Find Out How Your Favorite Royal Couples Met
All the love stories from England, Norway, Sweden and beyond...
Per Meghan Markle, so-called "Cinderella stories" are real–and not as rare as you might think. As it turns out, chance meetings, love at first sight, blind dates that actually turn into something more and chance meet cutest at university are all potential ways to meet royal mates–as are sporting events and the Olympics. Here, all the ways your favorite royal couples met, fell in love and made it official.
This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.
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Prince William met Kate Middleton in 2001, when they were both students at the University of St Andrews, in residence at the St Salvator's Hall. The two began seeing each other in 2003 and announced their engagement in October of 2010, after William proposed to Catherine in Kenya. The couple were married on April 29, 2011.
Photo: Getty
Prince William, Kate Middleton
Prince Christian of Hanover first met Alessandra de Osma in 2005, when she was his tour guide during one of his visits to Peru–but they didn't start dating until years later. Their first appearance as a couple was in 2011, Hola reports. They were engaged in April 2017, according to PopSugar. This marked the second wedding for the couple; they first said "I do" in a civil ceremony in London in November 2017. The couple had their formal ceremony in Lima, on March 16, 2018. Photo: Getty
Prince Christian of Hanover,Alessandra de Osma
Princess Eugenie, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, met Jack Brooksbank, a brand ambassador for Casamigos tequila, a spirits company founded by George Clooney, in 2010. The two got engaged in Nicaragua in early January 2018. The couple first met while skiing in Verbier, Switzerland, and were introduced by mutual friends.
Photo: Getty
Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Alexi Lubomirski
Prince Ernst August of Hanover , Ekaterina Malysheva
Prince Charles met Camilla (then Camilla Shand) in 1971 at a party; the couple were introduced by Charles' college girlfriend, Lucia Santa Cruz, the daughter of the former Chilean ambassador to London, reports PopSugar. While chatting at the party, Camilla reportedly made a joke about her and Charles' ancestral connections,"My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. I feel we have something in common."
The two began dating almost immediately, and parted ways when Charles left for the Royal Navy. When he arrived home eight months afterward, Camilla was engaged to Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she married in 1973. Although Charles married Diana in 1981, he and Camilla were rumored to have carried on an affair throughout his relationship with Diana, which supposedly lead to the couple's divorce in 1995. After Diana's tragic death in 1997, Parker Bowles and Prince Charles continued their romance, and the two wed in 2005.Photo: Getty
Prince Charles , Camilla Parker Bowles
Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby met The Crown Prince Haakon of Norway during a party at the Quart Festival, Norway's largest music festival. The two later met again and started dating, and were married in 2001.
Prior to becoming Norwegian royalty, Mette-Marit was a waitress and a single mother, reports Marie Claire, making this meeting a real life Cinderella story. Photo: Getty
Prince Haakon,Princess Matte-Marit of Norway
American supermodel Kendra Spears was introduced to her groom, the eldest son of the Aga Khan IV, at the age of 26. The two were introduced by none other than Naomi Campbell, and were dating for only four months before Rahim proposed. The couple were married in 2013, and have since welcomed a son.
Photo: Getty
Prince Rahim Aga Khan ,Kendra Spears ,Princess Salwa Aga Khan
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden , Daniel Westling
Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Claire Lademacher
Zara was introduced to rugby player Mike Tindall by her cousin, Prince Harry in 2003, when they were all in Sydney for the Rugby World Cup. Mike had been dropped from his team and was wallowing at a pub when Harry made the introduction, reports Popsugar. The two dated for eight years, and were married in 2011.
Photo: Getty
Zara Phillips, Mike Tindall
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark , Mary Donaldson
When asked if she believes in Prince Charming during an interview leading up to this couple's 2012 wedding, Stephanie Lannoy remarked, "Not only do I believe in it, I also think I found it. I remember the day I met Guillaume I told a friend–who by the way is going to be maid of honor at our wedding–I had found an exceptional man with whom I shared many things in common. I really did not think such a man could exist. So of course I believe in Prince Charming."
Photo: Getty
Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg , Stephanie Lannoy
Prince Albert II of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock
King Felipe met Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in 2002, when she was on assignment as a journalist for CNN, reporting on an oil slick on the shoreline of Galicia. Letizia was there to report on the disaster, while Felipe was there to visit those affected. The pair connected and were married in 2004; they now have two daughters together.
Photo: Getty
King Felipe VI of Spain ,Queen Letizia
Prince Abdullah II met Rania Al Yassin at a dinner party his sister was hosting. At the time, Rania worked for Apple in Amman. The two were engaged just two months later, and Abdullah II ascended the throne in 1999 and became the King of Jordan, just a month before the couple wed. Upon their nuptials, Rania became the Queen of Jordan.
Photo: Getty
Abdullah bin Al-Hussein ,Queen Rania of Jordan
Marie-Chantal Miller ,Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
The prince of Bhutan met Jetsun when she was 7 years old and he was 17, at a family picnic. According to reports, he told her that if they were both still single as adults that they would marry. He kept his promise; on October 13, 2011, the couple married in a traditional Buddhist ceremony. Photo: Getty
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck , Jetsun Pema
Diane Von Furstenberg, now fashion royalty, met Prince Egon von Fürstenberg at a birthday party in Geneva, when she was 18. The designer told Over the Moon, "I wasn’t particularly interested at first. There were plenty of other young, good looking men around and he was still in school at Lausanne. But we ran in the same circles, and the more I got to know him, the more my feelings began to change. I’d say the turning point was on a ski trip we took to Megeve. The car got stuck in the snow and Egon rushed to get help. It turned out not to be a big deal, but I couldn’t help but be charmed by his helplessness and how he wanted to protect me. Before I knew it, I was very much in love. Photo: Getty
Diane von Fürtsenberg , Prince Egon von Fürstenberg
A member of the aristocracy, Lady Diana Spencer had been raised on the queen's Norfolk estate, and had grown up with the royal family. As a child, she played with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and she met Charles for the first time when he was dating her sister Sarah, and came to stay at her family's house; at the time, she was 16, he was 28.
