Welcome to All in the Detail... I am so glad
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American
actress Meghan Markle married Prince Harry on May 19th (just in case
you hadn’t heard), but did you know that she isn’t the first American woman to
reach royalty status?
Here's
a look at a few others before her who have married into a royal family.
(Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
Wallis
Simpson
Yes, I
believe we have all heard the fairy tale story of the Prince who gave up his crown for love. The twice-married American socialite caused quite the
controversy back in 1936. King Edward VIII of England was in love with her, but
the governments of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries frowned upon their
romance for moral reasons. After only 326 days as king, Edward VIII abdicated
his title in 1936, saying "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy
burden of responsibility ... without the help and support of the woman I love.”
The two wed in 1937, making them the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
(Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Rita
Hayworth
Did you
know this? The Hollywood star, previously married to actor-director Orson
Welles, married Prince Aly Khan in 1949. Khan and Hayworth's marriage lasted
less than four years, but they had a daughter together — philanthropist Yasmin
Aga Khan.
(AFP/Getty Images)
Grace
Kelly
And who
can forget, the film star who left behind her Hollywood career to marry Prince
Rainier III of Monaco in 1956? The duo originally met when Kelly was in France
for the Cannes Film Festival, and they did a staged photo shoot at his palace.
The pair married one week after she finished filming what would be her last
film, High Society. Kelly and Rainier were married for 26 years until
Kelly was tragically killed in a fatal car crash.
(Photo by Dennis Oulds/Getty Images)
Lee
Radziwill
Lee
Radziwill, born Caroline Lee Bouvier, was Jackie Kennedy's younger sister. She
married Polish Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill in 1959. Stanislaw’s family was
left poor after the German invasion, but he married a Swiss heiress and
eventually became wealthy in real estate. Lee was his third wife and the two
lived together in 4 Buckingham Palace — a house near the royal palace. They
divorced in 1974, though.
(Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via
Getty Images)
Hope
Cooke
The New
York socialite met Prince Palden Thondup Namgyal of Sikkim while she was an
Asian studies student at Sarah Lawrence College. The two were quickly engaged
and married in 1963. However, it wasn’t a fairytale ending for them — in 1975,
Sikkim was annexed to India and the pair were officially divorced by 1980.
(Elisabetta Catalano / Contributor).
Diane
von Fürstenberg
Yes, that Diane von Fürstenberg. The
designer, formerly Diane Halfin, married Prince Egon von Fürstenberg in 1969, but
their marriage only lasted three years. Another American also married into their
royal family — Alexandra Miller married Prince Egon's son, Alexander, in 1995,
but the couple separated in 2002 and divorced.
(STF/AFP/Getty Images)
Queen
Noor
Princeton-graduate
Lisa Halaby met King Hussein of Jordan while working with Royal Jordanian Airlines.
They got married in 1978 and Halaby took the name Queen Noor, which means
“light” in Arabic. Together they had four children and were married until the
King died in 1999.
(Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
Marie
Chantal Miller
Duty-free-shopping
heiress Marie Chantal Miller met Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece on a blind date
in 1992. The pair wed in 1995, making Pavlos the first European crown prince in
his generation to marry someone who was a commoner. Miller became Her Royal
Highness the Crown Princess of Greece, Princess of Denmark. They are still
married with five children.
(AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)
Kelly
Rondestvedt
American
investment banker Kelly Rondestvedt married Hereditary Prince Hubertus of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Hubertus Michael in 2009. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria
are also notable members of this royal house.
(Photo by Gary Otte/AKDN via Getty Images)
Kendra
Spears
The
Seattle native and former face of Prada, Chanel and other top brands became a
Princess when she married Prince Rahim Aga Khan in 2013. She’s now known as Princess
Salwa Aga Khan, and the couple have two children together.
Thank you to Forbes Magazine for this information.
