Royal weddings are the stuff dreams are made of, so it was no surprise that the romance
of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle captured headlines across the globe. But there are
plenty of less-known royal couples around the world whose enchanted lives deserve the
attention of any royal watcher.
It's not every day a reality TV star and a prince fall in love, but that's exactly what
happened to Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist. When the prince was introduced to the Paradise
Hotel finalist after coming out of a 10-year relationship, the pair described it as "love
at first sight."
Prior to her wedding in June 2015, the princess-to-be told Swedish channel TV4,
"The first thing I noticed about Carl Philip was that he seemed very humble. When I got
to know him, I saw that he was incredibly natural, very intelligent and very humble."
Prince Carl Philip also gushed about his then-bride-to-be saying,
"I don't think I knew the magic of love before I met Sofia. But ever since I met her, I've
seen how love can change a person."
Not long after the engagement, the Swedish media jumped on the fact that Hellqvist had
previously modeled topless with a boa constrictor. But the princess didn't seem bothered — she
told news outlets that she had "long since moved on" and had no regrets. She said on
Swedish television,
"All these experiences have made me the person I am. I wouldn't have made those choices today."
Upon marriage, Hellqvist became Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland . The Duke and Duchess
are doting parents to two children, Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel. In December
2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child.
When many were making efforts to leave Greece at the height of its economic crisis in 2015,
Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark made the decision as a couple
to move back — despite the fact that his father, the former King Constantine II , had
been deposed.
The prince told GQ,
"We came to the conclusion there was nothing stopping us. We don't have any children yet,
so it wasn't a question of putting children in new schools or worrying about how they
were going to adapt, so we said if we're going to do it, it's got to be now, and I haven't
regretted it at all."
The pair, who married in 2010, seem to be settling into Greek life, with Princess Tatiana
often posting selfies of the couple hiking or taking walks with their dog on her Instagram.
Despite marrying into the once-royal family, she insists the pair are as normal as normal
can be (although she has been known to sport a tiara now and again).
She told Vogue in 2016,
"I live a very simple life here. I work, I go to the supermarket, I cook, I walk my dog.
The Greek people have welcomed me like they would anyone else."
King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan met at a dinner party, and married six months
later in 1993. Abdullah wasn't originally supposed to be king — it was a shock when
his father, before his death, switched his designated successor from his brother to his
firstborn son.
The queen said in a 2016 interview with Stellar,
"That was obviously a defining moment in my life. On the one hand, we were coming to terms
with the enormity of losing King Hussein; an inspirational leader and peacemaker. And
at the same time, we were dealing with the enormous responsibility we had just been handed
— effective immediately. And I wasn't expecting that at the age of 28."
Despite her sudden ascension to the throne, Queen Rania spoke with 60 Minutes about how
she insisted on driving her own car, picking up her children from school, and mixing with
the people of Jordan.
Their reign has still been anything but ordinary: King Abdullah has been known to sneak out
in disguise to check on his kingdom, and Queen Rania has spearheaded several educational
initiatives as well as her own YouTube channel.
She told Stellar,
"His Majesty is my truest friend, my confidant, my role model. I feel truly blessed and grateful
for him every day."
Who could forget the fairy-tale nuptials of Prince William and commoner Kate Middleton?
The college sweethearts met while at St. Andrews University — which just so happens to be
coined "Britain's top match-making university," according to ABC News — and were friends
before they began dating.
The pair even lived together as friends, and the prince, to his credit, pulled out all
the stops to woo his bride-to-be.
Prince William said in an interview with Sky News following the engagement,
"When I was trying to impress Kate, I was trying to cook these amazing fancy dinners
and what would happen was I would burn something, something would overspill, something would
catch fire."
The pair even split for a bit, but this royal couple was meant to be. After years of dating,
the prince popped the question in Kenya with his mother Princess Diana's engagement ring.
The happy Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte,
and Prince Louis.
The king and queen of the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan on the Himalayas' eastern edge were
a longtime couple and lived together before marrying in a traditional ceremony.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck , an Oxford graduate, reportedly first met his future
bride Jetsun Pema , the daughter of an airline pilot, when she was just 7 years old (and
he was 17). The pair later fell in love — which the king attributes to their shared passion
of the arts and the queen's intelligence.
He told The Washington Post after the ceremony in 2011,
"I have been waiting for quite some time to get married. But it doesn't matter when you
get married as long as it is to the right person. I am certain I am married to the right
person."
