroner Michael Burgess opened a formal inquest into the deaths of both Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed in January 2004, British tabloid the Daily Mirror published an explosive front-page story that alleged that Diana had suspected her ex-husband, Prince Charles, had wanted to kill her (via People).

As detailed in his memoir A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell claimed Princess Diana penned the troubling letter in October 1996, ten months before she was killed in a fatal car accident in Paris, France. The letter reportedly read, "My husband is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury ... to make the path clear for him to marry." The BBC was quick to point out that there was absolutely no evidence whatsoever to back up those claims (via People).

Princess Diana was reportedly on the brink of a breakdown when she wrote the letter, still suffering the emotional fallout from her divorce to Prince Charles, according to The Evening Standard. Acquaintances of Prince Charles put no stock in the report at all. "It is risible and deeply hurtful," said one friend. "I am sure nobody really believes this preposterous claim."

The Daily Star reported Burrell subsequently shared the physical letter during a 2017 interview on Australia's Sunday Night, saying, "This particular letter is rather poignant because it is rather spooky thinking that she saw and prophesied her own death."

Burrell would reportedly help Princess Diana induce vomiting

In the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, interview footage shot in 1992 and 1993 featured Princess Diana opening up about her fraught relationship with Prince Charles and revealing that she'd met him only 13 times before they were married (via The Independent). Shortly after learning of her husband's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (now the Duchess of Cornwall), Princess Diana said she developed bulimia. "Everyone in the family knew about the bulimia," she said, "and everyone blamed the bulimia for the failure of the marriage." She felt like the eating disorder was a far more "discreet" way of hurting herself, unlike alcohol abuse.

In August 2017, mere days before the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death, Paul Burrell appeared on the British show In Therapy, a sort of "celebrity counseling show," according to the Mirror. During his appearance, Burrell claimed he was just "doing his duty" by enabling Princess Diana's bulimia. "I'd get the chef to prepare a gallon of custard," he told Mandy Saligari, the program's psychologist. "And I'd buy yoghurt and lots of bananas and prepare the room to make sure she was comfortable."

Acknowledging that he was setting the scene so Princess Diana could make herself sick, Burrell confessed, "I'd make sure there was a pile of towels. I was doing my duty. I'd have done anything for Diana."

​She'd reportedly buy pregnancy tests for a giggle

Shyness doesn't preclude mischievousness; in fact, the traits sometimes go hand in hand. According to the Daily Mail, Princess Diana possessed a mercurial sense of humor that rather belied her "Shy Di" persona. (The Independent somewhat awkwardly hailed her a "shy rebel princess with a cause.") In the ITV documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, claimed Princess Diana sent them "the rudest cards" on the regular. Meanwhile, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, revealed his late mother's motto: "You can be as naughty as you want, just don't get caught."

Unless, of course, you want to get caught. In a leaked 39-page police statement, former royal butler Paul Burrell claimed one of Princess Diana's all-time favorite pranks was breezing into her local pharmacy and blithely purchasing home pregnancy tests.

"She would take great delight going to the counter in Boots," Burrell said, "[and] picking up Predictor pregnancy kits or contraceptives" (via Daily Mail). At the time she was indulging in this performance art, the British tabloids were often aswirl with speculation that Diana was expecting her third child, with the Daily Express hungrily wondering in 1985 (via The Sun-Sentinel), "Is Princess Diana pregnant?"

​Princess Diana was reportedly in a 'secret' second car crash

On Aug. 31, 1997, Diana died in a tragic car accident when her Mercedes S280 limousine crashed in France's Pont de l'Alma tunnel. According to Burrell, she was also involved in another accident several years prior. He told his story in a February 2018 episode of Australia's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, during a "psychic reading" by "celebrity medium" John Edward (via the Mirror).

The tale was prompted by what sounds like a "cold reading" on Edward's part, who told Burrell, "You had a friend who passed in a vehicle accident." Burrell took the ballsy bait, replying, "Were there two car accidents?" Edward responded, "I'm feeling like there were two car accidents — almost like one was foreshadowing and one was tragic."

A seemingly rattled Burrell exclaimed, "Yes! You couldn't possibly know that." Later in the episode, Burrell opened up about this alleged secret accident to Real Housewives of Melbourne star Jackie Gillies, who naively proclaimed Edward was "speaking to [Diana's] spirit." Burrell told her the late princess was "frightened that night," adding, "She crashed her car. ... She was in the middle of nowhere."

