Although it would likely seem tame today, Prince Edward's 1987 televised and themed TV special, It's a Royal Knockout, became a precursor to the royal scandals and embarrassments of the 1990s. Nobody more than the late Queen Elizabeth II herself felt this humiliation, although it has been revealed that she simply "couldn't say no" to her youngest child.
Filmed at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England, U.K., the program pitted four teams of celebrities with senior and junior members of the British royal family in a medieval-themed "competition" with the proceeds going to charity. Although a good deed, the program is credited with "damaging the mystique of the monarchy" at a time when such expositions from senior royals were "unthinkable."
Some of the stars who took place included John Travolta, George Lazenby, Toyah Willcox, Gary Lineker and Barbara Windsor, but it was the appearances of Prince Edward, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Sarah, Duchess of York, that dominated royal news headlines for days in the pre-internet era.
The late historian Ben Pimlott, whose biography of Elizabeth II is considered "one of the very best," once stated: "[The Queen] was against it, but one of her faults is that she can't say no."
"It's a Royal Knockout will go down in royal history as one of the biggest c------ of all time I think," veteran royal reporter Jennie Bond dished. "It was a disaster from beginning to end, it was absolutely humiliating. Sarah with her usual gusto entered into it, and if she gets into something she does it with bells on. In a way, it's kind of unfair, Fergie took a lot of the blame, almost the scapegoat. Her behavior was being commented on and I think, then, is when Diana came into her own."
Fergie took much of the tabloid rancor at the time, with many claiming the decision of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, "staying far, far away from this s-------" shifted the focus mostly to her. At the time, Ferguson was a tabloid sensation in Britain " for all the wrong reasons" thanks to her boisterous behavior that was quickly labeled "disgustingly common" for a royal princess.
Prince Edward was also lambasted for "having a hissy fit" backstage when he asked gathered journalists and news crews what they thought of the program — to groans and laughs. The Queen and Prince Philip's youngest child was also under fire by paparazzi and the press during the era due to a series of faux pas'.
Although one of the most embarrassing royal moments of Elizabeth II's long reign, the show was a hit with some 18 million U.K. viewers tuning in.
Daily Mirror reported on the expert revelations.