The guest list for the coronation may have been quartered – from 8,000 invites sent out for Elizabeth IIs event to just 2000 for her son’s – but there will still be room for a group of controversial friends and family whose presence there will raise eyebrows all over the world.
From the daughter of a Nazi accused of racism to an ex-husband known for his ‘mischief,’ a Lady-in-Waiting at the center of another racism scandal to the Prince who cavorted with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, not to mention several foreign dignitaries dealing with their own dramas.
Royals from abroad aren’t usually invited to a British coronation which is regarded as pact between a sovereign and his nation but the King has invited some of his closest foreign royal friends to be part of the big day.
Prince Andrew, the pedophile’s friend
The King’s son Prince Harry may have washed the Royal Family’s dirty washing in public with his biopic and many television interviews but it is his uncle Prince Andrew, the former spare, who is still regarded as the rogue royal.
His friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, even after the twisted billionaire had been convicted of child sex offenses, was – at best – incredibly stupid.
But there was more. He was accused of sexual abuse by one of Epstein’s trafficking victims Virginia Giuffre – and Queen Elizabeth helped him pay $16.3million to hush the accusations up.
The Prince may have lost his status as a ‘working royal’ and the King is trying to get him to move out of his palatial Windsor home but at the same time, he will always be the King’s younger brother, with Andrew joining the King and Queen.
Perhaps worst of all, he has threatened to begin the fight this year to clear his name – which could cast a shadow over King Charles’ new reign.
What you need to know about the coronation:
- Coronation live updates: Celebrities, guests attend historic day at Westminster Abbey
- Royal family is ‘relieved’ Meghan Markle is skipping King Charles’ coronation: biographer
- A timeline of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla’s complicated relationship
Princess Michael of Kent, the ‘racist’ brooch wearer
One of the most colorful and controversial women to marry into the Royal Family, the 78-year-old wife of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin Prince Michael was once known as ‘Princess Pushy.’
Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz was daughter of a Nazi SS officer whose parents divorced when she was young.
She had been married once before when she met Prince Michael – although that marriage was annulled by the Pope rather than ended by divorce.
As a royal relative Prince Michael had to seek Queen Elizabeth’s permission to marry under British law, and also lost his place at 15th the line of succession because his bride was a Catholic – although a change in the law in 2015 put him back in the line. He is now at a much lowlier 51st.
The princess has been at the center of so many allegations of racism that it has become something of a pattern.
In 2004 she was accused of telling a group of black diners at a New York restaurant to ‘go back to the colonies.’
In April 2018 her daughter’s former partner alleged that she had named black sheep on her country property after Venus and Serena Williams.
But perhaps the most obvious scandal was when she was a photographed wearing a racially offensive ‘blackamoor’ brooch with a stylized figure of an African man to a Christmas banquet at Buckingham Palace attended by Meghan Markle.
Lady Susan Hussey, aide accused of racism
The late Queen’s lady-in-waiting, 83, was involved in her own racial scandal at event at Buckingham Palace last year when she asked a black British charity worker, who was wearing African clothes, where she was ‘really’ from.
Ngozi Fulani claimed to have been left furious by the encounter and Lady Hussey immediately apologized.
Buckingham Palace later initiated a meeting to the two women in which Lady Hussey again apologized and she is now said to be back in the royal fold.
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, the troubled couple
Prince Albert of Monaco will be there with his South African wife Charlene. Their marriage has been controversial since the start – it was alleged the former Olympic swimmer tried to run away from Monaco before their marriage after discovering he had fathered at least two illegitimate children.
Although the pair have 8-year-old twins she went home to South Africa for six months during the pandemic claiming she was too ill to return to Monaco; last year it was alleged she is being paid $12 million a year to stay with Albert.
And while this may be regarded as the ‘wokest’ royal coronation, human rights activists might be surprised at the invitations extended to the Sultan of Oman and the Sultan of Brunei, who preside over many human rights abuses in their countries.
