The Biggest Royal Snubs Of All Time
History, politics, fabulous clothes — Netflix's "The Crown" has a lot to give when it comes to tempting would-be binge watchers. But in between all the important historical bits, we all know what we're really watching for: the SNUBS. The royal family have turned snubbing one another (and occasionally outsiders) into a tradition worthy of a million tabloid stories (and believe us, the tabloids are well on their way to hitting that number).
Anyone with big dreams to join the royal family just has to take one look at the news to see the kind of scrutiny newcomers are often put under — who has time to learn what all those outfits are for? While it's fun to watch, we have to think that the pressure of withstanding the heat of being in the royal family is a lot to handle. So, let's put away the tiaras and crowns and enjoy our lives as commoners as we review the biggest royal snubs that have us reconsidering all of our fairytale wishes.
Queen Elizabeth refused to attend Charles and Camilla's wedding
The decades-long love affair between King Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles should sound like a fairy tale. Unfortunately for the couple, the world tends to see this relationship as one borne of tragedy in the wake of Princess Diana's death — and Queen Elizabeth seemed to agree. Camilla's long-standing affair with Charles had seemingly attracted the queen's ire for many years.
Charles and Camilla have been the subject of palace drama since the early 1970s, when they briefly dated. Camilla became engaged to Andrew Parker Bowles shortly after, but the future queen consort continued to be a figure in Charles' life. She was even present at the wedding of Charles and Diana. People claimed that Charles and Camilla restarted their relationship in 1986, which put pressure on Charles' marriage — in an infamous BBC interview, Diana said, "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
The queen was reportedly furious about Camilla's role in ending Charles' marriage, with the Daily Mail reporting that a tipsy Elizabeth even went so far as to refer to Camilla as "that wicked woman," telling Charles in the late '90s, "I want nothing to do with her." The queen did, however, give Charles permission to marry Camilla and hosted their reception, but refused to attend their civil marriage ceremony in 2005. While her absence certainly sounds like a snub, it was later reported that, as the head of the Church of England, Queen Elizabeth felt she couldn't attend a civil union held outside the church.
Princess Diana was stripped of her title
Perhaps the most famous royal snub occurred in 1996, when Princess Diana lost her title of Her Royal Highness, forcing her to go by Diana, Princess of Wales. According to the Mirror, Diana officially lost her ties to the throne when she was stripped of this title, which also meant that she'd need to curtsy for the likes of her children, Princes William and Harry, as well as ex-husband and future King Charles.
Diana agreed to give up the title in exchange for a large sum of money and the continued use of her royal apartments, although she was reportedly distraught over Charles' insistence on taking the name away. The Mirror further claimed that the incident prompted a 14-year-old Prince William to console his mother about the title, promising, "Don't worry Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am King."
Unfortunately, Diana died in a tragic car accident in 1997, and although BBC News reported soon after her death that there were calls to restore Diana's HRH status, the Spencer family stated that Diana "would not have wanted any change to the style and title she had at the time of her death."
Wallis Simpson was shunned from the royal family
Before we had Megxit, twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson's marriage to the Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII) ruled as the biggest royal marriage scandal in recent history. Edward famously abdicated the throne in order to wed Simpson, who divorced her second husband to be with the duke. Edward was reportedly madly in love with Wallis — as detailed by Time, "Edward cried 'I will!' in a shrill voice that was almost a scream" when asked if he would honor his vows at the altar. Cute, right? Maybe "shrill" isn't how we'd describe our Prince Charming, but the move still seems pretty romantic.
The royal family, however, was not charmed by Edward's devotion to his American bride. Unsurprisingly, The Firm absolutely did not approve of the marriage. The entire royal family skipped the wedding, and the couple was banished to France, only permitted to return to Edward's home country if King George VI allowed it. The Guardian even reported that the Crown used financial blackmail to keep the scorned lovers at bay and warned that their return to England "might lead to public demonstrations or disorder."
Soon after he became king, however, George created the Duke of Windsor title to allow Edward to retain his HRH status. But the decree specifically stated that the duke's "wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute" (via The Crown Chronicles). Yikes! The best snubs, it seems, are issued by royal decree.
