Divorces That Completely Rocked The British Royal Family

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Some say the British Royal Family is stuck in the past, and in some ways, that is true. Many of its traditions and annual celebrations still see people dressing in regalia of a time long past. Some royal rules and protocols are also outdated, like the tradition of weighing themselves before and after a Christmas meal, and, until not so long ago, the ban on divorce and marrying a divorcee.

Divorce used to be seriously frowned upon. So much so that in 1820, King George IV launched a full-blown court investigation in an attempt to convince everyone that his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, was guilty of infidelity and therefore he was within his rights to send her packing. The king's efforts were unsuccessful, and all he managed to accomplish was attract press attention, which, really, was the start of tabloids fervently covering the royal family's every move. Not exactly a great outcome.

It was only after King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson that rules around divorce relaxed a bit. It still wasn't the ideal outcome, and marrying a divorcee with a living spouse didn't become legal for royals until 2002. If this hadn't happened, King Charles III would never have been able to marry Camilla, Queen Consort, and Queen Elizabeth II would have refused Prince Harry's union with Meghan Markle. After all, when her sister, Princess Margaret, fell hopelessly in love with Captain Peter Townsend, the queen told her that, if she wanted to marry a divorcee, she would be removed from the line of succession. Margaret didn't want this to happen, so the wedding never took place. Since then, there's been plenty of royal divorces; some messier than others.

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, was a royal rebel if there ever was one. The wildest stories from Margaret's party days are enough to know that she didn't exactly conform to royal protocol. Therefore, it shouldn't be much of a shock that she became the first senior royal to divorce her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, in modern royal history. The only royal who managed this before her was Princess Victoria of Edinburgh, who divorced her husband in 1901.

Margaret did not attempt to hide her crumbling marriage from the public. In 1973, she traveled to Mustique instead of attending Armstrong-Jones' birthday celebrations with her kids. This move had the press talking, yet she did the same thing again the following year. One can't exactly blame her. It's been widely reported that Armstrong-Jones had several affairs throughout his marriage, and it left Margaret feeling alone and neglected. As such, she sought love of her own. The public really sat up and paid attention when Margaret was spotted vacationing with landscape gardener Roddy Llewellyn in February 1976. Eagle-eyed paparazzi snapped pictures of them that made it clear the two were more than friends. It constituted a royal scandal, leading Margaret and Armstrong-Jones to announce their separation a month later. They made it clear that divorce was not in the cards, but that they would lead separate lives.

The separation turned into a divorce in 1978. Margaret was reportedly delighted when her private secretary, Lord Nigel Napier, told her of her husband's wish to make their separation official, exclaiming, "Thank you, Nigel. I think that's the best news you've ever given me," per Woman & Home.

Princess Anne has been known to be a rule-breaker, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that she broke the one royal rule that was an absolute no-go — getting a divorce. The truth about Anne's marriage to Captain Mark Phillips is that there were some hints right from the start that it might not withstand the test of time. During the couple's engagement interview in 1973, they were asked about the impact the pressures of the royal family can have on a relationship, and whether they believed theirs could withstand it. Phillips was optimistic, replying, "I think we've withstood a great deal already this year." Anne, however, bluntly replied, "Can? It's got to, hasn't it?" per Hello! In the end, it did not.

Anne and Phillips separated in 1989 after only a year of marriage, and the Buckingham Palace announcement indicated that the couple would not be divorcing. Royal expert Marlene Koenig told Express in 2020 that, unbeknownst to the public, Phillips had been unfaithful to Anne and sired a love child with a New Zealander art teacher in 1985. Anne didn't exactly uphold her vows either. She reportedly had an affair with her bodyguard, Sergeant Peter Cross, in the early 1980s. He confirmed the affair to The News of the World in 1984. While still married to Phillips, Anne fell in love with Commander Timothy Laurence. "The first reports of her infidelity came in the spring of 1989, again front-page news," Koenig said (via Express). Anne and Phillips' divorce was subsequently finalized in 1992. That same year, she married Laurence in Scotland to sidestep the rules of the Church of England on remarrying after divorce.

