The Royal Scandals of 2020: From Megxit To 'The Crown' Drama & More

From Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping away from their royal duties to their bombshell Netflix deal and heartbreaking miscarriage, this year has been an emotional rollercoaster for the royals.

The rest of the crew hasn't had an easy 2020 either. Prince William, Prince Charles and The Queen are watching their own family drama unfold on Netflix's The Crown while Princess Diana's bombshell BBC Panorama interview was brought back into the spotlight.

Jaws dropped around the world when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would be taking a step back from their royal duties on January 8. The duo said they planned to transition into a more "progressive new role" within the institution.

"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen," Harry and Meghan shared in a statement at the time.

The couple planned to start their lives anew in North America with son Archie. While their separation caused a strain in their relationship with the royals, it was later revealed in October that Harry and Meghan warned Prince Charles and Prince William about their departure.

Harry and Meghan officially stepped away from their royal duties in March to begin their new lives in California.

The power couple's exit, which became known as 'Megxit,' took place more than a year after they tied the knot in England in May 2018. Harry and Meghan welcomed Archie the following year.

When they said they were separating themselves, they clearly meant it! Harry and Meghan shocked the world when they packed their bags and left London for good. The couple found a new home in Santa Barbara, Calif., in the celeb filled Montecito community for $14.65M.

"They feel the new house is a place of peace," a source said at the time. The lovebirds tried living in Los Angeles, Calif., but Harry "absolutely hated" the lack of privacy.

The famed couple decided to move to California in an effort to "rebrand themselves" in the public eye, a source previously reported. "Harry's determined to make it in Hollywood, just as much as Meghan."

Amid starting their new lives in the U.S., Harry and Meghan announced they signed a $150M Netflix deal on September 2 to form their own production company that will make feature films, documentaries, scripted shows and children’s programming. Royals producing entertainment? Unheard of! 

However, "It was too tempting to resist," a source previously dished, adding that the couple is hoping this new opportunity will be a "way of rebuilding their reputation."

Prince Philip Revealed: A Man of His Century biographer Ingrid Seward dropped a bombshell that Prince Charles blamed father Prince Philip for his marriage to the late Princess Diana. The Prince of Wales, 71, "felt he'd been very pushed into marrying" Diana, according to Seward.

"Charles told some of his friends that he felt pressurized into marrying Diana because Philip said, 'You've either got to marry her or let her go. She's only 19. You can't string her along. And all the press is saying, 'Oh, this is going to be the next queen.' You've got to take a stand and say that this is not going to work, or you marry her.'"

Prince William revealed he tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier in April but kept the news a secret as to not alarm the world with his diagnosis. At the time, the father of three was "struggling to breathe," as he was "hit pretty hard by the virus," a source reported. William tested positive following his father, Charles, and Boris Johnson's diagnosis.

Prince Harry and the 'Suits' alum found themselves in hot water after the fourth season of Netflix's 'The Crown' depicted father Prince Charles and his relationship with Princess Diana in a poor light.

Royal analysts urged the couple to abandon their deal with the streaming service. "The unedifying impression is that, by having signed a deal with Netflix, Prince Harry and his former Hollywood star wife Meghan are seen to be lavishly benefiting from the company's distortion of the truth about the Royal Family," Mail on Sunday columnist Emily Andrews wrote amid the royals’ row with the streaming platform.

It was recently revealed that an investigation has been launched into Princess Diana's infamous BBC Panorama interview that shocked the world.

The Duke of Cambridge released a statement in November saying, "The independent investigation is a step in the right direction. It should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the BBC at the time."

Lord Dyson — the former president of the Court of Appeal of England — will lead the independent investigation into how journalist Martin Bashir landed the controversial interview.

During their chat — which aired 25 years ago in 1995 — Diana famously said: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

Meghan has been in a lengthy lawsuit with Associated Newspapers — which publishes the Mail on Sunday — after they published a private letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., in August 2018.

Meghan sued the publication that same month. The actress' trial was supposed to start on January 11, but earlier this year, Judge Justice Warby granted her request to push the start date back to fall 2021.

It was recently revealed that Harry is suing the same U.K. tabloid publisher as his wife for libel. Click here for more details on Harry and Meghan's latest legal drama.

In a candid New York Times op-ed, Meghan sadly revealed she suffered a miscarriage over the summer.

The 39-year-old described the painful moment she knew something was wrong while she was changing her first son's diaper.

"I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child that I was losing my second," she wrote in the article titled "The Losses We Share." Meghan later explained she hoped her story would help others in their healing process while she and Harry try to heal themselves.