5 scandals and controversies that headlined Queen Elizabeth II's reign

Queen Elizabeth was praised for her dedication to duty, but scandals involving her extended family regularly cast a shadow over her reign. She passed away on Thursday at the age of 96.

The Royal Family will announce official plans for the funeral, which is expected 10 days after the Queen's death. Since the Queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, her body will be brought to London by royal train. Operation Unicorn or Operation Overstudy will be activated for her body to be brought back to London.

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Here are a few of the most significant crises the royal family has gone through over her 70 years as the head of state.

Princess Margaret's love affair

Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, was at the centre of a number of scandals that rocked the monarchy at the start of her reign.

Margaret, a rebellious beauty, was compelled to break off her engagement to gorgeous Air Force Group Captain Peter Townsend in 1955 because the conservative traditions of the time deemed him inappropriate because he was divorced.

Instead, she was married to social photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones, well known as Lord Snowdon. That marriage ended after she had an affair with the landscape gardener Roddy Llewellyn, who was 18 years her junior.

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Marrying Prince Philip

Her decision to marry the Greek Prince Philip sparked significant debate. Although Philip served with distinction in the British Royal Navy during World War II, he had sisters who were married to Nazi-supporting German nobility. No one from his German relatives received an invitation to their wedding as a result.

Throughout her early reign as monarch, he was dogged by rumours that he was engaging in extramarital affairs.

In 1957, when Philip was on a solo tour of the Commonwealth, Mike Parker, the Queen's private secretary, was forced to leave after his wife filed for divorce. This raised concerns about the monarch's marriage.

In an unusual statement at the time, the queen's spokesman declared, "It is quite untrue that there is any rift between the Queen and the Duke."

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Fallout of Price Charles and Princess Diana

The main controversies during her rule was the failed union of her oldest son Charles and his first wife Diana as well as his connection with Camilla Parker Bowles, his first love, whom he later married following Diana's passing.

After getting married in 1981, Charles and Diana's marriage fell apart by the end of the decade and into the 1990s, and the couple was constantly mentioned in unfavourable reports in tabloid magazines.

According to a 1992 book by writer Andrew Morton, who later identified Diana as his major source, the bond between Diana and Charles was irreversibly broken. Diana's battles with eating disorders and suicide attempts were also covered in length in the book.

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The Megxit

Prince Harry, the Queen's grandson, was portrayed in the media as a royal wild child when he was younger. At a costume party, he offended many by dressed as a Nazi officer, admitting to taking marijuana and consuming alcohol while underage. He also brawled with paparazzi outside a London bar.

However, he rose to become one of the most popular royals because to his laid-back personality and military background, and his 2018 wedding to American actress Meghan Markle was heralded as the prototype for a new, modern monarchy.

They announced in January 2020 that they would retire from their royal obligations, inflicting a significant blow to the institution. They were unhappy with the intrusion into their life and the media's attention on it.

In a March 2021 TV appearance with American broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, they unleashed a savage attack on the royal family and Buckingham Palace after moving to Los Angeles. They alleged racism and that Meghan had been pressured to the point of contemplating suicide.

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