The royal family left Meghan out of Harry's social media birthday tribute
On social media, a little pettiness goes a long way. Although brothers Prince William and Prince Harry have reportedly been on the outs since around 2017, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge still made an effort to wish Harry a happy 36th birthday in September 2020 via Instagram and Twitter. The posts read, "Wishing a very happy birthday to Prince Harry today!" and included a photograph of Harry running a charity race with his brother and sister-in-law. The rest of the family joined in; similarly sweet posts were seen on the Twitter accounts of the royal family and the future King Charles. Cute, right?
Apparently not, to some folks. A social media comment, which gained thousands of likes, pointed out that the posts left out photos of Meghan entirely while including pics of Harry with the rest of his family members. Several celebrity publications bolstered the claim — why else would the post neglect to include the most important person in Harry's life? Royal superfan blog Gert's Royals defended the Crown on Twitter: "Looking back at the other Royal Birthday tweets this year, most did not include the spouse in the photo." So, who knows?
While additional drama is always developing between the brothers, the case that Will's post was not an intentional slight can also be made — Will and Kate wished Meghan a happy birthday in a sans-Harry post just a month before.
Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding snub
Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew married in 1986 in a lavish Westminster Abbey ceremony that gave Britain "Fergie Fever." The pair divorced in 1996, following some scandalous 1992 photographs of her laying topless while her "financial advisor" got intimate with her toes (which seems like perfect royal behavior to us, but what do we know?). And yet, Andrew and Fergie reportedly continued living together at the Royal Lodge, and to this day, remain close friends. Her friendship, however, apparently does not extend to the rest of the royal family.
The nastiest bit of royal wrath to fly her way happened in 2011, when Prince William and Kate Middleton tied the knot. Although Fergie's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie — the queen's grandchildren — were invited, Fergie was not, as she later confirmed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey (via BBC News). To escape the festive buzz and drown her woes, she flew to Thailand, where she said in the same interview, "The jungle embraced me."
Fergie admitted to Winfrey that being nixed from the guest list was "so difficult," noting that although Andrew helped her feel like she was part of the big day by keeping in touch with her during the celebration, it was still very painful to be left out: "It was so hard because the last bride up that aisle was me."
Princess Margaret even snubbed Diana at her funeral
Most outsiders, including Princess Diana, have a tough time fitting in with the royal family from the get-go. The infamously grueling "Balmoral Test" is proof that impressing royals is a lot tougher than just knowing which fork goes with the salad. Diana apparently had a particularly hard time managing Princess Margaret, then-Prince Charles' aunt and Queen Elizabeth's only sibling. It seems that any welcoming sentiment Margaret may have had did not withstand royal scandal.
According to Craig Brown, author of "Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret," Margaret was reportedly furious at Diana for giving intimate details of the affair between Charles and Camilla during her 1995 interview with Martin Bashir (which the BBC later investigated after Diana's brother claimed the interview was held under false pretenses). Brown told Fox News that "Margaret was very unforgiving. She wouldn't even have magazines with Diana's face on the cover nearby. She would turn them over."
The interview so incensed Margaret that she reportedly disliked Diana until the very end. Brown also claimed that Margaret refused to give a real bow to Diana's casket, instead giving "the most cursory of nods, almost as though she were warding off a fly," and that she reportedly bristled at the notion of a statue of Diana at Kensington Palace: "I'm not having that woman outside my bedroom window." To give credit where credit's due, however, Princess Margaret did manage to turn snubbing into a spectator sport.
Queen Elizabeth revoked Meghan and Harry's royal patronages
In February 2021, Buckingham Palace released a statement announcing that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry would not return to their previous roles as working royals and would also lose all of their royal patronages or military appointments. The move, which stripped Meghan and Harry of their official service roles, came as Queen Elizabeth declared that, if the couple were to permanently step down from their roles as senior royals, "It is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service."
Although this was all purportedly coordinated and arranged between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Crown, the former's response to The Firm's statement carried an air of shade. It declared, in part, that they are perfectly capable of living "a life of service," thank you very much, noting, "Service is universal." Express reports that a palace insider called Meghan and Harry's statement "petulant." Perhaps The Firm was just upset that the circle of snubbery they started was coming back to bite them?
In Meghan and Harry's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey that March, they both claimed they maintained a warm personal relationship with the queen. They also, however, made a clear distinction that the so-called "Megxit" happened because both the royal family and the institution that runs its day-to-day business not only failed to support them in the face of vicious media attacks, but were also complicit in them, with Meghan saying, "There is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us."
