Feeling the weight of the crown? All those revolutions getting you down? Look no further
than the good ol' US of A — the hottest destination for any royal on the run.
Let's start with the one you're probably thinking about. Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle officially moved to California in March 2020, after stepping back as senior
working members of the UK's royal family. Their cross-continental move was sudden to
say the least, and the couple initially didn't even have a home of their own. As a result,
they spent several months living in the LA-area mansion of Tyler Perry before eventually buying
their own $14 million, nine-bedroom mansion in Santa Barbara, California. It was this move,
according to a source who spoke to People magazine, that really allowed the family
to feel settled and confident that they had made the right decision for their family.
Three years on, Prince Harry told "Today" that he now considers the US home.
"Home for me now, at the time being, is in the states. It really feels that way, as well."
He also explained that it didn't feel strange to think of his new country that way,
despite the fact that he has spent the bulk of his life in the UK.
"So that's home, more for you."
"Yeah."
"Is that weird to say?"
"No, but I'm sure it'll become a thing."
Greece officially abolished its monarchy in the mid-'70s, ridding the country of
its superficial figurehead in favor of a more liberal and democratic system. As a result,
King Constantine II and all of his descendants were banished from their
homeland and stripped of their citizenship. Etiquette, however, allowed the family to
retain their titles — which is how we've wound up with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Pavlos.
The heir to the Greek crown would have taken the throne following the death of his father in 2023,
had the monarchy not been previously abolished. Instead, he has spent much of his life outside of
Greece. Pavlos now splits his time between London, where his wife, Crown Princess Marie Chantal,
runs a clothing line, and New York City, where he works for a financial firm.
Prince Pavlos' NYC base is an Upper East Side townhouse that he purchased with
Marie Chantal for $7.5 million in 2000. Photos of the impeccably decorated house
were published recently in Hello! Magazine, in which the princess described their home as
"nothing too fussy." It's probably fair to say that she was comparing it to the kinds of ornate
palaces in which Pavlos spent his childhood — rather than, say, the average American home.
Following King Constantine's death, there were rumors that Prince Pavlos would return to Greece,
but sources close to the couple maintain they have no intentions of selling their NYC home.
In 2021, Princess Mako, a member of Japan's imperial family, left behind everything she
had ever known in order to marry her "commoner" husband. The princess had met her future spouse,
Kei Komuro, at a restaurant in 2012, when they were both studying overseas. Their courtship was
initially approved by the palace, but when Komuro found himself embroiled in some embarrassing
family drama of his own, that approval was quickly revoked. Unwilling to give up her love,
Princess Mako decided to relinquish her title, an official imperial wedding,
and her inheritance — all for a chance at her own happily ever after. At the end of that year,
following their scaled-back ceremony, Mako reiterated that:
"To me, he is irreplaceable. Our marriage is a necessary step to
able to protect our hearts in a cherishing way."
The couple then moved to New York City, desperate for some distance
from the media hurricane that had enveloped their lives in Japan.
In the USA, Komuro works for a prominent law firm while the former princess interns at the
MET. By all accounts, it seems the couple really does lead a fairly typical life,
too — perhaps demonstrated by the fact the American press tends to leave them alone.
Like Greece's Crown Prince Pavlos, Prince Joel Makonnen wasn't raised in his native country.
A member of the Solomonic dynasty, which ruled the Ethiopian Empire from the 13th
century up until the mid-1970s, Prince Joel was born in Rome after his parents
fled Ethiopia following a coup. He spent most of his early life moving around Europe and Africa,
and eventually traveled to the US in 2003 to attend the American University at Washington DC
and Howard University. It was during his time here that he first met his future wife, Ariana Austin.
It seems that their marriage, more than anything else, is what has kept Prince Joel in America
all this time. After tying the knot in 2017, the pair settled down in Washington, D.C.,
where he works for a law firm and she is involved in philanthropy. In an essay for Town & Country,
Ariana wrote that her life with her prince is fairly ordinary — they enjoy staying in,
cooking together, and taking international trips when their schedules allow. As far as
flaunting their royal status, they both prefer to keep their titles under wraps. Prince Joel
told Insider that this is because he was raised to do so, while Ariana feels as if
the title isn't hers to use, since it was not given to her by the Ethiopian people.