When Princess Diana allegedly asked Burrell what to do in the aftermath of the accident, he told her to lock herself "in the ladies loo in the nearest hotel and I'll come and get you." Burrell claimed he retrieved Princess Diana from that restroom and then made arrangements to have her car towed.

She allegedly blamed herself for her mother's absence

In February 2018, former royal butler Paul Burrell revealed yet another of Princess Diana's purported secrets. While it's well known that she had a highly strained relationship with her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, Burrell claimed that strain was at the root of some of Diana's emotional problems. "[She] always thought it was her fault that mummy had left home," he revealed on an episode of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! (via Daily Mail). Burrell also claimed Shand Kydd "wasn't a very kind person. Not very motherly."

Burrell asserted that Shand Kydd's treatment of Princess Diana informed her eating disorder, saying that she "blamed herself" for her mother's perpetual absence. "That's where her anorexia started," he said. "She suffered with it all her life. She punished herself."

According to the Express, several viewers were displeased by Burrell's statements, taking to social media to share their ire. "Good lord! He does like to come out with Diana related stuff every now and again to seem relevant," wrote one. A fellow tweeter fumed, "Paul Burrell on his 100th reality show since Princess Di died."

She allegedly snuck several paramours into Kensington Palace

Following her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996, Princess Diana reportedly took more than a few lovers — and she also went to Herculean lengths to keep these late-night trysts secret. According to former royal butler Paul Burrell, he'd have to find ways to "smuggle" Diana's paramours into Kensington Palace, performing bold feats of romantic espionage that included hiding the men in the trunk of his car.

According to Burrell's notorious, oddly well-spoken 39-page police statement, it sounds like the process teetered towards bedroom-farce territory. In order "to facilitate the arrangements in relation to the Princess's male friends," Burrell reportedly told officers guarding the gate that he was "going on an errand" and didn't want to be stopped upon his return (via Daily Mail). "I would then flash my lights and they would open the barrier and let me in," he claimed.

Upon returning to Kensington Palace with the secret lover in tow, Burrell said he wouldn't make a formal announcement that he was with somebody, so police wouldn't have a record. Princess Diana's former lover Dr. Hasnat Khan reportedly stayed with her overnight on several occasions, and it was up to Burrell to sneak him out the following morning. He said Khan "would be left to sleep [in the palace] until later in the morning, at which point I would give him something to eat and then take him home." A royally romantic racket.

Burrell claimed Dr. Khan was her soulmate

All this alleged sneakiness — the late-night prostitute visits, the lovers hidden in trunks — evidently turned Princess Diana into a master at evading press. Following her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996, she concealed her relationship with heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan (pictured, left) for 18 months, according to Tina Brown's book, The Diana Chronicles (via Vanity Fair). Meanwhile, her mouthy former butler Paul Burrell claimed Dr. Khan was the love of her life. "The Princess loved many of her male friends," he said in a leaked statement to police, "but she was in love with Hasnat Khan" (via the Daily Mail).

In fact, Burrell claimed Diana asked a Roman Catholic priest if there was any way she could marry Dr. Khan privately. Burrell allegedly had to personally deliver the news to Diana "that this was not possible." He recalled an evening when Princess Diana was celebrating her birthday "wearing sapphire and diamond earrings and look[ing] absolutely stunning." He claimed she later ran upstairs, removed all her clothes, and stepped out to meet Dr. Khan wearing only a fur coat.

But Burrell said their relationship faced an insurmountable "stumbling block." Dr. Khan allegedly "could not stand the pressure placed on him by the press in the outside world and he found that he had no protection." As Tina Brown put it, he "couldn't face the onslaught of becoming Di's New Guy in every tabloid newspaper." Their relationship ultimately dissolved in the summer of 1997.

​Her alleged last words to her trusted confidant

During a March 2018 episode of Australia's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, butler Paul Burrell abruptly burst into tears as he opened up about Princess Diana's death. 

"I do have a dream of me sitting alone with the Princess crossed legged on the floor and she is wearing a blue dress," he confessed (via the Express). "It's the last dress I saw her in." Burrell admitted he initially thought Diana was merely "playing a trick" and wasn't really dead at all. He allegedly even "sat with her" after she died, trying to make sense of the scenario: "I held her hand and I said to her, 'Wake up, wake up, you're not really dead, are you?" 