Diana snubbed Anne at Prince Harry's christening
Princess Diana was not the victim in this one; we love it when the snubee becomes the snubber! Princess Anne apparently made it no secret that she did not feel that her sister-in-law was fit to be part of the royal family. According to "Diana v. Charles biographer James Whitaker (via Vanity Fair), "Anne was irritated by Diana, the constant carry-on in the press about her clothes and her charm." Royal reporter Richard Kay also claimed in the Channel 5 documentary "Paxman on the Queen's Children" (via Express), "Princess Anne, she had no time for Diana," noting that Anne's "much more traditional approach to monarchy and royal duty" was at odds with Diana's newfound celebrity.
Anne's feud with Diana came to a head in 1984 after the birth of Prince Harry. Apparently, Diana neglected to invite Anne to be Prince Harry's godmother. When asked about Anne as a potential godmother for her future children, Diana made her feelings very clear, according to Whitaker, who relayed her alleged retort: "I just don't like her. She may be wonderful doing all that charity work for Save the Children and others, but I can do it as well." In retaliation, Anne reportedly refused to attend Harry's christening, blaming a shooting party she'd hosted for several guests alongside then-husband Mark Phillips for her absence. Whitaker claimed the excuse "fooled no one."
Prince Andrew was ignored on social media on his birthday
Sure, most royal snubs seem petty and pointless, but now and again they are definitely well-deserved. Following the fallout from his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, Prince Andrew was apparently ignored by the Queen's official social media accounts on his 61st birthday. While most royals receive a social media birthday tribute via the Crown's official Instagram and Twitter accounts, Prince Andrew received only a brief mention on the Royal Family's Twitter. Typically, the queen's beloved relatives are usually celebrated with a sweet message, like this one celebrating Kate Middleton's birthday on January 9, 2021. Prince Andrew's birthday tweet, however, was straight out of a museum brochure, featuring an #onthisday hashtag, a couple of historical photos, and a complete lack of the words "happy birthday."
The situation had apparently caused strain between the queen and Andrew, who some people (that is, anyone who's watched Season 4 of The Crown) believe was Queen Elizabeth's favorite child. At first, it seemed she was not taking the scandal seriously enough — in 2020, the queen received plenty of nasty Twitter replies for wishing Andrew "Happy Birthday" post-Epstein. In the age of Megxit, however, we're guessing Queen Elizabeth, or whoever controled her social media channels, became more attuned than ever to those messages.
The official rebuke of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed off their tenure as senior members of the royal family with a final official public appearance at the 2020 Commonwealth Day service (shown above). Reportedly, Meghan and Harry were not allowed to join the procession of royals that included other members of the royal family. Instead, they were to find their seats ahead of time and wait for the rest of The Firm — a move which body language expert Judi James claimed to Cosmopolitan had Prince Harry feeling on edge.
The Daily Mail speculated that in an attempt to smooth over the awkward tension, William and Kate skipped the procession and joined Meghan and Harry in their seats (but not before extending an awkward, brief greeting to the couple) before the ceremony began. Buckingham Palace, however, offered no official explanation for why William and Kate headed directly to their seats.
Unfortunately, 2,000 programs had already been printed showing that William and Kate were originally supposed to be part of the main procession, sans any mention of Harry and Meghan, according to historian Robert Lacey's book "Battle of Brothers" (via Newsweek), making the snub glaringly obvious for anyone in attendance at the event. Good attempt at a save, Will and Kate, but we're with Meghan and Harry on this one.
The royals missed Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor's christening
Everything changed when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to step down from their positions as senior members of the royal family. Leaving the United Kingdom for Canada, and then Los Angeles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a new life for themselves and their children, Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. While the royal family has experienced much drama since the Sussexes first announced their intention to step down in January 2020, the release of Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" seemed to throw several more spanners in the works. So when it came to Lilibet's christening, it's perhaps unsurprising that many members of the royal family allegedly swerved the event.
According to the Mirror, Meghan and Harry's spokesperson confirmed that Lilibet's christening had taken place at the couple's home in Montecito, California on March 3, 2022. The tabloid also reported that Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, was in attendance, along with Hollywood icon Tyler Perry, who is Lilibet's godfather. However, key members of the royal family were allegedly absent from the affair, including Lilibet's grandfather, King Charles, and her aunt and uncle, Kate Middleton and Prince William.
