Did Princess Diana Or Sarah Ferguson Do More Damage To British Monarchy?

Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson both left an impact on the British monarchy even though they are no longer considered official members of the royal family.

On the online forum site Quora, Rob Cover, associate professor at the University of Western Australia, said that he thinks Princess Diana left more damage to the monarchy because the things she did were deliberately done to destroy the royal family. Ferguson, on the other hand, also did some damage to the British monarchy. However, she was more of a tragic figure because she stumbled stupidly but accidentally into scandals. There is little evidence that what she did was malicious because they were more foolish.

“Diana quite deliberately took advantage of her prominence and celebrity to discuss personal issues, to complain about her husband, and to infer the shortcomings of members of the royal family and, frankly, to spill the dirt on herself and others in any way that was unseemly, damaging and certainly unprecedented,” he wrote.

Richard Phillips echoed Cover’s thoughts and said that Princess Diana did irreparable damage to the British monarchy. However, she also saved the institution from itself.

“All the problems around Diana forced the monarchy to take a long hard look at itself in the mirror – and change. Without these changes, the institution would not be as strong as it is today,” he wrote.

Hninzi Thet said that he did not think the Duchess of York did any lasting damage to the monarchy. What the mom of two did was more like lasting damage to herself, Prince Andrew, and their daughters. He added that whatever Ferguson did have no malicious intent but she just had a hard time helping herself.

Princess Diana was married to Prince Charles for over a decade before they divorced in 1996. Ferguson and Prince Andrew were married for a decade before they divorced in 1996. Both couples announced their separation in 1992.