Royals
Royal Family Rocked by a Tragic Loss, Bullying Claims and a Near-Death Experience
The royal family has had its fair share of lows in recent weeks. Here, Star recounts their trials and tribulations.
A Tragic Death
Rosie Roche — the 20-year-old cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry and granddaughter of Princess Diana’s uncle Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy — was found dead in her home in Norton, England, on July 14 with a firearm nearby.
According to the local coroner, the Durham University student’s death was deemed “non-suspicious and there was no third-party involvement.”
King Accused of Bullying
Meghan Markle isn’t the only royal accused of mistreating staff. An investigation by Britain’s Sunday Times published July 19 revealed 11 of 12 gardeners at King Charles’ beloved Highgrove Estate have left since 2022 amid complaints of poor working conditions, low pay and morale and bullying behavior by the king.
The monarch micromanaged staff and allegedly declared, “Don’t put that man in front of me again,” after one staffer revealed he lacked knowledge about a particular flower.
Anne’s Near-Death Accident
More than a year after Princess Anne was hospitalized for five days when she “sustained minor injuries and [a] concussion following an incident on [her] Gatcombe Park estate,” as Buckingham Palace announced last summer, comes news that the horse-related ordeal was more dire than the public was told.
“Her accident was so much worse than anyone let on, and it took quite a while for her to feel herself again,” a source revealed in a July 19 U.K. news story about the Princess Royal, who remains the hardest-working member of her family.
Heckled by His Subjects
No royal kowtowing here! During a walkabout in Newmarket, England, July 22, members of the public confronted Charles about the royals’ financial burden on taxpayers.
“Why does your family cost us half a billion pounds a year, Charles?” one man called out. “Ah, yes,” the monarch, who’s worth an estimated $850 million, awkwardly fumbled before moving on — only to be confronted by a woman who asked him if it’s “fair” the monarch makes millions from his Duchy of Lancaster.
