Meghan and Harry: ‘Brits on side of Queen’ says expert

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The Queen was at the end of her tether in November 1992, when after months of crises and issues coming her way part of Windsor Castle burned down, royal expert Andrew Morton said. Following the fire, Mr Morton said the monarch “looked utterly devastated”.

Luckily, he added, she could count on the tireless support of his sister Princess Margaret.

In his new book Elizabeth & Margaret, Mr Morton wrote: “Fortunately for Elizabeth, Margaret was there for her in 1992, the Queen’s annus horribilis.

“The worst year of the Queen’s reign began with the separation in March of the Duke and Duchess of York and continued with the divorce in April of her daughter Princess Anne from Captain Mark Phillips.

“This was followed by a devastating fire at Windsor Castle in November.

“When the Queen, dressed in a green rain mac and matching hat, came to visit the smouldering ruin, she looked utterly devastated.

“The castle, an icon of Britain’s history, had also been her home for most of her life.

“She retreated to Royal Lodge and spent the weekend with Margaret and her mother, almost inconsolable.

“‘The symbolism of the Windsor Castle fire was not lost on anyone inside the family,’ Diana recalled.”

Just a few days after the fire, which broke out in the Queen’s Private Chapel and cost years and £36.5 million in reparation, the Queen famously described 1992 as a horrible year, using the Latin phrase “annus horribilis”.

Providing an extraordinarily rare glimpse into her state of mind and emotions, the monarch said in a speech delivered at Guildhall to mark the 40th anniversary of her succession to the throne: “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.”

During 1992, the Queen had to endure the divorce of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips and the separation of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew.

The Duchess of York hit the front page in 1992 also in the wake of the publication of intimate pictures of herself and her financial advisor John Bryan.

Mr Morton’s tell-all biography of Princess Diana, of which the Princess of Wales was the main source, was also published that year.

In this book, the princess voiced her struggles within the Royal Family and candidly spoke about Prince Charles’s affair with then-Camilla Parker Bowles.

A few weeks later, the transcriptions of tapes of Princess Diana’s private conversations with her close friend James Gilbey, during which she also criticised the Royal Family, were released.

And a few days after the Queen gave her annus horribilis speech, Princess Diana and Prince Charles separated.

Mr Morton stated the difficulties faced by the Queen in the early 1990s brought the sisters together “in a way neither had experienced since the days of the Blitz”.

He added in his book: “In adversity, they were united in common purpose, Margaret proving herself time and again a loyal and devoted sister who was prepared to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the Sovereign.

“‘The Queen always came first in her thoughts,’ said her lady-in-waiting, Janie Stevens.

“‘She was always saying, ‘my poor sister’ whenever anything went wrong.”

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