Marrying Kings and Princess Weddings ~ True Stories About Royal Love and Romances

Royalty has always been a type of romance. The love of royal celebrities has always been staged for the world to see. Weddings that are only dreamed about and fantasized by the common society are made reality by a royal couple that is wed. Carriages, horses, a lovely princess becoming the wife of a handsome prince and being whisked away to his castle - this may seem like a fairy tale to some, for a select few this kind of dream is reality. Let's take a peek at some of the romances of a few royal couples. How many of these actually lived "happily ever after?"

Look Directly Under the Entry of Prince Charles and Princess Diana!

The lovely Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, had a short but eventful life. After her father's death, the great Ptolemy VII, Cleopatra was sixteen years old. Since it was not permitted for a Queen to rule without being wed, she was forced marry her own twelve-year old brother, Ptolemy VIII.

During the first course of their marriage, the siblings had a joint-rule over the kingdom. Cleopatra VII, steadily stole power from her brother gaining control over Egypt. Her brother took notice of this and drove her into exile.

After being exiled, Cleopatra VII went to Syria with the motive to erect an army in her favor so that she could regain the control of her beloved Egypt but was unsuccessful.

She then met Julius Caesar in Alexandria, and the two fell in love. Julius Caesar used his very own army to oppose Ptolemy VIII for Cleopatra and won. When Ptolemy VIII died in 47 BC, Cleopatra was once again Pharaoh of Egypt and was force to marry yet another brother, Ptolemy VIV who was eleven. After the joint government was arranged, Cleopatra moved to Rome and became the Caesar's mistress. It has been claimed that she was presented to Julius as a gift by being rolled up in a carpet. She gave Julius Caesar a son whom they named Caesarian. Her beloved Julius was assassinated in 44 BC.

After this, she was married for a short while to Mark Antony. Mark Antony had heard a false rumored report that she had died and committed suicide. The grief stricken Cleopatra upon hearing of her husband's death also committed suicide in 30 BC at the age of 39 years old.

King Henry VIII wasn't very successful when it comes to marriage. It took him six tries before he got a keeper. His first wife, Queen Catharine of Aragon gave him a daughter who was to one day be Queen Mary I, also known widely as Bloody Mary. The marriage resulted in a divorce after the King fell in love with Anne Boleyn.

Anne became the King's second wife which literally turned out to be a "deathly mistake." Although the Queen did have one daughter, which eventually became Queen Elizabeth I, the King wanted a male child to become an heir. As a result of the King's loss of fondness and other obtained enemies, Anne was ultimately falsely accused of adultery and was beheaded. The King already had his eye on Jane Seymour and married her shortly after Anne's unjust death.

Jane Seymour gave King Henry VIII his much wanted son but unfortunately died a few days later from complications of post birth infection.

King Henry VIII had an advisor who promptly matched the King with his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. However, it turned out that the King did not hold an attraction for his new bride and divorced quickly. A rumored complaint of the King was the woman's body odor.

His fifth wife, Catherine Howard was pressured into marriage by family. She didn't exactly find the King very attractive and was caught cheating on him which cost her her head.

His final wife, Queen Katherine Parr, stayed with him through the thick and thin. She was a sweet natured lady and the King's children loved her. She remained with him until his death.

Edward VIII fell in love with an American divorcee in 1936. Because such a romance would not be permitted for a king, he abdicated the British throne in order to marry the women he loved. This was a very controversial subject indeed. Some seen it as hopelessly romantic while others were greatly appalled by his actions. The couple married and left England and lived for the most part in France.

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The lovely future Queen Elizabeth first caught the eye of Prince Philip in 1939 when she was only thirteen years old.

This attraction stayed throughout the years and finally, in the year 1944, the Prince approached his cousin King George of Hellenes about the possibility of wedding the lovely girl.

In 1946, the Prince made his official marriage proposal and the couple wed November 20 of the following year.

The wedding was elaborate and was made into a national holiday to give a reason of celebration after struggling in the aftermath of war. For the wedding, television cameras entered Westminster Abbey for the first time.

Not only was there a fine supper, but there were also twelve wedding cakes, the main one reaching nine feet in height, to serve the wedding guests.

The bride's dress was of a lovely ivory silk which featured an interwoven flower design and decked with crystal pieces and pearls.

The couple enjoyed a honeymoon in Kent.

The Lovely Queen and Prince Philip shared a happy home and wonderfully reached fifty golden years in 1997 which they had with another huge celebration. Many prominent people were invited to the occasion.

In 2007, they celebrated 60 years of love and marriage.

Although Prince Rainier was considered the world's wealthiest bachelor, Prince Monaco wanted a large and substantial dowry from the bride-select's family. Not wanting to shortchange their other children, Grace's family required her to relinquish the desired 2,000,000 from her own inheritance. She was also required to take a test to ensure fertility before she was allowed to wed.

Grace must have loved the prince very much and had ultimate faith in their soon to be marriage for not only did she give up part of her inheritance, but she also signed an agreement at the time of marriage that all rights to any children that the couple should have would be relinquished in the event of a divorce.

The couple was married in 1956 and had two weddings - an April 18th civil wedding in which only 80 guests attended and an April 19th religious wedding where 600 guests honored the couple.

Prince Rainier's designed his own formal wedding attire which had a military look. Princess Grace's gown was nothing less than stunning. It featured a high neck and long sleeves and was fitted precisely to her form. The dress was made from 25 yards of silk taffeta as well as one hundred yards of other various luxurious fabrics including 125 year old Brussels rose point lace. She wore a lovely cap which displayed orange blossoms and tiny seed pearls and had a veil made of tulle which took 90 yards to create.

The couple had three children, Princess Caroline, born January 23, 1957, Prince Albert, born March 14, 1958, and Princess Stéphanie, born February 1, 1965.

BBC NEWS ON MARRIAGE OF PRINCE RAINIER AND GRACE KELLY

One cannot discuss this topic without bringing up one of history's most famous weddings. July 29th, 1981 marks the day that Prince Charles and Diana Spencer were wed.

The world watched entranced as Lady Diana stepped out of the Royal Carriage revealing her stunning white gown of embroidery and ruffles. Then, as she was escorted by her father down the aisle of the lovely St. Paul's Cathedral , she displayed the elegant 25 ft. train that seemed to go forever.

The 3,500 people present at the ceremony were only a handful compared to the witnesses in the streets and worldwide. Approximately 600,000 people lined the streets of London hoping to catch a glimpse of the prominent couple. 750,000 people from all over the world witnessed the event through television.

The marriage produced two sons. Prince William and Prince Harry. The couple separated shortly after the births of their sons and finalized a divorce in 1996.

BBC NEWS ON THE WEDDING OF PRINCE CHARLES AND PRINCESS DIANA