Queen left 'devastated' by 1992 Windsor Castle fire says expert

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The Queen is not expected to watch Meghan and Markle and Prince Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, set to air in the UK tonight. Small excerpts from the bombshell talk, one of the most extraordinary events in the Royal family for a generation, have already surfaced online since the interview aired yesterday in the US. Many have since drawn comparisons with the past year and Megxit – Meghan and Harry’s departure – with the Queen’s “annus horribilis” in 1992.

A string of tragic events occurred that year: the collapse of three royal marriages, a fire destroying more than a hundred rooms in her beloved Windsor Castle, and a scandal that hit the papers over Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and her involvement with a Texan millionaire.

Ex-royal correspondent Wesley Kerr described the chaos he witnessed on that fateful day on November 20, 1992.

Millions of pounds worth of damage occurred during the fire.

Prince Andrew was the only person in the building on the night of the fire, completing research work for a course at Staff College, Camberley.

Quickly informing the Queen of the news, she was said to have been “devastated”.

While the building was repaired within a few years, the costs made a significant dent in the royal purse, totalling to around £36.5million.

Mr Kerr, speaking during ITV’s documentary, ‘Inside the Crown: Secrets of the Royals’, talked of how the episode put the monarchy on the brink.

He said: “What a terrible blow that must have been for the Queen. She must have thought I am a custodian of this place and I failed in my duties.

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“In the evening, I drove along the M4 on my way back to London and the flames seemed to be about 200 feet high.

“You could see it from a couple hundred miles away.

“It seemed like the end of the world, the metaphorical end of the monarchy.”

His colleague and royal expert Piers Brendon went on to describe the unprecedented devastation displayed by the Queen, and said “you could see it in her face”.

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He added: “You don’t often see that depressed look on her features.”

The fire started inside the monarch’s private Chapel at around 11.15am, with a curtain thought to have been the source of the blaze after a spotlight was pressed up and leaned against it.

Members and agents of the household had been in the chapel to inspect works of art.

Windsor Castle itself was built nearly a thousand years ago by William the Conqueror in the decade after the Norman conquest of Britain, 1066.

While most of the building has since been modernised, it contains a lengthy architectural history, with restoration workers constantly making sure that fire hazards are dealt with and infrastructure is maintained.

Meanwhile, the limelight has been placed on the Queen and other members of the family’s inner circle ahead of Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview.

Harry himself appeared in an informal chat with actor and comedian James Corden last month, the two riding on an open top double decker bus through the streets of Los Angeles, where he and Meghan moved last year.

During the trip, the pair talked about Harry’s fallout from the family.

Harry said he had not left his family behind, but was “stepping back rather than stepping down”, adding that this did not mean he would not continue his line of public service work, as his life would be bound by giving back to people.

Caught up in the whirlwind is the pair’s announcement that they are expecting their second child later this year.

During the interview with Oprah, the couple revealed that their second child will be a girl.

Oprah With Meghan and Harry is on ITV at 9pm on Monday March 8. You can watch the full interview afterwards on ITV hub.

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