25 Royals Who Married Commoners

Anita Stewart was an American socialite and heiress who married Prince Miguel of Braganza, a Portuguese royal, in September 1909.

Nonie May Stewart Worthington Leeds was an American heiress and a 42-year-old, twice-married widow when she wed Prince Christopher of Greece in February 1920, becoming Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark.

Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American socialite, met Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII until his abdication) through his mistress. The two were eventually married in June 1937, six months after he had given up his crown to his brother, King George VI.

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

Michiko Shōda Empress of Japan met Crown Prince Akihito at a tennis match. 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.

Japanese Princess Masako Owada met Prince Naruhito at a reception for Princess Elana of Spain. He tried courting her, but she resisted at first because she is a fierce independent woman, who had a promising career in the Foreign Ministry (which she joined in 1987). However, they couldn't deny the chemistry and married each other on June 9, 1993.

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.

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

Queen Letizia of Spain was a famous journalist covering an oil spill in late 2002 when she re-met the then-Prince of Asturias. (They were initially introduced at a dinner party, but must not have hit it off.) They went on to marry on May 22, 2004.

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

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 Hubertus Michael (a.k.a. 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.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, an American actress starring on the show Suits, met by way of a mutual friend who set them up on a blind date in 2016. The two immediately hit it off and kept their long-distance relationship a secret for several months—she lived in Toronto, he in England. Harry popped the question in November 2017 while they were cooking a roast chicken dinner, and they were married on May 19, 2018.

Louis Ducruet, oldest son of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, is officially engaged to his college girlfriend Marie Chevallier. The couple met in a class they both took at the Western Carolina University in North Carolina. Chevallier has a degree in marketing and is currently the banqueting and convention coordinator at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco. A wedding date has yet to be announced.