Those revelations came on the heels of a February 2018 episode that found Burrell sharing Diana's alleged final words to him: "The last things she said to me were on the phone," he revealed (via Yahoo!). "She was in Paris and the very last words were, 'Promise me you will always be there.'" He reportedly replied, "I promise I will always be there."

Following her death, Burrell came to an epiphany: It was his duty to take care of everything that Diana had left behind. "She couldn't do that and she left me to do that," he said, "so I had to take care of her world and the people in it." 

Evidently, this provision doesn't include keeping her secrets.

What These Royals Want You To Forget About Their Past

The royal family — they're arguably the most respected and followed family in the world. They're also one of the most scandalous.

Over the years, Britain's royal family has endured more than enough scandals to fill an entire season's worth of Jerry Springer. From lurid affairs to naked romps in hotel rooms, here are the many scandals the royal family probably wishes it could erase from the record books.

Prince Harry used to be a party boy

Today, he is known for his many admirable causes and his marriage to actress Meghan Markle. But as recently as 2012, Prince Harry had a reputation for being the ultimate royal family wild child. In August of that year, Harry created a major headache for Buckingham Palace when TMZ obtained photos of the young Prince stripped down to his birthday suit while partying it up in Las Vegas.

The admittedly embarrassing photos further painted Harry in the press as a reckless party boy, the same absent-minded Royal who once wore a Swastika to a party in 2005. He'd go on to apologize for his Vegas romp, as he did for the Nazi costume, admitting that he had let both himself and his family down through his actions. And yet, it would be many years before the public and certainly the press saw him as anything more than what they saw in that infamous Las Vegas hotel suite.

By comparison to his younger brother, Prince William's scandals have been rather tame, if boring. But that doesn't mean they've been any less embarrassing. In March 2017, for example, William surely turned 50 shades of red after TMZ published multiple videos of the Prince dancing in a Switzerland nightclub like an awkward uncle who had one too many cocktails at his niece's wedding. (Yep, he even raised the roof.)

The nightclub mishap was just one of many scandals to come out of a ski trip William had taken with his friends; at one point, The Sun also obtained photos of William and pals hanging out with a 24-year-old Australian model. As such, it was less than surprising when Vanity Fair published a report alleging that wife Kate Middleton was "less than pleased" with her husband's weekend getaway.

Another moment Kate Middleton was less than pleased about: a vacation to Provence, France in 2012, during which the paparazzi secretly took photos of the new Duchess sunbathing topless. The photos were later published in the French magazine Closer, while other bikini shots made their way into the French newspaper La Provence, sparking outcry from St. James' Palace, which compared the incident to the "worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales."

According to People, a formal investigation was launched by French authorities in 2013; by 2017, six men associated with the scandal went to trial. At the time of the trial, a prepared statement by Prince William was read to the court, saying, "My wife and I thought that we could go to France for a few days in a secluded villa owned by a member of my family, and thus enjoy our privacy. We know France and the French, and we know that they are, in principle, respectful of private life, including that of their guests. The clandestine way in which these photographs were taken was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy."

Charles' unfortunate leaked phone call to his mistress

Getty Images

Much has been and continues to be written about the downfall of the marriage of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. But few moments remain as infamous as a phone call Prince Charles made to his then-mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, in December 1989, during which they jokingly fantasized about Charles being reincarnated as one of Bowles' tampons. "My luck to be chucked down a lavatory and go on and on forever swirling round on the top, never going down ... Until the next one comes through," Charles says at one point in the secretly recorded conversation (via the Mirror) that was later leaked to the press in 1993. "Oh, perhaps you could just come back as a box ...," Bowles replies. "A box of Tampax, so you could just keep going ... Repeating yourself ... (laughing). Oh, darling, oh I just want you now."

Charles and Diana, who was also the subject of leaked phone conversations in 1992, were granted a divorce in 1996, only a year before Diana died tragically in Paris, France. Remarkably, Charles and Bowles survived the scandal and went on to marry in 2005. They remain together to this day.

Fergie's questionable relationships with other men

Sarah Ferguson's marriage to Prince Andrew (we'll get to him in a bit) was filled with tabloid fodder, especially in the many months leading up to and after their separation in 1992. Among Ferguson's biggest scandals involved her friendship with an oil tycoon from Texas, Steve Wyatt, with whom she vacationed in Morocco and the South of France, much to the dismay of the Queen. According to The New York Times, a handful of photos from their vacation eventually leaked to the British press in 1992, which sent Andrew (who, mind you, was away on royal duties at the time) into a "jealous rage" that catalyzed their separation.

