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See Also
See Again
© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
- Queen Elizabeth met Philip for the first time when she was 13 years old and he was 18. He was tasked with entertaining her and her younger sister during a trip to the Royal Naval College.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
- They continued to meet occasionally over the following years and their friendship eventually developed into romance. They got engaged in 1947, when the Queen was 21 and Prince Philip was 26.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip - They were married for over 70 years, the longest royal marriage in history!
© Getty Images
3 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton - William and Kate met when they were freshman at the University of St Andrews. They first crossed paths during a party in their dorm.
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton - Kate says that there was a very awkward moment where she curtsied to him at the party, after which he proceeded to spill a drink all over himself. Not exactly a fairy-tale!
© Getty Images
5 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton - They somehow managed to recover from this and began dating. In an interview after their engagement, Kate told William: "I actually went bright red when I met you and scuttled off feeling very shy about meeting you."
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton
- They broke up after dating at university, but got back together later. They were married 10 years after they first met!
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
When Harry met Meghan
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in 2016.
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
- In an interview they both said it was refreshing because Harry wasn't familiar with Meghan and Meghan wasn't too familiar with the British royals.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - This gave the pair a fresh start and they hit it off right away, planning to meet again the next day. One and half years later they were happily engaged.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
- Prince Charles and Lady Diana first met when he visited her family's country home to attend a grouse hunt. She was 16 years old at the time and he was 28.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
- Charles first dated Diana's older sister, Sarah, but obviously it didn't work out! Charles and Diana finally started dating when Diana was 18 years old.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer - They got married after seeing each other only 13 times. What happened afterwards is well known. One of the main reasons for their divorce was also common knowledge.
© Reuters
13 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
- It seems that Camilla Parker Bowles was always Prince Charle's true love. The pair met long before Diana was in the picture. They had an on-again, off-again relationship that would carry on for the following decades.
© Getty Images
14 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
- They reportedly met at a polo match in 1970 and were smitten with each other. The relationship ended when Charles joined the Royal Navy and Camilla later got married to Andrew Parker Bowles.
© Getty Images
15 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles - It's rumored that they carried on an affair while they were both married to other people. After Camilla's divorce and Diana's death, Charles and Camilla were finally married in 2005.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Princess Anne and Mark Philips
- The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, met her first husband Captain Mark Philips in Mexico at an event for horse riding enthusiasts. They both competed at an Olympic level and had much in common.
© Getty Images
17 / 30 Fotos
Princess Anne and Mark Philips
- They got married in 1973, but divorced in 1992 after drifting apart. Scandal broke when it was discovered that Philips had fathered a child outside of their marriage, and some romantic letters addressed to Princess Anne from another man were exposed.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones
- Prince Edward, the Queen's youngest son, met Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1987 when he was dating her friend. They met again at a charity event in 1993, and romance bloomed from there.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones
- The two were engaged in January 1999, and married in June of that same year. They have two children: Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, the latter of whom is Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's youngest grandchild.
© Getty Images
20 / 30 Fotos
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson - Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson had another of the royal family's more sensational romances! Their meeting was facilitated by a well loved royal.
© NL Beeld
21 / 30 Fotos
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
- Princess Diana was a childhood friend of Sarah's and brought her into the fold of the royal family. She invited her to an event during the Royal Ascot in 1985, where Andrew and Sarah connected.
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
- Princess Diana encouraged their romance, inviting them to her country home. Within less than a year, the couple were engaged. They later had a very public divorce, but have remained close.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, is happily paired off. She reportedly met her future husband at Verbier, a Swiss ski resort favored by the royal family.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- Brooksbank is said to be a distant royal relative, so the pair moved in the same circles. They started dating in 2011.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- They got married in 2018, a few months after Eugenie's cousin, Prince Harry.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
- Princess Eugenie's older sister Beatrice was married in May of 2020. Her romance developed over many years with the Italian royal Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
- Mozzi was a family friend, which allowed them to grow close. Princess Beatrice gained the title of countess, or contessa, through their marriage. (Insider) (ABC) (Vanity Fair) (Bustle) (Town and Country)
© NL Beeld
28 / 30 Fotos
What next? - Not all royal romances are like fairy-tales, that's for sure! See which royal couples ended up getting divorced.
© NL Beeld
29 / 30 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
- Queen Elizabeth met Philip for the first time when she was 13 years old and he was 18. He was tasked with entertaining her and her younger sister during a trip to the Royal Naval College.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
- They continued to meet occasionally over the following years and their friendship eventually developed into romance. They got engaged in 1947, when the Queen was 21 and Prince Philip was 26.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip - They were married for over 70 years, the longest royal marriage in history!