Diana reportedly recalled the day herself, "I remember being a fat, podgy, no-makeup, unsmart lady" she told her biographer Andrew Morton. "But I made a lot of noise, and he liked that, and he came up to me after dinner and we had a big dance," reports Popsugar. Two years after their meeting, they reconnected at a party when they were both single, and became engaged just over six months later. Photo: Getty
Prince Charles, Lady Diana Spencer
These two knew one another from a young age, as was common when they met in 1934, at the wedding of of Princess Marina of Greece (Philip's cousin) and the Duke of Kent (Elizabeth's uncle). At the time, Elizabeth was 8, and Phillip was 13.
Five years later, when King George V! visited Dartmouth College, Prince Phillip was enlisted to entertain his daughter, whom he had met at a wedding years prior. The two connected, and the rest is history Photo: Getty
Queen Elizabeth II , Prince Phillip
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden ,Silvia Sommerlath
Hope Cooke was a member of the aristocracy in Monaco and a student at Sarah Lawrence University studying Asian studies when she met the the recently widowed Crown Prince of Sikkim in Darjeeling, where she was taking a course in typing. The two were engaged two years later, and Queen Hope became the queen of Asia's smallest kingdom in the Himalayas.
Photo: Getty
Hope Cooke , Palden Thondup Namgyal,The Crown Prince of Sikkim
Princess Margaret met photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1958 at a dinner party, and the two began a secret love affair after he was commissioned to photograph her a few months after their first meeting. The two were married on May 6, 1960 at Westminster Abbey, despite the controversy around his not being of royal or aristocratic status. Photo: Getty
Princess Margaret , Antony Armstrong-Jones
Hollywood royalty Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier III at the Cannes Film Festival. At the time, the prince had expressed interest in marrying an American woman, and Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onasis suggested Marilyn Monroe. Prince Rainier felt that Marilyn's persona was not quite dignified enough for his family or his position, but he laid eyes on Grace while she was in town promoting To Catch a Thief.
The two officially met during a photo-op for Paris Match magazine, and the prince sent Kelly a charming letter after their initial meeting; the rest, was history. Photo: Getty
Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier III of Monaco
Princess Anne was a championship equestrian in the late '60s-early '70s, and won the European Championships before attending the 1972 Olympics in Munich. There, she met another competitive rider, Mark Phillips, who went on to win the gold medal at the games. After a whirlwind romance, the two were married just over a year later. Photo: Getty
Princess Anne, Mark Phillips
Notorious playboy Aly Khan, a son of Sultan Muhammed Shah, Aga Khan III arranged his own meet cute with Hollywood royalty Rita Hayworth, via gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell, who arranged a dinner party on the French riviera for the sole purpose of their meeting. At the time, having just announced her separation from actor-director Orson Welles, Hayworth was being pursued by Aristotle Onassis and the Shah of Iran.
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer of MonacoThe two didn't separate from one another all night, but didn't marry until 1949–Aly's playboy behavior, Rita's on-again-off-again marriage to Welles, their both being pursued by countless other men and women and the distance between them got in the way.Photo: Getty
Aly Khan , Rita Hayworth
Ferguson's father was a polo manager for the royal family, and during her time running in royal crowds, she became dear friends with Lady Diana Spencer, long before she was Princess Diana. After Charles and Diana's wedding, Sarah was invited to stay with the Queen at Windsor Castle during Ascot week in 1985, where she met Andrew.
The two were seated next to one another at lunch, the Duchess of York recalled in her memoir, and when Sarah refused dessert because she was on a diet, Andrew told her it would be impolite to skip the final course. When it came time for him to take his portion, he declined, at which she wrote, "I indignantly swatted him on the shoulder with the back of my hand." The two were married just over a year later. Photo: Getty
Prince Andrew,Sarah Ferguson
Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte, the daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark, spent her childhood in France, before her parents fled to Spain to escape the Nazis. Her family eventually made it to the United States, where Anne got a job at Macy's to put herself through school.
The princess volunteered for the army in 1943, where she worked as an ambulance driver on the front lines in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and finally in liberated Germany. King Michael I of Romania ended his country's alliance with Germany in 1944, declared war on Germany and had become taken with Anne after seeing her photo in a newsreel. The two had a chance to meet in 1947, when they were invited to the same royal wedding. The King proposed a little over two weeks after their first meeting, when they were on a drive in Switzerland. Photo: Getty
King Michael I of Romania ,Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma
This couple's controversial love affair began in 1931, when the two met under peculiar circumstances. Simpson was friendly with the future King's mistress, Lady Furness, who asked Wallis to chaperone her weekend with Edward at her country estate, Burrough Court. Edward and Lady Furness continued their relationship until 1934, during which he and Wallis continued to bump into one another.
When Lady Furness was out of town in 1934, Edward and Wallis got together. Due to her common status, Edward abdicated the throne to marry Wallis in 1936, although she was still married to her second husband at the time. Photo: Getty
Edward Prince of Wales , Wallis Simpson
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