The month of June has seen many significant events in the British royal family history. According to royalty, it was taboo for a King or Prince to marry a divorcee. So what happens when the Head of the Church of England himself breaks the rules?
King Edward VIII, born on June 23, 1894, gave up his throne just months after his coronation to marry his beloved, Wallis Simpson. She was a twice divorced American socialite who got the title ‘Duchess of Windsor’. This wedding shook the stability of the kingdom. Edward’s abdication paved the way for his brother George VI, to be crowned as King.
This June sees Rachel Meghan Markle take on her first royal appearances after she married Prince Harry last month. Harry has had his share of broken relationships, before marriage and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Meghan, a former American actress, divorced her previous husband and movie producer Trevor Engelson after just two years of married life. She is bi-racial and her parents separated when she was only six.
Another Queen made history some 250 years before Meghan Markle. Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, was of mixed race, with black blood in her ancestry. King George was born on June 4.
The reigning Queen, Elizabeth and daughter of King George VI was crowned Queen on June 2, 1953, after his death. Thus, the month of June marks some of the most important events in the course of British history.
Around the time of her coronation, Princess Margaret, her sister, fell in love with a divorced man Peter Townsend. The Church of England, the royal family and the government made it very clear that she would have to give up her royal life if she married him. So she did not marry him. Instead, she married Anthony Armstrong Jones, but the marriage quickly collapsed.
Queen Elizabeth is the Head of the royal family, wife of King Phillip, and mother to Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Princess Anne. She is also the Constitutional Head of State to 16 Commonwealth countries.
Prince Charles, married Lady Diana Spencer. Princess Diana was known as the ‘Queen of Hearts’ all over the world, not only because of her beauty and fashion sense, but for her love and outreach to the needy.
Charles, however, was unhappy in his marriage. He was in love with Camilla Parker Bowles, before he married Diana. He divorced Diana and eventually married Camilla Parker Bowles after Diana’s tragic death in a car crash. Camilla was a divorcee at the time of this marriage.
A lot has been written about the late Princess Diana. The pain and bitterness in a loveless marriage drove her to despair, suicidal attempts and failed relationships outside marriage. Her drunk driver was speeding to avoid paparazzi, when the car crashed fatally. However, the book ‘Princess Diana, The Evidence’, states that she was murdered.
Prince Andrew divorced his wife Sarah Ferguson after 10 years of marriage, while his sister Princess Anne, divorced her husband, Captain Mark Phillips, after 19 years of marriage. Her first boyfriend was Andrew Parker Bowles who would become Camilla’s ex-husband. She remarried, the second time to Sir Timothy Lawrence. Since, the Church of England did not allow divorced people whose spouses were alive, to remarry in its churches, they had to marry in Scotland.
Thus, the royal family has seen many scandals, divorces and re-marriages under the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Many blamed these scandals on the Queen, for the stiffness of royal protocol.
A new royal biography revealed a deep bitterness between the Queen and Prince Charles, her uncompromising attitude towards Camilla Parker Bowles and claims that she viewed the late Princess Diana as ‘mad’.
It emerged that the Queen considered the possibility of bypassing the Prince of Wales in the succession in favour of the Prince William. Thus, the Queen emerged as a failed mother, unable to provide direction to her children.
After decades of protocol and procedure, the Queen has given her grandson Prince Harry her blessings to marry a divorcee. On May 19 this year we finally saw the royal family choosing real love over tradition.
Are we going to see rock solid marriages in William and Kate, and Harry and Meghan? There is a flicker of hope, as the Queen herself has been married to Prince Phillip for over 70 years. Those who know them well say that their ability to laugh at the same things has sustained their marriage well. “He has, quite simply, been my strength and my stay all these years,” she said when he turned 90. Let’s hope silent strength and good humour does the trick for her grandsons.
On the other hand, we see a different trend in middle-eastern countries where kings are allowed to have many wives. Thus, infidelity and polygamy are some of the troubles that have inflicted the monarchy worldwide. Is there something as finding your Prince Charming, having a fairy-tale wedding and a happily ever after? Or is it just the stuff that dreams are made of?
