20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1900s

Anita Stewart was a socialite and heiress who married Prince Miguel of Braganza in September 1909.

1 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1920s

Nonie May Stewart Worthington Leeds was an American heiress and married Prince Christopher of Greece in February 1920.

2 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1930s

Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American socialite, met Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII until his abdication) through his mistress and were eventually married in June 1937.

3 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1950s

Grace Kelly was living her best life as a Hollywood actress and met Prince Rainier III, Prince of Monaco at a shoot that she initially didn't want to go to! Of course fate always has it's way of bringing people together and they married in April 1956.

4 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1950s

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari met Shah Mohammad Reza Palhavi through relatives while studying English in London. They married on February 12, 1951.

5 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1950s

Michiko Shōda Empress of Japan met Crown Prince Akihito at a tennis match. Fun fact: Prince Akihito had a rocky relationship with his parents at first *because* of her commoner status. They went on to marry on April 10, 1959.

6 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1950s

Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield is the sister ofJacqueline Kennedy. She is a PR exec (and former interior designer) and married Prince Stanislas Radziwill of Poland on March 19, 1959.

7 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1960s

Hope Cook was an American socialite vacationing in India when she met Palden Thondup Namgyal, King of Sikkim at the Windamere Hotel's bar in Darjeeling, India. They were married on March 20, 1963.

8 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1970s

Lisa Halaby was working for the Arab Air Services and met King Hussein I of Jordan at the opening of the Queen Alia International Airport in 1977. They married each other on June 15, 1978.

9 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1990s

Queen Rania of Jordan was a successful marketing professional and worked for amazing companies like Apple and Citibank. She attended a party that was held by then Prince Abdullah II's sister and the rest is history. They married in 1993.

10 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1990s

Japanese Princess Masako Owada met Prince Naruhito at a reception for Princess Elana of Spain. He tried courting her, but she wasn't really feelin' the royal life at first because she is a fierce independent woman with a promising career joining the Foreign Ministry in 1987 (more power to you girl). However, they couldn't deny the chemistry and they married each other on June 9, 1993.

11 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

1990s

Marie Chantal Miller Greek Princess was an heiress who worked with Andy Warhol when she was 16 (NBD). She met Prince Pavlos of Greece in the realest commoner way ever...a blind date. She wore her fine navy-blue couture Chanel suit and the two hit it off. They were eventually married on July 1, 1995.

12 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Queen Letizia of Spain was a journalist covering an oil spill when she met King Felipe. They went on to marry on May 22, 2004.

13 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby Princess of Norway met Prince Haakon at the Quart Festival, Norway's largest rock festival, during a garden party in 1996. Fate brought them together three years later and they were married on August 25, 2001.

14 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Salma Bennani was working as an information services engineer at ONA Group, Morocco's largest private holding company, when sparks flew at a private party where she met King Mohammed VI of Morocco. They eventually married on October 12, 2001.

15 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti met King Willem-Alexander at a party in Seville and he flew across the pond three weeks later to meet her again in New York while working at Deutsche Bank (she almost forgot what he looked like)! They went on to get married on February 2, 2002.

16 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Mary Elizabeth Donaldson had an established career in public relations and a project consultant for Microsoft Business Solutions (again NBD), when she casually met Prince Frederick of Denmark at a pub in Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics. He originally introduced himself as Fred and both started an intimate conversation that led to them dating and eventually getting married on May 14, 2004.

17 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Marie Agathe Odile Cavallier was just living her life with an established career in marketing with jobs at Estée Lauder and Reuter's financial news agency Radianz on her resume when sparks flew with Prince Joachim at a party held by a mutual friend. They married later in May 2008.

18 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2000s

Kelly Jeanne Rondestvedt was an investment baker with a Bachelors of Arts and MBA from UCLA living a great life in New York City when she caught the eye of Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony while casually dining with some of her girlfriends. They eventually began dating, and he popped the question a year or so later. They married on May 23, 2009 in Coburg, Germany.

19 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners

2010s

Fit for a rom-com: Kate Middleton and Prince William crossed paths while attending college at the University of St. Andrews where they both majored in Art History and lived in the same residence hall. They began dating in 2003 and married each other eight years later on April 29, 2011.

20 of 20

20 Royals Who Have Married Commoners