One of the BBC’s former royal correspondents has revealed her top three romances within the House of Windsor… and they don’t include William and Kate OR Meghan and Harry!
According to Jennie Bond, the modern-day love stories between the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex can’t compete with those of the older generations.
Surprisingly, given that their marriage ended in acrimony after just six years, she puts Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in third place. She says she was stunned to learn they were separating in 1992, declaring: “I couldn’t believe it, I thought they were the happiest married couple in the world.”
In second place, Jennie has the timeless romance betwee King Charles, or Prince Charles as he was then, and Princess Diana… although once again this ended in tears and tragedy.
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She recalled how Charles admitted in a TV documentary that he had cheated on his wife – and how she stole the limelight by wearing a “revenge dress” to a glitzy dinner the same night.
Jennie says: “I remember seeing her arrive at the Serpentine wearing a dropdead gorgeous dress. It was amazing. It was a beautiful, sexy black number and she had black tights on, high heels, beautiful hair – I mean, she looked a million dollars. It almost swept Charles off the front pages.”
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married for 70 years
(Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
But the greatest royal love story she ever saw was between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who were married from 1947 until Philip’s death in April 2021 – just 16 months before his widow passed away at Balmoral in September 2022.
“Their love just grew and grew through their 70 years together,” she says. “He was a very handsome young man when they met – a naval cadet in uniform, tall, blond, a Greek god, really. She loved him, and I think he loved her very much. It was a romance that endured until the very end.
“I remember once, someone complimented the Queen on her beautiful soft complexion and Philip cheekily said: ‘Yes, and she’s like that all over, you know!'”
‘That’s why there have been so many divorces’
But while Jennie may believe that the younger royals lack the fireworks, she praises their loving relationships – and points out that both William and Harry have had successful marriages, unlike their parents.
“Royal marriages are difficult,” she says. “You either have to marry someone from another royal family who knows the experience of living in a goldfish bowl, or you introduce a commoner to your ranks – and that’s someone who doesn’t understand how this very structured world works.
“It’s fraught with difficulties, and that’s why I suppose there have been so many divorces starting with Princess Margaret and then three of the late Queen’s four children. But they’re in it for love. And I think William and Catherine and Harry and Meghan have shown you can have loving people and deep feeling in a difficult royal world.”
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