A difficult aspect of the Queen's family life has left the monarch "deeply upset". Photo / Getty Images
A difficult aspect of the Queen's family life has left the monarch "deeply upset". Photo / Getty Images
According to a royal family biographer, the Queen was "deeply" upset that three out of four of her children's marriages ended in divorce.
"Outwardly stoical, as ever, the Queen was finding the divorce talks deeply upsetting," Robert Hardman wrote in his book, Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II, reports People.
"Another former member of the Household recalls that every now and then, there would be a glimpse of her despair."
Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne all divorced, leaving her youngest son, Prince Edward as the only child to stay married.
According to Hardman, a former palace staffer disclosed that the Queen was "distressed" about the situation and her children's unhappiness in their marriages.
"I said, 'Ma'am, it seems to be happening everywhere. This is almost common practice,'" the former staffer recalled, adding, "But she just said, 'Three out of four!' in sheer sadness and exasperation. One shouldn't underestimate the pain she's been through."
But the Queen always kept her cool, with her former press secretary Charles Anson revealing that even in 1992 when the marriages of Charles, Andrew and Anne all came tumbling down, she remained composed.
"I don't remember a single occasion when I went to see her and she exclaimed, 'No! What next?'" Anson told Hardman. "The issue was sometimes embarrassing, but she got on with it. It is immensely reassuring in those situations to work for someone who isn't knocked back."
Anson noted that the 95-year-old Monarch was "never short; never irritable; completely steady".
The Queen was said to have remained composed through the dramatic end of Charles and Diana's wedding. Photo / Getty Images
When it came to Charles and Diana's very public drama, according to Hardman staff were reportedly impressed how well she handled the scandal.
"Her mother's strategy in these situations - to carry on as if they were not happening — had earned her the nickname 'imperial ostrich' among royal staff," Hardman wrote.
"The Queen's response, as ever, was to follow the example of her father, absorbed from his days at sea, and to treat adversity like the ocean."
He added, "While the Queen has sometimes been accused of being slow to act, there has never been a charge of panic. Her default mode in the face of a crisis is stillness."
Charles and the late Diana divorced in 1996 after 15 years of marriage amid his cheating scandal with Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he married in 2005.
Anne was married to Mark Phillips from 1973 to 1992 and she later married Timothy Laurence in 1992.
Prince Andrew was married to Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, from 1986 to 1996.
Prince Edward has been married to Sophie, Countess of Wessex since 1999.
