Inside Queen Elizabeth II’s annus horribilis: what happened to make the monarch so deeply unhappy – and has history repeated itself?

‘1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure,’ Queen Elizabeth told the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London. ‘In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an “Annus Horribilis”. I suspect that I am not alone in thinking it so.’

It all began in January, when the couple then known as the Duke and Duchess of York informed Queen Elizabeth that their marriage was no longer tenable. In an attempt to manage the PR of the…