Starring in a controversial film was used by the royals to destroy the passion between the American and the philandering son of Elizabeth II
Wife of Prince Harry, former ‘Suits’ star Meghan Markle wouldn’t have been the first American actress to join the British royal family had a scandal not ended the romance between her husband’s uncle Prince Andrew, and New Yorker Koo Stark.
In 1983, the 18-month relationship ended after the press’s relentless pursuit of gossip and heavy pressure from Queen Elizabeth II. The reason? They had discovered the performance of the young artist in the almost unknown English erotic film “Emily”, released in 1976.
Koo played the lead, a 17-year-old girl who begins having sex with men and women in a country house in the English countryside. She shot nude and sex scenes.
The conservative royal family has mobilized to prevent a foreign actress, labeled by the media as a “porn star”, from marrying an heir to the most famous monarch on the planet.
“In those days, a prince could take an actress as a lover, just as his ancestors would have, but never as a wife,” wrote biographer Ingrid Seward.
Even worse if the suitor has been involved in a moralizing scandal. There was another factor: the European aristocracy’s contempt for American women, as subtly displayed through Cora Crawley, Countess Grantham, in the “Downton Abbey” series.
Participating in ‘Emily’ became a stain on Koo Stark’s life, just like Xuxa had his reputation attacked for his appearance in ‘Amor Estranho Amor’, in 1982, in which his character seduces a 12-year-old boy . As is still the case today, women are always judged from a sexist point of view.
A Falklands War hero, Andrew followed orders from Buckingham Palace and broke up with Koo Stark. Writers specializing in the Windsor clan claim that the actress was the great love of the prince’s life.
After suffering for some time, he accepted the appointment of his sister-in-law, Princess Diana, and married Sarah Ferguson, a girl in the canons of chastity and discretion appreciated by the nobility.
Rocked by the vilification, Koo put her film career on the back burner. She devoted herself to photography. Despite her distance, she kept in touch with the prince. He became godfather to his ex-girlfriend’s daughter.
In 2015, when Andrew was accused of a sexual offense in the United States, his former partner came to his defense. “I’m furious. I know him well, he’s a good man,” Stark said.
Three years later, the former actress wrote a letter to Meghan Markle. She warned of the witch hunt the peasant girl would face when she joined Harry. No sooner said than done.
Feeling slighted at court and hounded by the London press, the Dukes of Sussex abandoned royal duties and fled to California. In the most controversial realm of all, couple dramas repeat itself.
Source: Terra
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