Prince Joachim and his family are relatively new arrivals to the United States. It's believed that
some heir-and-spare drama, similar to that between Prince William and Prince Harry,
is what drove the sixth in line to the Danish throne to leave his home country.
According to the New York Post, tensions have been running in the Danish royal family for
several years, but things really came to a head in early 2023, when Queen Margrethe did this:
"Four members of the Danish royal family have been officially stripped of their titles,
with half of the queen's grandchildren no longer referred to as 'prince' or 'princess.'"
The palace claimed that this was done in order to streamline the monarchy to fit
the needs of modern times. However, the prince and his children were deeply hurt by the move,
especially as they had been given little warning. Wanting some space from his family, the prince,
his wife, and their two young children decided to get out of Denmark and move to Washington D.C.
For now, Prince Joachim will be working for the Danish
embassy in D.C.. His position will be unpaid, but the palace has agreed to continue to give
him his royal stipend, which comes to about $48,000 a month. With that kind of cash,
these Danish royals should have no problem leading a lifestyle fit for a king.
Japan's Princess Mako wasn't the only royal to leave her home country behind
for love in 2021. Norway's Princess Märtha Louise also took the plunge,
ditching her European palace and royal duties for a shot
at happiness with a Los Angeles-based shaman and healer named Durek Verrett.
The pair met in 2019 and got engaged shortly after. Almost immediately,
there was a concern that the happy couple was using the princess' title and connections for
their own commercial gain — mostly thanks to efforts such as their European speaking tour,
"The Princess and the Shaman." So Princess Märtha Louise did what she felt was best and essentially
gave up her role as a working member of the royal family. Free of her royal obligations,
the princess then decided that the time was right to join her fiance stateside.
"I don't wanna be a person who's always on the sideline. I wanna
demonstrate our love to the world and show that love is possible."
The pair, along with Martha Louise's two younger daughters, now live somewhere in LA. Shaman Durek,
as he's more commonly known, still works as a spiritual guide and healer,
and he continues to stay close to many of his well-known celebrity clients — a
list that boasts names such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Nina Dobrev.
Belgium's Prince Amadeo is another royal willing
to give up his life to move to the US for his soulmate.
At the time of his engagement, Prince Amadeo was sixth in line to the Belgian throne. His fiancé,
Princess Elisabetta, hailed from a family of Italian aristocrats and was,
on a purely political level, a quite suitable choice for the young royal. Nevertheless,
for reasons that have never been fully explained, the prince decided not to obtain a royal decree
for the marriage from his uncle, King Phillipe, and, as a result, lost his right of succession.
So, after tying the knot in Rome, the young couple moved to New York City in
pursuit of what the Daily Mail described as "an independent life... free of any official role."
It seems they found it, too. As of 2011, Prince Amadeo was working as
an analyst at Deloitte. He prefers to keep a more quiet profile these days,
so not much is known about his current job title or where, exactly, the couple lives. And without
those exact details, we're forced to imagine that they're just living a happy, ordinary life,
blending in with the thousands of other New Yorkers who have moved there from abroad.
Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia may not be a household name, but he's kind of a big
deal in the royal world. He's actually the descendent of several royal houses,
including those of Italy, Russia, and Greece. Dimitri's family's reign ended during World
War II when Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers, but they have kept their royal titles,
believing them to be theirs by birthright — if nothing else.
Dimitri spent his younger years living in Paris, but moved to New York City in 1983
after graduating from university. He pursued a more traditional career at first, working in
finance at a major brokerage firm, but eventually tired of the rat race and began following his true
passion— gemology. After working in Sothbey's jewelry department for several years, he started
his own line of opulent accessories, founding the Prince Dimitri Company in 2007. According
to the New York Times, which published a profile of the royal focusing on his work as a designer,
pieces in his collection tend to go from anywhere between $150,000 to $2 million.
Aside from his obvious professional success, Prince Dimitri says the ability to live
anonymously is what has kept him in the US all of these years. He told Insider:
"In New York, nobody cares as long as you are nice and fun and intelligent and mind
your own business. Anything goes, it's very relaxed."