© Getty Images
3 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton - William and Kate met when they were freshman at the University of St Andrews. They first crossed paths during a party in their dorm.
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton - Kate says that there was a very awkward moment where she curtsied to him at the party, after which he proceeded to spill a drink all over himself. Not exactly a fairy-tale!
© Getty Images
5 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton - They somehow managed to recover from this and began dating. In an interview after their engagement, Kate told William: "I actually went bright red when I met you and scuttled off feeling very shy about meeting you."
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Prince William and Kate Middleton
- They broke up after dating at university, but got back together later. They were married 10 years after they first met!
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
When Harry met Meghan
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in 2016.
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
- In an interview they both said it was refreshing because Harry wasn't familiar with Meghan and Meghan wasn't too familiar with the British royals.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - This gave the pair a fresh start and they hit it off right away, planning to meet again the next day. One and half years later they were happily engaged.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
- Prince Charles and Lady Diana first met when he visited her family's country home to attend a grouse hunt. She was 16 years old at the time and he was 28.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
- Charles first dated Diana's older sister, Sarah, but obviously it didn't work out! Charles and Diana finally started dating when Diana was 18 years old.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer - They got married after seeing each other only 13 times. What happened afterwards is well known. One of the main reasons for their divorce was also common knowledge.
© Reuters
13 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
- It seems that Camilla Parker Bowles was always Prince Charle's true love. The pair met long before Diana was in the picture. They had an on-again, off-again relationship that would carry on for the following decades.
© Getty Images
14 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
- They reportedly met at a polo match in 1970 and were smitten with each other. The relationship ended when Charles joined the Royal Navy and Camilla later got married to Andrew Parker Bowles.
© Getty Images
15 / 30 Fotos
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles - It's rumored that they carried on an affair while they were both married to other people. After Camilla's divorce and Diana's death, Charles and Camilla were finally married in 2005.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Princess Anne and Mark Philips
- The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, met her first husband Captain Mark Philips in Mexico at an event for horse riding enthusiasts. They both competed at an Olympic level and had much in common.
© Getty Images
17 / 30 Fotos
Princess Anne and Mark Philips
- They got married in 1973, but divorced in 1992 after drifting apart. Scandal broke when it was discovered that Philips had fathered a child outside of their marriage, and some romantic letters addressed to Princess Anne from another man were exposed.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones
- Prince Edward, the Queen's youngest son, met Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1987 when he was dating her friend. They met again at a charity event in 1993, and romance bloomed from there.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones
- The two were engaged in January 1999, and married in June of that same year. They have two children: Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, the latter of whom is Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's youngest grandchild.
© Getty Images
20 / 30 Fotos
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson - Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson had another of the royal family's more sensational romances! Their meeting was facilitated by a well loved royal.
© NL Beeld
21 / 30 Fotos
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
- Princess Diana was a childhood friend of Sarah's and brought her into the fold of the royal family. She invited her to an event during the Royal Ascot in 1985, where Andrew and Sarah connected.
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
- Princess Diana encouraged their romance, inviting them to her country home. Within less than a year, the couple were engaged. They later had a very public divorce, but have remained close.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, is happily paired off. She reportedly met her future husband at Verbier, a Swiss ski resort favored by the royal family.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- Brooksbank is said to be a distant royal relative, so the pair moved in the same circles. They started dating in 2011.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- They got married in 2018, a few months after Eugenie's cousin, Prince Harry.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
- Princess Eugenie's older sister Beatrice was married in May of 2020. Her romance developed over many years with the Italian royal Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
- Mozzi was a family friend, which allowed them to grow close. Princess Beatrice gained the title of countess, or contessa, through their marriage. (Insider) (ABC) (Vanity Fair) (Bustle) (Town and Country)
© NL Beeld
28 / 30 Fotos
What next? - Not all royal romances are like fairy-tales, that's for sure! See which royal couples ended up getting divorced.
© NL Beeld
29 / 30 Fotos
How did the British royal couples meet?
A history of budding royal romances
© Getty Images
Most royal love stories are extraordinarily ordinary. Falling in love with a prince sounds like something out of a Disney movie, but in real life many of these relationships tend to occur just like any other! They meet through friends and bond over shared interests—the only difference is that their friends are lords and ladies and their interests are horses and skiing!
Click through the following gallery to discover the origin stories of the most famous royal romances.
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