Royal Family’s most heartbreaking year in full from health traumas to deaths and scandal

In just a few days’ time, it will be the dawn of a New Year with the arrival of 2025 – and it can’t come quickly enough for the Royal Family.

This time 12 months ago, nobody could have predicted the tumultuous year that the Firm has had to endure, with no royal unaffected by heartbreak from King Charles to the Prince and Princess of Wales. Here we look back at the family’s devastating 12 months which have been one of the most traumatic on record for the House of Windsor…

Health battles

One thing that the royals have had more than their fair share of this year is health battles, with several of the high-profile working members of the family suffering.

The most shocking diagnosis came earlier this year with concern being sparked right at the beginning of 2024 for Kate. After not returning to duty following the Christmas break, Kensington Palace stunned the world on January 17 when it announced the princess had undergone abdominal surgery and would be in hospital for two weeks.

At the time, it was believed Kate would be out of the public eye for several months, and after being discharged from the London Clinic to begin her recovery at home, cruel online rumours began to spread about the princess.

Then, just before the Easter break in late March, she shocked the world in an emotional video, where she revealed she had received a cancer diagnosis and would be starting preventative chemotherapy treatment. She spent more time away from the public eye before making a triumphant return to duty at Trooping the Colour in June.

Several months later, another tear-jerking video was released where Kate revealed she had completed her chemotherapy treatment. Since then, she has started a very gradual return to public life and recently hosted her annual Christmas carol concert and took part in the Qatari state visit. In November, Prince William reflected on the Wales family’s experience calling it one of the hardest of his life.

And this was no doubt due to the fact that his father King Charles also received a cancer diagnosis after spending time in hospital for a procedure to correct an enlarged prostate. The King has also embarked on treatment and after a short time away from public-facing duties he returned to a full work schedule, with time factored in to receive his weekly treatment.

In fact, he and Queen Camilla even toured Australia and Samoa in October with more overseas trips to the likes of Italy and India said to be planned for next year. Sadly, Queen Camilla has also been through the wringer, having fallen ill with a chest infection shortly after returning to the UK.

It forced her to miss several big events, including Remembrance Sunday and the Royal Variety Performance. It later emerged she had in fact had viral pneumonia and was left suffering the effects of post-viral fatigue.

Meanwhile, a shock hospital stay also came in June for Princess Anne after a horror incident involving a horse. She had a five-night stay at Southmead Hospital in Bristol after suffering a concussion and minor injuries to her head when she was either kicked or headbutted by a horse on her Gatcombe estate.

Emergency services were dispatched to the estate and the King’s sister was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. Royal sources said while the exact cause of the princess’s injuries was unconfirmed, there were horses in the vicinity and royal doctors suggested her head injuries were consistent with a potential impact from a horse’s head or legs.

Three weeks after the incident she returned to duties and told how she couldn’t “remember a single thing” about what happened. Then just before Christmas, it was revealed that Princess Michael of Kent had been left with two broken wrists after a fall at her Kensington Palace home. The 79-year-old had been carrying a pile of coats when she tripped and fell. The royal, who is married to Prince Michael of Kent – a cousin of the late Queen – used her hands to then break her fall but then broke multiple small bones in her wrists.

Heartbreaking tragedy

As the royals dealt with their health woes, there was also an utter tragedy to hit the family with the death of Thomas Kingston, the husband of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s daughter, Lady Gabriella Windsor.

Mr Kingston died from a head injury, and a gun was found near his body on February 25, at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds. The 45-year-old financier, married Lady Gabriella at Windsor Castle in 2019, with Queen Elizabeth II and the late Duke of Edinburgh among the guests.

Earlier this month, a coroner ruled he died from a shotgun wound after suffering an adverse effect to medication prescribed by his doctor. At the inquest into his death held at Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court, Lady Gabriella, 43, said people need to be warned about the effects of medications used to treat mental health conditions or more people could die.

Photo drama

Amid her health challenges, the Princess of Wales unwittingly also became caught up in drama – all over a sweet photo released to mark Mother’s Day.

As she continued to recover from surgery but before she announced her cancer diagnosis, a snap was released showing Kate with her children. But hours after it was released it was withdrawn by several international pic agencies because of suspicions it had been manipulated.

Soon after Kate admitted editing a photo of her and the children taken by William and issued a personal apology for any confusion. Royal sources said the Princess of Wales made “minor adjustments” to the photo taken by William and that the Waleses wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day.

It led to predictions photos taken by Kate and released to mark her children’s birthdays would stop. But that has not been the case with snaps taken by the princess released to mark the special days of Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.

Bitter estrangements

Since dramatically quitting as royals almost five years ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s feud with their royal relatives has continued to hang over the family.

And it seems despite the health challenges the Firm has faced, it has not proved to be the catalyst in improving relations on both sides of the Atlantic. When it came to Harry’s relationship with Charles, there appeared to be a glimmer of hope at the beginning of the year when the King’s cancer news was revealed.

Harry immediately dashed to the UK to be at his dad’s side but the pair only spent around 30 minutes together. Since then Harry has been on several more visits to the UK, but has not met with his father.

And in the summer, a source claimed father and son are no longer speaking with one long-running issue seeing their estrangement deepen. Sources close to the Sussexes claimed that Harry’s calls to his dad are going unanswered as he tries to discuss his security arrangements with his father. The Duke has been embroiled in a long-running battle over his security when he comes to the UK after he automatically lost the right to his police protection when he stepped down as a working royal.

A friend of Harry’s told PEOPLE magazine: “He gets ‘unavailable right now’. His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.” While another friend added: “Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father,” while another source added: “Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs.”

Meanwhile, when it comes to Harry and his older brother William, relations also remain as frosty as ever, with one report claiming they last spoke to each other more than two years ago after the death of the late Queen.

However, in late August it emerged that the brothers had come together and both attended a memorial service for their late uncle Lord Robert Fellowes, the husband of their aunt Lady Jane Fellowes, a sister of Princess Diana. But onlookers said the two men kept their distance during the event and were not seen talking to each other.