King Charles III and Princess Diana's marriage was arguably one of the most tumultuous and scandalous in the modern British Royal Family's history. The truth about Charles and Diana's marriage entered the public sphere soon enough. In 1986, both of them had affairs. Diana found solace in army captain James Hewitt's arms, while Charles rekindled his romance with Camilla Parker Bowles. Whispers of their troubled marriage reached the tabloids in 1987, and it was the start of a media circus that never quite died down — not even after Diana's tragic death in 1997.

Both Charles and Diana eventually spoke out about their broken marriage. Diana made audio recordings detailing the breakdown of her marriage, which she gave to Andrew Morton to help him write his famous biography, "Diana: Her True Story." The princess didn't hold back, and the tome's 1992 release destroyed the remnants of their fairytale romance. The damage was irrevocable. The book detailed Diana's suicidal ideation, her eating disorder, Charles' affair with Camilla, and how she received little guidance from the royal family on how to navigate her new life as a member of The Firm. In December of that year, former British Prime Minister John Major broke the news that Charles and Diana had gone their separate ways, though they were not officially divorced.

The drama didn't end there. In 1995, Diana granted the BBC an interview, in which she spoke candidly about her broken marriage, uttering the famous line, "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded," per Nine. Queen Elizabeth II reportedly implored Charles and Diana to divorce and be done with it after all the drama; they did just that in 1996.

Believe it or not, one royal marriage ended in divorce with minimal drama. Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, divorced his first wife, Autumn Kelly, in 2021. The couple had been separated for some time before that. They informed Queen Elizabeth II in 2020 that they planned to dissolve their marriage. A subsequent statement informed the public that everyone involved was "naturally sad" (via Town & Country) about how things turned out, but that their families were being "fully supportive" as they navigated the difficult time. The couple's official statement read, "The decision to divorce and share custody came about after many months of discussions and although sad, is an amicable one. The couples first priority will remain the continued well being and upbringing of their wonderful daughters Savannah (9) and Isla (7)."

No scandalous headlines or affairs made the rounds like with other royal divorces. The meager press coverage might have had to do with Peter's status as a non-working royal. However, he could have learned from how previous royal divorces were conducted and made sure to do things differently. Meanwhile, Princess Anne made it clear that she still very much loves her former daughter-in-law. She was spotted attending the 2025 Cirencester Park Horse Trials with Autumn by her side, and photographs indicated that the two are still very much on good terms.

Peter remarried in 2026, and while Autumn was not in attendance at his wedding to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling, the couple's two young girls attended the ceremony and served as Sperling's bridesmaids.

No marriage is without its problems, and rumors have been swirling for years that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had some major problems in their marriage. The queen practiced what she preached, however, and she and Philip never officially separated or divorced.

Whispers that Philip was having an affair emerged not long after he married the queen. In 1957, rumors swirled that he had been unfaithful with an unnamed woman. His private secretary at the time, Mike Parker, told royal author Gyles Brandreth that the rumors had no substance and that Philip was incredibly upset about the gossip. "The Duke was incandescent," Parker told Brandreth for his book "Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait," per Marie Claire. He was very, very angry. And deeply hurt. There was no truth in the story whatsoever."

In his biography, "Queen Elizabeth II: The Remarkable Life," Hugo Vickers claimed that insiders told him the queen and Philip's relationship changed drastically after the duke officially retired in 2017. He moved out of Buckingham Palace to make his home at Wood Farm on the royals' Sandringham estate. The queen stayed behind to continue her royal duties, and the couple didn't see each other as much as they used to. While this left some to speculate that their marriage was strained, an insider told Radar that it merely changed their relationship; it did not break it. "It was not a formal split, but more a reflection of how they chose to live in later life," the source disclosed. Another source added, "There has long been an understanding within royal circles that their relationship evolved into something more distant in practical terms, even if emotionally they remained connected."