Prince Harry is not an isolated case: The most scandalous royal memoirs

This publication is eagerly awaited: Prince Harry, 37, is due to publish his memoirs shortly. Royal fans can hardly wait, but there has been an uproar in Buckingham Palace for months. The royal family should be a little more relaxed now. Memoirs from her own ranks shouldn’t really upset her. After all, there are already some sensational templates in this regard, as the magazine “Tatler” has researched – and not only with the Windsors.

The six most scandalous royal memoirs in history

‘Dream and Life of a Queen’ (1935) by Marie, Queen of Romania

She was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and became the last queen of Romania herself: Princess Marie of Edinburgh (1875-1938) was born with her exciting life story – and a little more. Daughter of Alfred of Edinburgh, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844-1900), and Marija Alexandrovna Romanova (1853-1920), daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1818-1881), was not at birth endowed only with deep blue blood, but also with extraordinary beauty. The admirers stood in line: Winston Churchill, †90, then not yet British Prime Minister, and also the future King George V., †70, courted her. But the coveted Royal chose Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania (1865-1927). However, she found true love in the people of her adopted country Romania.

Marie packed her eventful life into three volumes: In it she describes her commitment to the Red Cross during the First World War and her commitment to the citizens of her country as part of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. She did not shy away from spicy details either: The queen not only had a heart for her fellow human beings, she kept rediscovering her passion for changing lovers. The intimate confessions even prompted the British author Virginia Woolf, † 59, to comment: “Words are dangerous things, we remember. A republic could be brought into being through a poem.”

“The End of Rasputin. Memoirs” (1928) by Prince Felix Yusupoff

He belonged to the Russian nobility and was a distant relative of the Romanovs. In his memoirs he brought the unbelievable to light: Prince Felix Jussupoff (1887-1967) was one of the main masterminds in the murder of the itinerant preacher Grigori Rasputin, † 47, in 2016 – and boasted about the terrible details in his memoirs. Through his marriage to the Tsar’s niece Irina Alexandrovna Romanova (1895-1970), he was considered one of the most prominent men in Russia. As such, he apparently felt compelled to take part in the deadly conspiracy against religious leaders.

Rasputin was accused of inciting the Russian people against the imperial family. The main reason for this was the proximity to the tsarina. Prince Felix claimed that he and his accomplices first served Rasputin a cake poisoned with potassium cyanide and Madeira wine. The assassination attempt went wrong. As a result, he was shot three times in the chest and initially left behind supposedly dying. However, the seriously injured victim was still able to drag himself into the inner courtyard of the palace. The assassins eventually submerged Rasputin in the freezing cold waters of a river, where he eventually died. Statements that were partially invalidated by the autopsy: No traces of potassium cyanide were found in the stomach of the dead man. In addition, the preacher had not eaten any sweets since an attack on him in 2014 due to a stomach ailment. Apparently Jussupoff intended with his imaginative description to let his deed against the mysterious and almost invincible enemy go down in the annals as a heroic deed.

‘Raising a Princess: A Memoir’ (1930) and ‘A Princess in Exile’ (1932) by Maria, Grand Duchess of Russia

Her person fascinated the world: Maria, Grand Duchess of Russia (1890-1958) exiled member of the royal family, wrote two memoirs that were devoured worldwide: “Raising a Princess: A Memoir” and “A Princess in Exile”. She was the cousin of Tsar Nicholas II and, as a member of the Romanovs, had to flee her country after the collapse of the monarchy. She first made stops in Bucharest, London and Paris before emigrating to the USA.

From a happy and privileged childhood in St. Petersburg to the banishment of her father, who remarried without the tsar’s blessing, to the violent revolution and her work as a nurse during the First World War – Maria’s story moved hearts. Her brother Dmitri, like Prince Felix Jussupoff, was also involved in the murder of Rasputin and was banished. Her own escape from Russia was like an adventure.

“A King’s Tale. The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor” (1951)

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, 41, caused a stir in the United Kingdom in 2020 with their withdrawal from all royal obligations. But actually the so-called Megxit was just a repetition of history – at least to some extent. In 1936, the great-granduncle of Prince Charles’ youngest son, 73, was already causing a scandal that was far more startling. When the then King Edward VIII, †78, gave up his throne for love, it wasn’t just Buckingham Palace that trembled. The monarch resigned in order to be able to marry the already divorced American Wallis Simpson, † 89.

Later, in his exile in France, he wrote his memoirs entitled “A King’s Story” and in the memoirs described his side of events. In his life review, he denied that he had given up duty because of love: “I certainly got married because I chose the path of love. But I resigned because I chose the path of duty. I have it Crown not so disregarded that I hastily gave it away.”

“The Heart Has Its Reasons” by the Duchess of Windsor (1955)

But not only the resigned King of England looked back. Edward’s wife also described her life at his side. However, it was not primarily about the couple’s love affair, as the title of the memoir suggests. Rather, the exile royal’s wife described her glamorous lifestyle at his side.

Of course, childhood and young years should not be missing either. Wallis wasn’t exactly flattering when it came to her first husband, Winfield Spencer Jr. After about 150 pages, she set her sights on her second husband and outlined their not very befitting affair, which within a very short time propelled her into the upper spheres of British society. With the abdication of the monarch, however, the passion under the spell of previously forbidden love apparently lost its luster.

“My Story” by Duchess Sarah of York (1996)

Sarah Ferguson, 62, has made a name for herself as an author in recent years, primarily with children’s books. However, she earned her first spurs in this field by writing her memoirs after the end of her marriage to Prince Andrew, 62. In 1996 “her story” was published as a member of the British Royals.

Among other things, the focus was on her life in the limelight and being pursued by the paparazzi. Certainly, Sarah left almost no faux pas during this time. Her alleged affairs during her relationship with Queen Elizabeth’s second son, 96, brought the British Yellowpress high sales figures. In particular, a photo that allegedly showed the American financial manager John Bryan sucking her toe caused a sensation. Sarah tried in her memoirs to expose the snapshot taken from a distance as a mirage and protested how embarrassed she faced the royal relatives in view of the slippery story and apologized. Today, images like this are a thing of the past. The mother of Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 32, has calmed down and leads a royal life at a distance: she has been living with her ex-husband again in the Royal Lodge in Windsor for several years. Officially, however, her life as a royal in the service of the crown is a thing of the past.

Source used: tatler.com

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