Everything Terrible That Happened During the Queen’s “Annus Horribilis” in 1992

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The Crown has an entire episode of season 5 devoted to Queen Elizabeth II's annus horribilis, which is a fancy Latin way of saying "a disastrous or unfortunate year." The Queen herself popularized this expression while giving a speech to mark her Ruby Jubilee, saying, "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."

Here's a somewhat blurry video of the exact speech The Crown recreated:

Woof. Anyway, while The Crown definitely dives into what made this year so rough for Her Majesty, let's go through everything that went down because, to quote another Queen:

March 1992

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson separate, and Buckingham Palace releases a statement (via the BBC) saying, "Last week, lawyers acting for the Duchess of York initiated discussions about a formal separation for the Duke and Duchess. These discussions are not yet completed and nothing will be said until they are. The Queen hopes that the media will spare the Duke and Duchess of York and their children any intrusion."

Sources note that Fergie will no longer do royal engagements, which the BBC describes as an attempt to "ostracize" her.

April 1992

Princess Anne divorces Mark Phillips, though they'd been separated for two years at this point, so it was kind of a long time coming. In happier news, Anne marries Timothy Laurence just months later in December, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

May 1992

Andrew Morton's bombshell biography, Diana: Her True Story, is published—and to make matters worse for the Queen, there are claims that Diana was a source on the book. (We now know she very much was.)

August 1992

The Daily Mirror publishes paparazzi pics of Fergie sunbathing topless while having her toes sucked by John Bryan. Not a great look, but hardly Fergie's fault. Apparently, Princess Anne was particularly horrified by the photos, and in response to some flowers sent by Fergie, wrote (per The Telegraph):

Also August 1992

"Squidgygate" goes down. What is Squidgygate, you ask? It's The Sun's name for transcripts of a recorded call between Princess Diana and her friend James Gilbey. The call got its name thanks to Gilbey calling Diana "Squidgy" and "Squidge" multiple times.

November 1992

A fire breaks out at Windsor Castle, which was hugely upsetting to the Queen, not to mention massively expensive to the royal family.

December 1992

Prince Charles and Princess Diana separate. The bombshell news is announced by British Prime Minister John Major, who says, "This decision has been reached amicably and they will both continue to participate fully in the upbringing of their children."

In their reporting at the time, the New York Times says the Palace has taken "pains" to say there is no "third party," but notes that Charles is rumored to be involved with his "old girlfriend" and that Diana is rumored to be involved with an "unnamed man who called her 'Squidgy' and said he loved her."

So yeah...a lot going on in 1992! No wonder The Crown devoted an entire episode to it.

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