Episode 4 of The Crown Season 5 is titled after the Latin phrase that has been etched into public conscience after the 1992 speech of Queen Elizabeth II at Guildhall, when the Queen rather remarkably called the year "Annus Horribilis," which means "horrible year" in Latin. 1992 was particularly a dreadful year for the royal family as well as the Queen completing her 40 years on the throne.
Several events forced the Queen to term the year so, including Princess Anne's divorce, the publication of photographs hinting at the Duchess of York's affair, and the publication of Diana: Her True Story, which drew public attention to the failing marriage of the princess to Prince Charles, among other events such as a fire at the Windsor Castle just four days before Elizabeth's speech. With questions arising around the Queen's capability itself to go on as the reigning monarch while Prince Charles braces himself to take the reigns of the monarchy, 1992 marked a year of personal and familial turmoil for the Queen and the senior members of the royal family. Consequentially, some of these events also formed the background for the troubles the family faced for much of the decade.
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The Duke and Duchess of York Announce Their Separation in March
In 1992, the first blow to the crown came when the news of the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York was released by Buckingham Palace, putting to ink the beginning of the end for the royal couple. Andrew and Sarah were married in 1986 and had two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, from the marriage. Prince Andrew, being a naval man, stayed away from home for quite some time – a fact also highlighted in the conversation between Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew in The Crown.
The separation announcement came in March of 1991 amidst concerns around the long-drawn separation the couple endured as a result of Prince Andrew's time away in the Navy and rumors of Sarah's infidelity with the Texan businessman, Steve Wyatt, who was later touted to be the main reason behind the breakdown of the royal marriage by David Leigh's The Duchess of York: Uncensored. Given how things later ended with the then Prince and Princess of Wales, Andrew and Sarah's separation was amicable by all means, at least in the public eye.
Princess Anne Divorces Captain Mark Phillips in April
Princess Royal Anne decided to separate from her husband Captain Mark Phillips after 16 years of marriage in 1989. Years before the separation was announced, the couple's distant relationship had become public news. However, the turmoil in the marriages of other royals as well, including that of the then Prince Charles III and Princess Diana, was reason enough for the divorce news to be more grievous for the crown and the Queen.
Importantly, as shown in the fourth episode, it was Anne's decision to remarry Sir Timothy Laurence that was more contentious. The Church of England did not permit the remarriage of a divorced person whose former partner was alive. But refuting the fate that was met by Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, Princess Royal Anne decided to proceed with the marriage, attracting further scrutiny for the royal family from certain sections.
Andrew Morton's Book on Diana Gets Published In July
The crumbling marriage of the then Prince Charles III and Princess Diana was laid in front of the public when Andrew Morton's tell-all book on Princess Diana was published in July 1992. Andrew Morton worked as a royal correspondent and was a known journalist in the circle. Knowing he won't be able to get access to Princess Diana, Andrew befriended the princess' close friend Dr. James Colthurst, who later convinced the princess to share tapes containing her recordings with the writer. Unsatisfied with being ignored by the senior royals and fed up with Prince Charles' affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, Princess Diana decided to record interviews for Morton, which he later used to write Diana: Her True Story.
Naturally, the book contained some explosive revelations. Diana revealed that she had developed bulimia after her engagement to Prince Charles, and she had discovered Prince Charles' affair with Camilla before the marriage. The most shocking revelation, however, was Princess Diana's admittance to attempting suicide five times as a result of the emotional trauma she suffered as an outside member of the royal family. Season 5 of The Crown also sheds light on this aspect of Princess Diana's struggle, as she is shown to be ignored by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Sarah Ferguson's "Toe-Sucking" Scandal Erupts in August
In possibly one of the biggest scandals to hit the royals in Buckingham Palace, just five months after the Duke and Duchess of York's separation, the Daily Mirror published photographs of Sarah Ferguson with the Texan businessman John Bryan in which the man can be seen sharing an intimate space with the Duchess of York. Inviting widespread public scrutiny, the action was termed as "toe-sucking" by media outlets – an act just beyond the taste of many in 1990s England. The photographs were shot in a villa in St. Tropez.