But before the dust could even settle on that scandal, another one broke in August that year when The Daily Mirror published scandalous photos of Ferguson on a vacation in Saint-Tropez with her financial advisor, John Bryan, and two daughters. Among the published photos included a shot of Bryan kissing her toes and another in which a topless Ferguson is seen covering her breasts, according to People.

Remarkably, Andrew and Ferguson did not divorce until 1996. And yet, Ferguson would remain a fixture in the tabloids for years to come.

Fergie's bribery drama

In recent years, Ferguson's headline-making acts have included everything from reports of financial woes to a whole lot of drama involving the country of Turkey. But arguably her biggest scandal of the last decade came in May 2010 when she got caught on videotape bribing an undercover reporter for News of the World with access to her ex-husband in exchange for nearly $750,000.

Naturally, the press had a field day with the videotape, prompting Ferguson to sit down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey about a month later. "There aren't really many words to describe an act of such grave stupidity," Ferguson admitted (via ABC News), adding that she had been "in the gutter" from drinking.

Pretty much anything involving Prince Andrew

Even without the Fergie drama, the life of Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, has been filled with a seemingly never-ending list of scandals. According to the Telegraph, his seemingly endless romances and lavish lifestyle on taxpayers' pounds have earned him nicknames like "Randy Andy" and "Air-Miles Andy," the latter of which continues to pop up in the press to this day. Even more troubling are his questionable ties to foreign countries and controversial dictators. Heck, at one point, even rocker Courtney Love alleged that the Prince once showed up to her house "looking to party," while publications like Vanity Fair and The Washington Post have published articles titled "The Trouble With Andrew" and "The Many Scandals of Prince Andrew," respectively.

But one of his most damaging scandals involved his years-long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire financier and registered sex offender who was once sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting prostitution. Andrew was famously photographed walking in Central Park with Epstein shortly after Epstein's release from prison. Even crazier, he was linked to a 17-year-old girl who claimed to have been Epstein's sex slave, a scandal that forced Andrew to resign as Britain's "special representative" for Trade and Investment. He was later accused of sexually abusing the 17-year-old girl, Virginia Roberts, in court documents, prompting Buckingham Palace to issue a full-on denial. The allegations were later stricken from the record.

Princess Anne gets divorced

In April 1989, Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, faced rumors that the royal's marriage to Captain Mark Phillips was crumbling after the British tabloid The Sun obtained four love letters written to her by one of the Queen's equerries, Comdr. Timothy Laurence. The Palace confirmed the existence of the letters, and by August that year, Anne and Phillips had separated, according to People.

In 1991, it was discovered that Phillips had fathered an illegitimate child nicknamed Bunny. He and Anne were granted a divorce the following year, the same year that Anne and Laurence got hitched.

In 2012, it was reported that Phillips had left his second wife for a woman 30 years his junior. Never a dull moment with this family, indeed.

There are times when being a royal is less than awesome. Many everyday things us commoners take for granted are off limits to them, and that includes anonymity. The royals are swimming in a pool of traditions, wearing the undersized thong of a royal title, all while living under the magnifying glass of the media — so when they do something dumb, or even something just slightly normal for anyone else, they're on the front page. Here are a few surprising royal scandals that you may not have heard of.

Kate goes topless

In September 2012 while on holiday at a private french chateau, Kate Middleton made the decision to sunbathe topless — but that isn't the scandal. Unknown to her, there were photographers on a road five hundred yards away with telephoto lenses, and they caught the whole thing on film. The photos were quickly published in the French magazine Closer and the Italian magazine Chi. Ordinarily a woman sunbathing topless wouldn't be noteworthy, but Kate is royalty, and royal boobs are front page news. In this instance, the French courts quickly imposed an injunction preventing further publications, and started criminal investigations.

Prince Philip's mouth

The Duke of Edinburgh puts his foot in his mouth so often he must have installed a shoe rack by now. Lucky for him, it usually gets put down to his age and a "quirky" sense of humor. But it's actually not a surprise that a man born in 1921 forgets how far and fast an offhand remark can travel. Here are just a few of his less offensive gaffes: In 1981, during a recession in the UK, he was heard to say, "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed." In 1995, he was having a conversation with a Scottish driving instructor when he asked, "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?" In 2000, he commented on the British class system: "People think there's a rigid class system here, but dukes have been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans."