It's unclear why the royal family missed baby Lilibet's christening, and if their absence was an intentional snub. Either way, it seems as though royal relations have continued to be strained.
King Charles' Christmas speech snub
In his first Christmas speech as monarch, King Charles honored his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, addressed the cost-of-living crisis, and celebrated the work of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The king even highlighted the importance of community spirit, saying, "We see it in our health and social care professionals, our teachers and indeed all those working in public service, whose skill and commitment are at the heart of our communities." However, what the king didn't do was mention Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, or their two children, which led royal fans to wonder if Charles was sending a not-so-subtle message.
The fact that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were totally absent was the king's Christmas address so close to the release date of Prince Harry's memoir certainly seemed suspicious. Multiple reports had already suggested that Charles was angered by revelations made in Harry's book, so it's not a stretch to wonder if the king decided to eliminate the Sussexes from his Christmas wishes in 2022. Whether he meant to or not, Charles' words caused a bit of a furor and only furthered rumors of a royal feud.
Harry and Meghan skipped Christmas at Sandringham
The royal family traditionally celebrates Christmas at Sandringham, their country estate in Norfolk, England. However, following Queen Elizabeth II's death on September 8, 2022, many wondered if the royals would continue the tradition, which had been upheld for several decades. In December 2022, it was revealed that King Charles planned to spend the holiday season at the estate with the rest of the family, but that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be missing from the festivities, per Sky News. While the new monarch had decided to continue his late mother's special traditions, Meghan and Harry reportedly spent the holiday at home in California.
Having moved to the United States, it's perhaps understandable that the Duke and Duchess wouldn't be in attendance at Sandringham for Christmas every year. After all, a transatlantic flight with two young children in tow is likely exhausting. Still, many royal fans seemingly saw the couple's absence as a snub and wondered if Harry and Meghan had willingly turned down an invitation from the king to reunite with the rest of the clan.
The queen reportedly snubbed the Sussexes at her Jubilee
Despite moving to another country, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry put in an appearance at a Thanksgiving church service in honor of the queen's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022. However, according to royal biographer Tom Bower, the couple was unhappy with the seating plan at the service, especially as they found themselves in the middle of a row.
In an interview with GB News (via Newsweek), Bower alleged, "Meghan and Harry were late to get to St Paul's Cathedral deliberately so that they could make their own grand entrance." He continued, "As they're walking down the aisle and they get to their seats nine and ten, they say, 'Well everyone should move up so that we can be on the aisle itself.'" According to Bower, the usher denied the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's request, to which Harry allegedly asked, "Who told you to tell me where to sit?" The usher reportedly revealed that the queen herself had approved the seating plan, and decided where her grandson and his wife should sit.
This could easily be seen as somewhat of a snub to Harry, but whether or not the late monarch intended to upset her grandson remains unknown.
Prince Harry snubbed some royals in Spare
Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" contained a plethora of shocking stories about members of the royal family, revealing everything from alleged personal conversations with Prince William to supposed text messages sent by Kate Middleton. But one thing the prince seemingly didn't do in the book was thank several of his closest family members in the acknowledgements section, leading the general public to wonder if this might be an intentional snub.
In "Spare," Prince Harry wrote (via Town & Country), "Above all my deepest and adoringest thanks to Archie and Lili, for letting Papa go off to read and think and reflect, and to my mother-in-law (aka Grandma), and to my incredible wife, for too many millions of gifts and sacrifices, great and small, to ever enumerate." He also reportedly found time to thank the likes of Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Chris Martin, as well as Princess Diana's siblings, while failing to even mention his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, his father, King Charles, or his brother, Prince William.
While these admissions may seem strange, they perhaps highlight the tenuous relationship Harry reportedly has with the rest of his family and their lack of involvement in the writing of his book.
Many royals avoided Harry at Prince Philip's funeral
The late queen's husband, Prince Philip, passed away on April 9, 2021, and his funeral took place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 17, 2021. The royal family gathered for the somber occasion, with Prince Harry flying back from California to pay tribute to his grandfather. However, according to the Daily Mail, Harry wasn't exactly welcomed back into the fold during the service. The publication noted that Harry was seen speaking with his brother, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. Meanwhile, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, allegedly stayed away from Harry altogether.
