Reply To: Sampling Bias (in Royal Marriage Statistics)

You pointed out that three of the Queen’s four children divorced their first spouses in the 1990s. That is enough to give the impression of ‘a lot of recent divorces’

I agree that it’s enough to give the impression. But impressions are not always reality. You tend to remember the divorces (since they get a lot of publicity) but ignore the people who quietly stay married.

In addition, people tend to focus on the recent and ignore the old. But the problem is that by ignoring the old marriages, you are ignoring the very success stories that are necessary to make the comparison.

In any case, of the last, say, 5 royal (first) marriages, how many ended in divorce?

I have compiled the last twenty marriages in the Royal Family* — going back to 1947. Of the twenty, fifteen are still married to their first spouses (and one more was widowed after a forty year marriage). Of the last five marriages (excluding the last week’s), all five are still married to their first spouses.

The marriages (and their current statuses) are:

HRH Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth to Philip Mountabatten, Duke of Edinburgh (1947) — still married

HRH Prince Edward, The Duke of Kent to Katherine Worsely (1961) — still married

HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent to Sir Angus Ogilvy (1963) — widowed 2004.

HRH Prince Richard, (later Duke) of Gloucester to Bridgette van Duers (1972) — still married

HRH Princess Anne to Mark Phillips (1972) — divorced 1992

HRH Prince Michael of Kent to Marie-Christine vonReibnetz (1978) — still married

HRH Charles, Prince of Wales to Diana Spencer (1981) — divorced 1996

HRH Andrew, Duke of York to Sarah Ferguson (1986) — divorced 1996

James Ogilvy (son of HRH Princess Alexandra) to Julia Rawlinson (1988) — still married

George Windsor, Earl of St. Andrews (son of HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent) to Sylvana Tomasseli (1988) — still married

Marina Ogilvy (daughter of HRH Princess Alexandra) to Paul Mowatt (1990) — divorced 1997

Lady Helen Windsor (daughter of HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent) to Timothy Taylor (1992) — still married

HRH Edward, Earl of Wessex to Sophie Rhys Jones (1999) — still married

Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (son of HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester) to Claire Booth (2002) — still married

Lady Davina Windsor (daughter of HRH Prince Richard) to Gary Lewis (2004) — still married

Lord Nicholas Windsor (son of HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent) to Paola Doimi de Lupis Frankopan (2006) — still married

Lady Rose Windsor (daughter of HRH Prince Richard) to Peter Gilman (2008) — still married

Peter Phillips (son of HRH Princess Anne) to Autumn Kelly (2008) — still married

Lord Fredrick Windsor (son of HRH Prince Michael) to Sophie Winkleman (2009) — still married

HRH William, Duke of Cambridge to Kate Middleton (2011) — still married 🙂

The Wolf

* Note that I limited it to currently living members of the royal family (those titled HRH or HM) and their children. I don’t have time to research the marriages of deceased members of the Royal Family. Feel free to do so and report back on them if you really want the data.