Attempts were made by the Duchess' "financial advisor" Bryan to stop the photographs from publishing. However, the photographs did get published, and the royal family discovered them in their morning newspapers. Later, Bryan did try to cover up for some of the scandal created by the photographs by stating that it wasn't toe-sucking but toe-kissing being meted out to the Duchess by him.
"Squidgygate" Brings the Focus Back to Diana in August
A wildfire hit the royals again on August 23, 1992, when a 1989 conversation between Princess Diana and her friend, James Gilbey, the heir apparent to the Gilbey's gin empire, was made accessible to the public by The Sun in what came to be known as "Squidgygate," as a nod to the nickname by which Gilbey can be heard calling the Princess of Wales. The conversation was leaked to The Sun when a retired bank manager, who tuned into non-commercial radio frequencies, accidentally came across this conversation. The recording was also made available through a phone line for callers to hear the contents of the tape.
The conversation between the princess and Gilbey contained multiple details about Princess Diana's worsening relationship with her husband and his family. Not only did Princess Diana explicitly mention her dissatisfaction with the treatment she received within the family, but she also mentioned the looks she gets from the Queen Mother. Diana also expressed her fear of becoming pregnant during the call. Apart from shedding light on the strained relationship that Princess Diana shared with the royal family, the leaked conversation also highlighted the intimate relations that Princess Diana shared with James Gilbey, who referred to the princess as "darling" and "squidgy" multiple times throughout the call. Squidgygate highly upset the Queen, and she ordered an inquiry into the leak of the tapes in the first place as the source remains contentious.
Fire Breaks Out at Windsor Castle in November
Just four days before Queen Elizabeth II left the term 'Annus Horribilis' etched in the memories of everyone present and watching, a fire at Windsor Castle on November 20 brought the Queen to her breaking point. Credit to a spotlight, the fire destroyed a large portion of the castle, endangering valuable pieces of artwork worth millions. The devastation was such that it took 15 hours to douse the fire and EUR 40 million in repairs, 70% of which the Queen paid herself. The repair expense forced the Queen to open Buckingham Palace to the public as the cost of the repair, which was originally supposed to be borne by the government, had created debates about the extent of public expenditure for the needs of the crown. In "Annus Horribilis," the Queen can be seen witnessing the fire consume the castle as she looks on worriedly at the firefighters scrambling to save the house of the royals. Later, standing amongst the ruins of her own house, the Queen is embraced by Prince Philips.
"Annus Horribilis" clearly shows the Queen (Imelda Staunton) being warned by the Queen Mother from using the term to define the year in her speech. The Queen Mother asks the Queen not to attract unwanted attention to the controversial events that have haunted the royal family in the past year. Yet Queen Elizabeth II, as brave as she was, decides to ride against the divinity of the position she holds and expose her humane side to her subjects for the first time in 40 years. If anything, the speech at Guildhall by the Queen was a glorious acceptance of errors caused by the ones who are not supposed to err ever in the public's eyes:
"1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis.' I suspect that I am not alone in thinking it so. Indeed, I suspect that there are very few people or institutions unaffected by these last months of worldwide turmoil and uncertainty. This generosity and whole-hearted kindness of the Corporation of the City to Prince Philip and me would be welcome at any time, but at this particular moment, in the aftermath of Friday's tragic fire at Windsor, it is especially so."
The usage of the term 'Annus Horribilis' speaks to the trauma caused to the Queen by what she termed as possibly the worst year of her reign and her life. While not everything that happened in 1992 was directly connected to the Queen, being the head of a pristine institution that has survived for centuries, she naturally held herself responsible for her failure to stop the many disasters that chased the family. Although Queen Elizabeth II possibly saw many "horrible years" in the time to come, 1992 was in all its essence 'Annus Horribilis' for the crown until that moment in time on November 24, 1992.
