Kate Middleton and Prince William make us think that marriage is easy, but for some royal family members, that wasn’t the case. Take a look at some of them who weren’t so lucky in finding the perfect one.
Henry VIII
In the old days of monarchy, English monarch wasn’t allowed to get a divorce. When Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, Pope didn’t allow him to do so. Henry VIII decided to cut all the ties to the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the newly formed Church of England, who allowed divorces. Remarriage or a marriage to a divorced man or a woman is not allowed if the spouse is still alive.
Prince of Wales
Prince George of Wales married Princess Caroline of Brunswick in 1795. He despised her, and even though they shared a daughter, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, they never lived together. When he became King George IV in 1820, he didn’t want Caroline to become Queen, and he sued her for divorce based on infidelity. However, Parliament didn’t allow him to get a divorce.
The Duchess of Windsor
Wallis Simpson, aka the Duchess of Windsor, was married to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, and before that, Prince Edward of Wales. King Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne in 1936 so that he could marry Wallis Simpson. He did it because the Church of England didn’t allow remarriage or a marriage to a divorcée, and Simpson was divorced twice prior to their relationship.
Princess Margaret
Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret married a photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, who became the first Earl of Snowdown in 1960. In 1976 pictures of Margaret vacationing with another man appeared, and in 1978 she officially divorced.
Princess Anne
Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter divorced Captain Mark Phillips in 1992. She got married again in Scotland in 1992 to Timothy Laurence, because of the Church of England’s restraint of divorcées remarrying.
Prince Charles
Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced in 1996. Since Diana died in 1997, Charles was allowed to remarry.
Prince Andrew
1992 was the year of divorces for the royal family. Prince Andrew, Duke of York divorced his wife of six years, Sarah Ferguson. Neither Sarah nor Andrew got married again.
Camilla Parker Bowles
In 2002 Church of England allowed remarrying despite the fact that divorcées’ ex-spouses were still alive. Camilla’s ex-husband was still alive, so Charles and Camilla married in a civil ceremony. Queen Elizabeth II didn’t come to the wedding.
Meghan Markle
She became the Duchess of Sussex in May 2018 when she married Prince Harry. Meghan divorced Trevor Engelson in 2013.
Prince Philip’s parents
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have been happily married for over 70 years. Prince Philip’s parents, however, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg got married in 1903, but they grew apart. Even though they never officially divorced, Andrew lived with his girlfriend Andreé Lafayette in Monaco.
Princesses of Monaco
Caroline and Stephanie, daughters of Grace Kelly, aka Princess Grace of Monaco have both gotten divorced. Caroline, Princess of Hanover first got divorced in 1980 from Philippe Junot. Her second marriage ended with the death of her husband, Stefano Casiraghi in 1990. In 1999 she got married to Prince Ernst August of Hanover, but they are now separated. Princess Stephanie of Monaco had two children with Daniel Ducruet before they decided to get married in 1995. They divorced in 1996.
The one without the divorce
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and her only child who doesn’t have a divorce in his book. He married Miss Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones in 1999, and they have two children together.
Source: www.rd.com
