While the British royal family consistently dominates global headlines, there are more than 40 other countries in the world that still have monarchies. While many of these families execute their royal duties without much fanfare, others have become embroiled in various scandals over the years.
From financial woes plaguing a former Spanish king to the disappearance of an Emirati princess, here are some of the lesser-known transgressions surrounding royal families.
Spain
The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos, saw an explosion of popularity in the 1980s after helping to foil a coup d’etat attempt. However, after his abdication in 2014, there were numerous investigations into Juan Carlos’ alleged financial wrongdoings.
These misdeeds included the “alleged involvement of Juan Carlos in a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia,” BBC said. And that wasn’t the first time the former king had been at the center of controversy — his abdication came following another corruption scandal “involving his daughter’s husband and a controversial elephant hunting trip the monarch took during Spain’s financial crisis,” said BBC.
An additional scandal rocked the royal family when it was recently alleged that Juan Carlos’ daughter-in-law, the now-Queen Letizia, had cheated on her husband, King Filipe. The events “renewed a debate over whether Spain should have a monarchy,” The Associated Press said.
The Netherlands
The Dutch royal family have found themselves at the center of a number of controversies, mostly involving one person: Prince Bernhard. The royal consort from 1948 to 1980 as the husband of Queen Juliana, Bernhard made international headlines in 1976 when it was reported that he had accepted a $1.1 million bribe from aircraft company Lockheed Martin.
Bernhard allegedly accepted the bribe in order to “promote the sale of [Lockheed’s] aircraft” to the Dutch military, The Washington Post said. At the time, Bernhard was also the inspector general of the Dutch armed forces and carried considerable influence over purchases made by his government.
The scandal cast a shadow over the prince for the rest of his life. Bernhard always maintained his innocence until his death, but an investigative commission discovered a “labyrinth of bribery allegations, discussions of secret financial deals, contradictory statements and … a picture of indecisiveness and silence in the face of offers of huge gifts,” The New York Times said.
United Arab Emirates
Perhaps nothing better exemplifies a royal drama than the disappearance of Princess Latifa bint Mohammed. The daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, Latifa made international headlines in 2018 when she escaped the United Arab Emirates on a yacht.
“For more than half her life, Latifa had been devising plans to flee her father,” The New Yorker said. Her plan, which she kept secret for years, involved “training in extreme sports, obtaining a fake passport and smuggling cash to a network of conspirators,” the outlet said. Dubbed the “Fugitive Princess of Dubai,” Latifa was eventually recaptured. For months, her “fate had been unclear until she managed to smuggle out videos in which she said she had been kept in solitary confinement,” The Guardian said.
UAE officials have always denied that Latifa was a prisoner. She eventually left the country a second time and is now believed to be living in Europe.
Saudi Arabia
Directly west of the UAE, the royal family of Saudi Arabia has similarly seen some scandals. Many of these revolve around Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
While it is commonly believed that bin Salman has ordered the execution of political opponents and dissidents, the crown prince has also reportedly detained and arrested many members of the Saudi elite — including members of his own family. In 2020, he “detained three members of the royal family, including a brother of the king and a former crown prince” who threatened his power, The New York Times said. This came after a 15-month period during 2018 and 2019 in which bin Salman “[locked] up hundreds of royal relatives and wealthy Saudi businessmen in a Ritz-Carlton hotel,” the Times said.
It was believed at the time that the crackdowns “might have been the result of the uncovering in recent months of a plot to remove” bin Salman, Al Jazeera said. The crown prince has consistently pushed back against allegations of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia.