To be sure, the flapdoodle about the ducal interview with Oprah is a welcome tabloid-ish antidote to Covid dreariness. But it is far from an unprecedented controversy. This family line of royals specializes in poor behaviour and squabbling; they have done it for much of the last 200 years.

The exceptions, of course, are the female monarchs. The extraordinary rectitude of Queen Victoria has found its way into our language of moral behaviour and attitude. And there have been few criticisms of the current Queen Elizabeth.

But Victoria’s predecessor as King, George IV, was a man noted for his gluttony, drinking and laziness; Punch magazine called him a ‘voluptuary’. He was known to have had at least five mistresses, although that was not a big deal at the time. He took little interest in affairs of state. Victoria’s successor. Edward VII, had a much better reputation as a King than George. However, it is estimated that he had 55 or more mistresses in his lifetime, many of them with high profile actresses. He was required to appear in court more than once, in a gambling scandal. His successor, George V, seemed to have had a non-controversial personal life.

Edward VIII (David) was a known womanizer, given to such reckless behaviour that his father forecast his ruin as King. And, sure enough, it happened; his abdication to marry the American divorcée, Wallis Simpson, shook the monarchy for decades. As Duke of Windsor, his friendship with the Nazis was alarming enough that he was sent away to the Bahamas as governor during WW2. Fortunately, the second son, George VI was much the opposite of his brother. However, in retrospect, there was a whiff of scandal here, as the royal family managed to suppress for decades knowledge about the institutionalization for mental incapacity of two of Queen Mary’s nieces.

So the travails of the current royal family fit right into this history. In the current Queen’s reign, we have seen controversies concerning:
• The non-marriage of Princes Margaret, forbidden by the church. Then a subsequent marriage and divorce.
• The escapades of Andrew: Randy-Andy in his youth and Prince Pedophile today.
• Heir apparent Charles, conducting a publicly-known affair while married to Diana, earning the name “Prince Tampon” for his remarks in an eavesdropped cellphone conversation. Diana’s later comments about the affair damaged Charles’ reputation and credibility. Of course, the affair might never have happened had he been allowed to marry Camilla in the first place.
• And now the Megxit family feud, with accusations traded of racism and bullying.

This latest gyration is fully consistent with a royal family well-schooled in scandal. The great English constitutionalist, Walter Bagehot, identified the monarchy as the “dignified” part of government. The English royals have a spotty record, to be charitable, in meeting that standard.