Could Queen Elizabeth be blaming herself for Prince Andrew's sex trafficking scandal and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's choice to step back from the royal family? A royal expert believes that Her Majesty thinks she may have done something wrong to impact such misfortunes, which reflected a time almost three decades ago when the royal family also experienced several unfortunate events.
Queen Elizabeth went through a tough year in 1992 as the marriages of her sons broke down. That year Prince Charles separated from Princess Diana while Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson also confirmed they will be living apart from each other. Also on that same year, Windsor Castle suffered a major destruction as a fire burned 115 rooms of the massive castle, leaving Queen Elizabeth devastated.
According to author and historian Sarah Gristwood, Queen Elizabeth dubbed that year as her annus horribilis, which means a year of disaster or misfortune. She apparently confided in a friend about her woeful year and asked where she went wrong as the monarch.
Gristwood said that what happened in 1992 felt like a slap on the face of the royal family. Nearly three decades later, this slap would once again be felt as Prince Andrew, and grandson, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan decided to give up their royal duties.
According to another royal expert, Penny Juror, agreed with Gristwood's observations. She said that Queen Elizabeth is just like any woman, mother or grandmother who "feels and hurts." Juror also said that it is lonely job to be a monarch.
Meanwhile, amid the troubles of the royal family, the Queen decided to end her holiday break a few days earlier by going to her first public royal engagement for 2020. She went to the Royal Air Force military base to visit the RAF Marham on Monday, Feb. 3.
Prior to this, Queen Elizabeth greeted the public waiting for her outside the church in Sandringham after the Sunday mass. The Queen wore a noticeable brooch gifted to her by David Johnston, the Canadian Governor General, in 2017.
According to Harper's Bazaar, the brooch has a special significance. Queen Elizabeth apparently wore this to show support for Prince Harry and Meghan.
The couple decided to spend most of their time in Canada as they want to have a more peaceful life away from the royal limelight. They also want to raise their first-born son Archie Harrison as normal as possible, despite his royal background.
