The royals - Kitty Kelley [215]
January: Publication of photos of the Duchess of York and Steve Wyatt on vacation in Morocco. The Palace denies there is a problem in the Yorks’ marriage.
February: The Princess of Wales is criticized as unpatriotic when she exchanges her British-made Jaguar for a German-made Mercedes. “This is another example of the royal family showing contempt for British workers,” says Dennis Skinner, a Labor MP. “They live off the fat of the land with taxpayers’ money coming from British workers, and then they spit in their faces.” At the Queen’s insistence, Diana gives up the Mercedes—seven months later.
March: The Palace announces the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York.
April: After three years’ separation, Princess Anne divorces Captain Mark Phillips. A paternity suit filed against Phillips by a New Zealand teacher who claimed she conceived after “a one-night stand” is settled. Without acknowledging fatherhood, Phillips agrees to pay the mother an undisclosed sum of money for “equestrian consulting services.”
May: A love affair is reported between Princess Anne, forty-two, and thirty-seven-year-old Navy Commander Timothy Laurence. That prompts one newspaper columnist to exclaim, “Not Again, Anne!” Another warns: “Keep Your Hands off the Hired Help.” The Palace denies the Princess is involved with her equerry. Seven months later she marries him in Scotland, where divorce is permitted. Some courtiers deem the match unsuitable, not because the royal bride is divorced, but because the bridegroom on his great-great-great-grandfather’s side was Jewish. In 1826 the Laurence family had changed their name from Levy. Almost two centuries later this still prompts comment. One royal correspondent wrote, “One could not avoid the idea… [of]… his Jewish ancestors.”
June: Prince Edward, the Queen’s twenty-eight-year-old son, denies again that he’s homosexual. He then denies that he issued the denial, which prompts a Washington Post columnist to observe, “The youngest son gets by far the best press, by Windsorian standards, which means that he merely needs to spend every second Tuesday denying in print that he is a woman.”
July: Diana’s masseur tells the press Diana wants to end “the inherent deceit, unhappiness, and dissatisfaction” of her marriage. “The situation has to end,” says Stephen Twigg, who visited Kensington Palace regularly for three years to give the Princess holistic massages. “Otherwise there will be a tragedy.” Hours later Diana fires the therapist.
August: Newspaper photos show Sarah Ferguson topless with John Bryan in the South of France. Days later the Sun publishes a tape-recorded telephone call between Diana and James Gilbey in which she complains about her treatment from the royal family. “My life is torture,” she says. “Bloody hell. And after all I’ve done for this fucking family.”
September: The Palace denies there is a problem in the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
October: The Queen is booed in Germany. Residents of Dresden throw eggs at her limousine shortly after the British unveil a statue in London to honor the memory of Air Chief Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris, who directed the fire-bombing of Dresden during World War II.
“November brought the worst,” said the Queen. On Friday morning, November 20, 1992, the skies over Windsor Castle filled with orange balls of flame etched with black clouds of acrid smoke. A fire, started by a lamp that ignited the curtains in the Queen’s private chapel, threatened to destroy what Samuel Pepys called “the most romantic castle in the world.” Instead of sounding fire alarms, the staff called the castle switchboard for help. Prince Andrew, who was staying at Windsor for the weekend, rushed to