The king and queen are not the kind to shy from mixing with their subjects, and can often
be found visiting hospitals or schools. The pair are also active on social media. They
routinely share photos of their travels, as well as some of the fellow royal guests they've
hosted (like Will and Kate).
The pair welcomed their first child, Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck , in February 2016. They
later welcomed a second son, Prince Jigme Ugyen , in 2020.
Princess Mette-Marit was a single mother when the Crown Prince of Norway swept her off her
feet. Since their 2001 wedding, the pair have had two children together and are going strong.
The heir to the throne and his commoner wife can't help but praise one another in interviews.
The prince said in an interview to national newspaper Dagbladet
"We're normal and vulnerable people. Mette has this great talent of connecting with people,
so that they open up and feel good. Her empathy is a talent. The same thing happens with the
children. If they have problems, they go to her. She knows how to deal with them well."
But the princess was quick to return the compliment, stating:
"Thanks Haakon but that isn't completely true. The children also go to you asking for advice
and help."
The crown princess has also thrived in her role as soon-to-be heir, championing human
rights issues and working as a UNAIDS international goodwill ambassador.
"I feel both incredibly fortunate to have met my fantastic husband and to have this
platform to work on issues I really, really care about."
Few royals captured the imagination like American-born actress Grace Kelly. Now her grandsons and
granddaughters are keeping the glamour of the royal line alive.
One of her grandsons, Prince Andrea , (the eldest son of Princess Caroline and Stefano
Casiraghi ) followed in his grandfather's footsteps and also fell in love with an American
woman. He proposed to his future-bride, New York-born Tatiana Santo Domingo, after several
years of dating. They got married in 2013.
Tatiana is the co-owner of an ethical fashion line, Muzungu Sisters, and the couple have
three children together.
It might be hard to imagine royals who don't live in the lap of luxury, but Princess Beatrice
Borromeo is content to stay at home cooking and wearing skinny jeans. No tiara for this
princess.
She told Glamour in an interview,
"I remember when I first started dating my husband, he was like, 'Do you not have a dress?
Are you a girl, or what?'"
But don't be fooled — she isn't another commoner-turned-royal. Beatrice is an Italian
aristocrat whose family comes from ancient noble lineage.
The younger brother of Prince Andrea Casiraghi , Prince Pierre married Beatrice in a 2015
civil ceremony at the Prince's Palace salon. Later, they held an opulent religious service
on the scenic Lake Maggiore in Italy.
That same year, Beatrice, a journalist who holds a masters from Columbia University,
became the special envoy for human rights for Fashion 4 Development, a United Nations-affiliated
organization.
Seattle-native and fashion model Kendra Spears was once a fixture of catwalks and graced
the pages of high-end fashion magazines like Italian Vogue. But those days seem to be behind
her since she became Princess Salwa Aga Khan , wife of Prince Rahim Aga Khan .
His father, Aga Khan IV, is the hereditary Iman — or spiritual leader — of the Shia
Ismaili Muslims.
The prince and the princess now have two children, Prince Irfan and Prince Sinan . The proud
grandfather, Aga Khan IV, announced the birth of the second prince in 2017, stating that
the new baby "has brought immense joy to our family."
But this isn't the first star-studded wedding for this royal family. Prince Rahim's grandfather,
Prince Aly Khan , was married to Hollywood bombshell Rita Hayworth from 1947 to 1953.
Imagine going out to a nightclub with some friends, meeting a guy, and falling in love.
Then, later, you find out he's a prince. That actually happened to Ariana Austin when she
met Joel Makonnen .
Makonnen, who's also known as "Prince Yoel," is the great-grandson of Haile Selassie , the
last emperor of Ethiopia.
The pair met over a decade ago in a Washington nightclub when the prince hit her with what
he thought was a stellar pick-up line. Makonnen told the New York Times,
"I said, 'You guys look like an ad for Bombay Sapphire,' or whatever the gin was. Not even
five minutes later I said, 'You're going to be my girlfriend.'"
Austin, a Harvard graduate of Guyanese descent, also had her own family legacy: Her grandfather
was the lord mayor of Georgetown, the capital of Guyana .
The prince opened up to her about his past — how he grew up in Switzerland, where his
parents were living in exile from Ethiopia after political upheaval. After several years
of dating on and off, the prince popped the question and the pair wed in an Ethiopian
Orthodox ceremony in 2017.
Austin shared a photo to her Instagram in December 2017 of the pair celebrating their
first Christmas together as a married couple.
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