Harry picks the wrong costume

Harry has been a fairly common sight in the scandal columns, mostly as a result of his "boisterous" teenage years, but this error of judgement stands out. In January 2005, Harry was photographed at a private costume party wearing a World War II German uniform with a swastika armband. An inappropriate costume for anyone, it could be argued, but especially so for Prince Harry. It seems that Harry didn't take long putting his costume together, but causing offense never takes much effort. An apology was quickly issued, but that didn't stop people like the Israeli Foreign Minister, and members of parliament, from expressing their displeasure.

Charles says what he thinks

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During the run up to his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Charles made the mistake of voicing his opinion a little too loudly near a microphone. While enjoying a skiing holiday in Switzerland in 2005, Charles agreed to do a brief photocall with his sons. Fifty journalists were invited to the event with the agreement that the royal party would afterwards be left in peace to enjoy their holiday. But it wasn't long before Charles started voicing his displeasure, commenting under his breath, "I hate doing this," and then, "I hate these people." Unfortunately Charles had no idea his whispers could be heard and it only got worse when a question was posed to Charles about his forthcoming nuptials. Nicholas Witchell, the BBC's royal correspondent, was given permission to ask the question, but all he got in response was undisguised sarcasm. The Prince of Wales then turned his head and muttered, "Bloody people. I can't bear that man. He's so awful, he really is."

Cash for access

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, a.k.a. Fergie, was married to Prince Andrew (Queen Elizabeth's second son) for ten years before they divorced in 1996. She didn't get much in the divorce, and when her American businesses failed in 2009, she was left struggling for money. Despite the breakdown of their marriage, Fergie and Prince Andrew were known to be on good terms, and in 2010 she tried to cash that friendship in. Prince Andrew was working as a British trade envoy at the time, and in an attempt to make some money, she offered to help a foreign businessman to gain access to Prince Andrew and his influence in exchange for 500,000 pounds. What she didn't know was that the businessman was an undercover reporter working for the News of the World. Pretty soon her offer was front page news, and a giant headache for the Royal family.

Prince Andrew's ill-advised bromance

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Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has a private island in the Caribbean and spends a lot of money funding science research and education. But he's also a registered sex offender. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew had been friends with Epstein for a number of years, and stayed on his private island and at his New York mansion on numerous occasions. So it's no wonder that when the muck started flying at Epstein, some of it hit Andrew. Andrew was even named in a lawsuit against Epstein, claiming he took part in orgies with underage girls. Although the accusations were struck from the record by the presiding judge, Andrew's name is now irrevocably smeared by his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

What happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay in Vegas

Prior to his second deployment to Afghanistan, Prince Harry spent some time in Las Vegas, but the royal probably trusted in that old saying a little too much. While there, he was seen chatting to celebrities and sunning himself by the pool, but the party didn't stop there. At one point during the trip, Harry invited some people back to his room for a private party, and, if reports are accurate, a game of strip billiards. Unfortunately for Harry, one of his guests took a photo, and his bad boy reputation got an unwanted boost. Speaking later about the affair, Harry was quoted as saying, "It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince."

Prince Harry has grown into his role over the years, becoming one of the most prominent and popular members of the British royal family. As a result, the ginger prince and wife Meghan Markle are regularly plastered across the front pages of newspapers and magazines the world over — but the coverage isn't always positive. Since tying the knot at Windsor Castle in May 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have campaigned hard for various environmental and humanitarian causes, while seemingly going out of their way to create a new look for the royal family. But not everyone is buying it, as the press has branded them hypocrites on several occasions.

While the British media has been accused of having a chip on its shoulder about former Suits actress Markle, this kind of attention is nothing new for Prince Harry. He's seen by most as a charming prince today, but once had a reputation for being the unruly black sheep of the royal family ... a reputation that the tabloids helped enforce. The prince's news-making extracurricular exploits have included alleged drug use, fighting, nakedness, and more over the years. Of course, none of these are words you'd expect to come after the name of a royal in a headline. So, did this duke really deserve all that bad press? This is the untold truth of Prince Harry.

Conspiracy theorists claim Prince Charles isn't Prince Harry's real father

Despite Prince Harry's strong resemblance to Prince Charles, rumors endure that Charles isn't Harry's real father. In fact, some conspiracy theorists believe that Princess Diana's former lover, James Hewitt, is actually the real baby daddy. The so-called smoking gun? The prince in question happens to have red hair just like Hewitt.