20 Instructive Facts About the Romances and Intrigues of Kings
Love stories associated with people of royal blood always attract the attention of the public - both in the old days and now. Maybe that's why we know so much about failed and often tragic royal romances. Here are some of the "and then they didn't live happily ever after" stories.
Of course, it is worth starting with the English King Henry VIII and his numerous unsuccessful marriages. He first married Catherine of Aragon. However, their relationship soon deteriorated. Catherine was unable to produce a male heir (although she gave birth to the future Queen of England, Mary I).
Henry VIII tried to annul the marriage. The Catholic Church refused him, so he passed a law on the separation of the Anglican Church from papal authority. Then Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, who gave birth to another girl (also the future Queen of England, Elizabeth I).
But again he did not get the desired male heir. It all ended with the fact that Anna was accused of treason and executed (in fact, by this time, Henry was already in full swing with an affair with Jane Seymour). The restless king then married Jane Seymour, who finally gave him the desired male heir in Edward.
But Jane tragically passed away shortly after giving birth. Henry VIII's next marriage to Anna of Cleves was quickly annulled without much incident. He then married Katherine Howard, but then discovered that she was unfaithful to him, imprisoned and executed. Finally, Henry VIII married Catherine Parr, his sixth and last wife. He lived with her until his death in 1547.
If you've watched the Netflix series The Crown, you're probably familiar with the sad story of Princess Margaret and Air Force officer Peter Townsend. For the uninitiated: Margaret and Peter have been in love with each other for many years. However, the fact that Peter had previously been married and divorced made marriage between them impossible.
The same thing happened a little earlier with Margaret's great-uncle, Edward VIII. In both cases, the British government and the Church of England opposed the marriage of a member of the royal family to a divorced man whose first spouse is still alive.
Margaret could only marry Peter Townsend if she renounced her place in the succession. And perhaps, in this case, they would still somehow put pressure on her and forbid this marriage. In the end, the two broke up, unable to withstand several years of separation (Townsend was specially sent away from Margaret) and constant pressure.
Then the princess married photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones. And Peter Townsend tied the knot with a young Belgian named Marie-Luc Jamagne, who, according to many, is very similar to Margaret.
When Edward VIII became King of England in 1936, he was unmarried but romantically involved with the American Wallis Simpson. She was previously divorced and formally still married to her second husband. Edward longed to marry Simpson, but this was categorically denied to him.
After much deliberation, love eventually won, but for this, Edward had to give up the throne. The couple eventually married in 1937, in a private ceremony in France. The new king of England, George VI, Edward's younger brother, forbade members of the royal family from attending the wedding. Edward and Wallis Simpson left England (or were forced to leave) and remained together until Edward's death in 1972.
The marriage of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson began to unravel as Andrew was away from home for extended periods due to his naval service. Ferguson was often seen with other men, and as a result, the couple announced their divorce in 1992.
For the royal family, everything related to Sarah Ferguson carries a shade of shame - after the British tabloids published photos of her sunbathing topless with some American businessman. The couple officially divorced in 1996.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, married Diana Spencer in 1981, in a lavish ceremony watched by 750 million people around the world. However, the supposed fairy tale marriage of the future king and his queen was actually more like a horror movie.
The age difference of almost 13 years and the general incompatibility, the ongoing romance of Charles and his longtime girlfriend Camilla, and as a result of infidelity on both sides. The palace announced the couple's divorce in 1992, although the two's problems began much earlier. Officially, they divorced only in 1996.
In the summer of 1997, Princess Diana began a relationship with Dodi Al-Fayed, the son of British Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Unfortunately, the car accident claimed the lives of Diana, Dodi and their driver. The couple had just completed a holiday together in the south of France and were on their way to London.
Ali Khan was the son of the Aga Khan III, an Ismaili Muslim leader who had "princely" status from the British rulers in India. Prince Ali Khan was something of a playboy and dated many famous socialites and movie stars.
After divorcing his first wife, Ali married Hollywood star Rita Hayworth. However, he did not leave his former manners, which the newly-made wife did not like very much - for example, she was very infuriated when he danced with Hollywood actress Joan Fontaine ...
The couple also had arguments over which religion to raise their daughter Yasmin. In general, everything ended in divorce in 1953 - just four years after the wedding.
In the early 1980s, Prince Andrew began a relationship with American actress Koo Stark. The two were apparently in love with each other and Andrew was about to propose.
However, the press, and later the royal family, soon learned that Stark had starred in a rather racy film called Emily. Due to family pressure, Andrew had to end the relationship.
Princess Anne and Mark Phillips first met at a horse lovers party in 1968. Five years later, they officially tied the knot.
The couple had two children, son Peter and daughter Zara. However, as with the marriage of Anna's brothers Charles and Andrew, Anna and Mark's marriage was marked by infidelity and ended in divorce. In particular, Mark became the father of a child from Anna's extramarital affair with a school teacher from New Zealand.
Caroline Mathilde was born a princess of Great Britain and later became queen consort of Denmark and Norway when she married King Christian VII. Between them, however, there was no passion. King Christian VIII was in no hurry to consummate his marriage and was cold-blooded towards his wife throughout their relationship. He also had a number of extramarital affairs.
In addition, he suffered from mental illness. As a result, his physician Johann Friedrich Struensee became the de facto regent. Struensee and Caroline Matilda had to rule together - and in the process they grew closer and fell in love. It is widely believed that Struensee was the father of Caroline Mathilde's second child.
In the end, someone "caught" Struensee and Caroline Matilda. Her relatives exiled her to Hanover. This meant that they separated her from her children and she never saw them again. Struensee suffered an even more tragic fate - he was executed.
