The Royal Family at War

In this episode: perhaps the most public marriage breakdown in British Royal history; the demise of the marriage of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. Also, the biggest crisis the Crown has ever faced, King Edward VIII’s abdication, but what are the details of the row between his bride, Wallis Simpson, and the Queen Mother? From one of the biggest stories of the past, to modern day Royals; the rumored feud between Meghan Markle and the Duchess of Cambridge. Does it spell the end for the ‘Fab Four’? A generation earlier we had another Fab Four in Charles, Diana, Fergie and Andrew, but there was a bizarre falling out between Diana and Fergie that never got resolved. And how a Royal on the periphery of the family has caused more than her fair share of upset over the years; Princess Michael of Kent was caught criticising Diana to an undercover reporter and more recently sparked a racism row over a piece of jewellery she wore when meeting Meghan Markle for the first time.

Renowned royal biographer Penny Junor – author of ‘The Duchess: The Untold Story’ – sheds light on the rumoured conflict between the Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen claiming that at one stage, “if the Queen could have opened up a large hole and put Camilla into it, it would have been perfect as far as she was concerned.” We go back in time and look at one of the most famous royal scandals of the 20th century – when Princess Margaret wanted to marry the divorcee Peter Townsend – which caused consternation within the Windsors. As well as looking at the less well known squabbles – such as former Duchess of York – Sarah Ferguson, butting heads with the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip. As royal correspondent for Vanity Fair, Katie Nicholl explains, “the Duke of Edinburgh never forgave Sarah for the embarrassment and the humiliation that she had reaped.”