It was perhaps one of the darkest moments of her reign: 1992, a year of scandal and inconvenience for the royal family, known for being what Elizabeth II called the “annus horribilis”, a Latin expression meaning “horrible year”.
“1992 is not a year that I will look back on with unfailing pleasure. In the words of one of my kindest correspondents, it turned out to be an ‘annus horribilis’. I think I am not the only one to think so,” the sovereign said that year in a speech a few months after her ruby jubilee marking the 40th year of his reign.
The separation of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the divorce of Princess Anne, the publication of a controversial biography of Diana and the burning of Windsor Castle… A look back at 1992, the dark year that brought the Queen out of her traditional silence during his jubilee.
• March 19: separation of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
Relations between Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson officially began to deteriorate in March 1992, when the couple announced their separation. In August of the same year, the then Duchess of York faced a major scandal: intimate photos of her with American businessman John Bryan were published in the daily mirror.
The Duchess is on summer vacation at Balmoral Castle with the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Andrew when the scandal breaks. Elizabeth II would have been furious and Sarah would have returned to London the same day, says The Telegraph in 2012.
the daily mail he would later write that Prince Philip, affected by this affair, did not even want to be in the same room as Sarah and insisted that she “brought shame” to the entire royal family. Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will divorce in May 1996.
• April 23: Divorce of Princess Anne
In 1989, the daughter of Elizabeth II is involved in a thorny scandal. Humiliated by the multiple extramarital affairs of her first husband, Mark Philips, Princess Anne is seduced by Timothy Laurence, an illustrious unknown then queen’s squire.
Together, they exchange passionate letters. Letters that will mysteriously end up, some time later, on the desk of a British tabloid editor Sun. The royal palace then launched an investigation led by Scotland Yard.
The British newspaper explains that it cannot publish the content of the letters, considered “too hot” and is content simply to reveal the romance between Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence.
But another piece of news will shake the relationship between Anne and Mark Philips. A paternity test of the latter confirms that he is the father of a girl born of an extramarital relationship. Long reluctant to divorce her daughter, Elizabeth II will agree to an official separation between the princess and her ex-husband on April 23, 1992.
In December of the same year, Anne will say “yes” to Timothy Laurence, with whom she celebrated her 30th anniversary in 2022.
• June: Charles and Camilla’s affair is revealed and he divorces Diana
In the early 1990s, many newspaper articles chronicled Charles and Diana’s life as a couple, noting their complicated relationship and the prince’s affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles. “There were three of us in this marriage,” Diana Spencer summarized on this subject in an interview with the BBC in November 1995.
But in June 1992, the publication of a biography about Princess Diana, Diana: her true story, comes to set fire to gunpowder. This book, written by journalist Andrew Morton, reveals in detail the marital disagreement between the princess and her husband and gives more details about her relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Following these revelations, the couple separated in December 1992 before divorcing in August 1996.
• November 20: Fire at Windsor Castle
On November 20, 1992, while work was being carried out on the Royal Residence at Windsor, a lamp lit up a curtain. The fire spread rapidly, at 3:00 p.m. much of the north wing of the castle was reduced to ashes. Result: Nearly a hundred rooms are devastated, including St George’s Hall, a banquet hall, and the largest state apartment.
Informed of the fire by a phone call from Prince Andrew, Elizabeth II, then in Buckingham, went to the scene of the fire. In the place, no less than 250 firefighters are mobilized to try to put out the fire and many inhabitants help the castle employees to take valuables out into the street: paintings, furniture, carpets…
Windsor Castle will then be restored over five years, during a monumental project (5,000 workers, one hundred architects, etc.) estimated at 36.5 million pounds sterling.
Source: BFM TV