Cleopatra was the ruler of the Egyptian kingdom of the Ptolemaic period. She forged a strategic alliance with the triumvirate of Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony in their battle against the conspirators who claimed the life of Julius Caesar. In the process of this union, Cleopatra and Mark Antony began one of the most legendary romances in history.
After some time, Mark Antony quarreled with Octavian, who already had a grudge against him - after all, Antony had previously been married to his sister, and then left her because of Cleopatra.
Finding a suitable excuse, Octavian declared war on Antony and Cleopatra. Before Octavian's imminent invasion of Egypt, Mark Antony stabbed himself with a sword and was taken to Cleopatra, where he died in her arms. Shortly thereafter, Cleopatra committed suicide. And Octavian annexed Egypt to the Roman possessions.
Like most rulers of the Mughal Empire, Shah Jahan had several wives. But his favorite wife was Mumtaz, whom he called his main empress. Throughout their marriage, she served as a valuable confidante and accompanied her husband even during military campaigns.
After Mumtaz passed away giving birth to her 14th child, Shah Jahan decided to honor her memory in a truly grandiose way. He ordered a huge marble mausoleum, which was to be the last refuge of his beloved. That mausoleum was the Taj Mahal, one of the finest examples of Mughal period architecture and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.
Pedro was heir to the Portuguese throne. Although he was married to Constance, he quickly became infatuated with one of her ladies-in-waiting, Inés de Castro, and began an affair with her. When Constanza died, Pedro asked permission from his father, King Afonso IV, to marry Ines.
However, Afonso refused, fearing that her connections with the Castilian nobility might undermine their power. Instead, Afonso excommunicated Ines from the royal court.
The couple still secretly maintained a relationship and managed to give birth to three children during this time. When Afonso found out about this, his reaction was frightening: he ordered the execution of Ines (extra heirs were inappropriate, this could lead to a fratricidal war in the future).
After his father's death, Pedro became King of Portugal, and one of his notable achievements was that he found Ines' killers and brought them to justice. Although one of them managed to escape, he sentenced the other two to death. According to legend, he tore the hearts of the killers out of his chest as retribution for what they had done to him.
Queen Victoria of England and her husband Prince Albert married in 1840. For 21 years of marriage, the couple had nine children.
Unfortunately, Albert died in 1861 at the relatively young age of 47 from typhoid fever. It was a terrible loss that Victoria was never able to overcome. For the rest of her life, she wore mourning for her husband and tried to participate in public life to a minimum.
As you know, Queen Elizabeth I of England never married, and historians call her the Virgin Queen. The only person Elizabeth wanted to marry was Robert Dudley, her childhood friend and confidant.
When Dudley's wife Amy passed away, Elizabeth and Dudley seriously considered getting married. However, many have speculated that Amy's death may have been a murder committed by Dudley. As a result, influential advisers dissuaded Elizabeth from this marriage.
After his first two marriages ended in divorce, King Hussein of Jordan married for the third time to Alia Baha ud-din Tuqan. Queen Alia and King Hussein gave birth to two children and adopted a third child from the refugee camp.
King Hussein helped create the Queen's Office of Jordan, which enabled Queen Alia to pursue various social development projects that are close to her heart. She was instrumental in giving Jordanian women the right to vote. Unfortunately, their marriage and Alia's life were cut short when she died in a helicopter crash in 1977. The Queen was only 28 years old.
In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte married Josephine Beauharnais. Although they both had extramarital affairs, in fact they loved each other immensely. Unfortunately, Empress Josephine was unable to produce an heir.
As a result, they agreed to a divorce so that Napoleon could remarry and produce the desired heir. Even after the end of their marriage, Napoleon still harbored feelings for Josephine. He was in exile on the island of Elba when he heard of her passing and was reportedly so depressed that he locked himself in his room for two days. When Napoleon was dying on Saint Helena in 1821, his last words were:
Maria Antonia was born as the Archduchess of Austria. Her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, decided to end hostilities with France by arranging a marriage with her then 14-year-old daughter and heir to the French throne, Louis-Auguste. Four years after their marriage, Louis-Auguste ascended the throne as Louis XVI and Marie Therese, now known as Marie Antoinette, became Queen of France.
However, their reign was marked by scandals, which further fueled the French public's disillusionment with the monarchy. Marie Antoinette was accused by many in France of excessive extravagance, exacerbating the country's financial problems. In 1789, the French Revolution broke out, the main goal of which was the abolition of the monarchy.
The revolutionaries declared France a republic in 1792. The following year, they executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by guillotine.
Although both Mary of Edinburgh and Prince George of Wales were both grandchildren of Queen Victoria, making them cousins and cousins, they were romantically involved. George was captivated by Mary's "sparkling blue eyes and silky blond hair". He wanted to propose to her, and the couple even got the approval of George's grandmother, Queen Victoria, and their fathers.
However, both their mothers were against this union. George's mother did not like the pro-German sentiments of Maria's family, and Maria's mother, who grew up in the Russian Orthodox Church, was opposed to marriages between cousins. In the end, George became King George V of England, and Mary became the wife of the King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later King of Yugoslavia.
In 1900, King Alexander I of Serbia announced his intention to marry Draga Mashin, his mother's former lady-in-waiting, who at 36 was 12 years older than him and had already been married before.
The huge age difference, the low likelihood of her having an heir, and the fact that she was of low status meant that the union met with numerous objections from both Alexander's family and the Serbian people.
Alexander, however, insisted on his own, and caused even more outrage by naming Draghi's brother as the presumptive heir to the throne. As a result, a group of conspirators from the Black Hand organization planned and carried out a coup d'etat, storming the royal palace and seizing power. The king and queen were brutally murdered, their corpses were mutilated and thrown through the window into the palace garden, where they lay for several more days.