Are The British Royal Family Having Another Annus horriblis?
Read on…
The year was 1992.
And the late Queen Elizabeth II was giving a speech commemorating her 40th anniversary on the throne and she uttered the phrase which would forever be immortalized in British popular culture:
1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.
And with good reason too, given the list of things which had taken place:
Publication of photographs pertaining to an affair between Sarah, Duchess of York, and Texan oil millionaire Steve Wyatt (18 January)
Separation of the Queen’s second son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, from his wife Sarah (19 March)
Divorce of the Queen’s daughter, Anne, Princess Royal, from Captain Mark Phillips (23 April)
Publication of Diana, Princess of Wales’ tell-all book Diana: Her True Story, revealing the problems in her marriage to the Queen’s eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales particularly his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (The Sunday Times, 7 June)
Publication of photographs of Sarah, Duchess of York, sunbathing topless with her friend John Bryan (20 August)