Amanda Gegg
Unless you’ve been living beneath a very large rock for the past couple of years, you can’t have failed to notice that His Royal Highness, Prince Harry, is set to wed American beauty Meghan Markle on 19th May 2018 in the stunning setting of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. However, Meghan isn’t the first (nor probably the last) American woman to marry in to royalty, so we thought we’d give you a reminder of some other Americans-turned-princesses that have come to live the dream over the past few decades…
1. Grace Kelly
If you’re familiar with anyone on this list it will be the legendary beauty that was Hollywood actress Grace Kelly, who met her husband Rainier III, Prince of Monaco during a visit to Cannes for the film festival in 1955. Much like Meghan Markle, Princess Grace Kelly gave up her acting career upon her marriage in to the Monaco royal family and was tragically killed as the result of a car accident in 1982.
Image source: nocookie.net
2. Rita Hayworth
One of the shorter-lived relationships on this list, Hollywood starlet Rita Hayworth married Prince Aly Khan (of Pakistan) in 1948 and bore a daughter, Yasmin, before the couple divorced in 1953 on account of emotional cruelty subjugated by the Prince.
Image source: playbuzz.com
3. Kendra Spears
One of the most recent Americans-turned-princesses (besides Meghan Markle), former-supermodel Kendra Spears married Prince Rahim Aga Khan in 2013 and the couple now live happily together in Switzerland.
Image source: defymedia.com
4. Kelly Rondestvedt
Kelly Rondestvedt began her career as an investment banker from Florida before she married Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (now known as the Royal House of Windsor in the United Kingdom) in 2009.
Image source: popsugar-assets.com
5. Marie-Chantal Miller
Having travelled the world with her father (duty-free tycoon Robert Miller) for the better part of her youth, it is little surprise that Marie-Chantal Miller happened upon and married Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece in 1995.
Image source: hellomagazine.com
6. Alexandra Miller
Marie-Chantal’s younger sister Alexandra also formed all sorts of royal connections when she married German Prince Alexandre von Fürstenberg in 1995. Interestingly enough his mother is world-renowned fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg who is divorced from Prince Alexandre’s father, Prince Egon von Fürstenberg.
Image source: pinimg.com
7. Sarah Butler
After building up a very impressive roster of international diplomatic qualifications, Texas-born Sarah Butler married Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein (Crown Prince of Iraq) in 2000.
Image source: littlethings.com
8. Lee Radziwill
In this generation, we might not realise that fashion legend and former First Lady Jackie Kennedy had a younger sister (born Caroline Lee Bouvier) who was not only considered more beautiful, but also more stylish. She was also married to Polish prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill for 15 years.
Image source: bravotv.com
9. Lisa Halaby
After graduating from Princeton with a master’s degree in ‘Urban Planning’, Lisa Halaby found herself working with Royal Jordanian Airlines where she came to meet her future husband, King Hussein of Jordan in 1978. The couple were happily married for many years until his tragic passing in 1999.
Image source: staticflickr.com
10. Wallis Simpson
Many will debate over whether Wallis Simpson should be included on this list as she never actually became a princess. However, the twice-divorced wife of King Edward VIII of England never got her chance to be Queen seeing as he had to abdicate in order to proceed with the union. As much outrage as this caused, it must have been a sign of true love and the pair lived a seemingly happy life together in exile as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Image source: abcnews.com