Prince Harry himself has opened up about Philip's funeral, and it certainly doesn't sound as though it was easy for the Duke of Sussex to reunite with members of his family. In May 2021, Harry told the Associated Press, "I was worried about it, I was afraid," when discussing attending the funeral. Harry even turned to lessons he'd learned during therapy to deal with the anxiety he felt about the situation, saying, "It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds."
After a pretty public snub at Philip's funeral, it's perhaps unsurprising that Prince Harry didn't return for a memorial service honoring his late grandfather, which took place in March 2022.
Several pop stars turned down King Charles' coronation
King Charles likely thought that his coronation, which would take place between May 6 and May 8, 2023, would be a joyous affair. However, Charles faced multiple knock backs during the planning stages of the event, with many big stars allegedly refusing to perform at the king's coronation. Huge British stars like Elton John, Adele, Harry Styles, and Robbie Williams all reportedly turned down the chance to take part in the regal event.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, music publicist Simon Jones theorized why so many celebs might have refused to appear in front of the king, saying, "The royal family has faced a number of PR disasters in recent times, and anyone performing at the show would have to consider whether there would be a backlash from appearing amongst their fans."
After being reportedly snubbed by a number of artists, Time Out reported that the rest of boy band Take That, as well as singer Lionel Richie and iconic composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, had all agreed to perform for the king's special day. Still, we imagine Charles probably hoped that Adele would be there to serenade his big moment.
Prince Harry's huge snub on the day the queen died
Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. At the time, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were in the United Kingdom, but Harry was reportedly told to travel to Scotland without his wife, per BBC News. In his memoir "Spare," Harry opened up about the devastating day, explaining, "When the plane started to descend I saw that my phone lit up. It was a message from Meg: 'Call me when you get this.'" He continued, "I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King."
During what must have been a tumultuous and emotional time for the royals, Prince Harry allegedly passed up the opportunity to have dinner with his father and brother, in effect snubbing an invitation to reunite. According to a source cited by The Sun, the Duke of Sussex was reportedly extremely upset that his wife hadn't been allowed to accompany him to Balmoral, despite the fact that Kate Middleton was also not in attendance. The insider alleged that Harry decided to avoid his father's dinner invitation, and headed back to London as soon as he could after paying tribute to his grandmother.
Basically, it sounds like the entire day was filled with multiple snubs, which must have been really painful on top of the royal family's loss.
Meghan Markle's alleged snub of 'boring' Camilla
If you've ever wondered what relations between Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Queen Consort Camilla are like, then you might be surprised to learn that there's allegedly no love lost between them. Royal expert Angela Levin detailed the supposedly tense relationship in her book "Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Queen Consort," serialized in The Telegraph. "They had lunches together and Camilla spent a lot of time offering advice on how to handle the pressure," Levin wrote. "She tried to be supportive, was happy to be her mentor and took her out for private lunches."
However, Meghan was allegedly less interested in receiving Camilla's advice, and the relationship fell apart. According to Levin, "Meghan, however, seemed bored, was unresponsive and preferred to go her own way, with the result that the Queen Consort's advice landed on stony ground." If Levin's account is to be believed, Meghan snubbed her step-mother-in-law, and seemingly wasn't very engaged with anything she had to say.
King Charles was reportedly 'too busy' to see a post-Spare Harry
Following the release of Prince Harry's memoir "Spare," royal family relations seemed to be worse than ever. Case in point: King Charles allegedly deciding to avoid Prince Harry, even when they were both in the same country. The Duke of Sussex flew over to England in March 2023 to attend a High Court case against Associate Newspapers, the company that owns the Daily Mail, amongst other publications. According to sources cited by The Telegraph, King Charles' packed schedule meant that he was simply "too busy" to see his youngest son during the brief visit. Despite the fact that they were both in England, Charles apparently couldn't find a 10-minute slot for his child.
The Telegraph also reported that Harry wouldn't be seeing his brother, Prince William, during the trip either, as he was away on vacation with his wife and three children. Meanwhile, King Charles was apparently staying at his Highgrove residence during Harry's visit and was getting ready to leave the country for an official royal visit to Germany. Still, it's hard not to see Charles' apparent decision as a huge snub in Harry's face.