Commoner (Former) Crown Princesses

Fairytales come true, when you believe.

While it may be every girl's dream to become a princess when they grow up, only a few are destined to live their dreams.

MARIE-CHANTAL MILLER
Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Greece, Princess of Greece and Denmark

A billionaire's heiress, Ms. Miller, born September 17, 1968 married Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece on July 1, 1995. It was like transferring to the royal palace from her palatial home.

METTE-MARIT TIESSEM HOIBY

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess of Norway

Fairytales do come true for this single mother who married Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway on August 25, 2001. Life can be quite forgiving and generous, to some.

MAXIMA ZORRIEGUIETA
Her Royal Highness Máxima, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. van Amsberg

2002 saw the Argentinean banker Maxima Zorrieguieta, became Princess Maxima when she married the heir to the Dutch throne and future king of Netherlands, Prince Willem-Alexander.

Update: On her Mother in Laws abdication, 30 April 2013 – present:  

Her Majesty Queen Máxima, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau.[

MARY DONALDSON
Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat

On May 14, 2004, Mary Donaldson, born February 5, 1972, became the first Australian to become a princess, as Crown Princess of Denmark when she married the heir to the Danish throne, Frederik Crown Prince of Denmark.

LETIZIA ORTIZ ROCASOLANO
Her Royal Highness Doña Letizia, Princess of Asturias, Princess of Viana, Princess of Girona, Duchess of Montblanc, Countess of Cervera and Lady of Balaguer

Eight days after the wedding of Mary Donaldson to the heir of the Danish throne, the world saw another wedding of a commoner to the heir apparent of the Spanish throne. Divorced journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, born September 15, 1972, became Princess of Asturias when she married Felipe, Prince of Asturias on May 22, 2004. 

Update: On her father-in-law's abdication in June 2014:

Her Majesty, Queen Letizia - Queen Consort of Spain.

Life had been so good to these women... but with such fame and privilege comes responsibility.

May they use their advantage of fame, wealth and position to uplift the lives of people with status they once shared .

Queen Seondeok & Kim Yushin: A Tragic Love

How could love so deep and true be ever withheld from the one your truly love?

Such is the tragic love story of Queen Seondeok and Kim Yushin who both let their "noble" cause of unifying the three (3) Kingdoms by extracting Lady Misil (Mishil) from the seat of power and restoring it back to the Royal Family, come in between of their once in a lifetime opportunity to find that elusive one true love.

What is power without love to nurture it?
What is success without the happiness in achieving it?
A life lived but unshared with the one you truly love is a life not fully lived.

While to live for others is a noble cause, to live for oneself is equally a noble cause. For one cannot give to others something that is wanting in his own life.

In the final episode, the dying Queen Seondeok made known to Kim Yushin, the identity of the lady in her dreams - herself, giving advice to her younger self. That in her quest for the throne, she will lose her true love and it will be painful from thereon. Of all the things she said, the most touching were the words..."I seem to have everything...but in truth... I've got nothing."

She let go of the chance to live life with Kim Yushin at the first instance her identity was known. Despite Kim Yushin's firm resolve to live a new life with her, away from Shilla, choosing her over Princess Cheonmyeong, she decided to go back to Shilla. Kim Yushin devotedly followed her and staked everything to achieve her goal.

The second chance to finally have Kim Yushin would have been choosing him over Bidam to be her husband when the Gaya descendant disbanded their restoration movement, finally vanishing the issue of Kim Yushin gaining the throne for Gaya' sake.

She let go of this too!

In the end, she died alone and lonely...presumably having second thoughts if not regrets in the choices she made and the two chances she wasted. But then again, the nobility in spirit far outweighed her mortal inclinations.

Not everyone is priviliged to be Queen. It beckons only the most extraordinary of mortals.

Marriages Against All Odds

Love is a many splendored thing.

 
It is something that people can talk about but not judge at.

Love, to some, is a matter of the heart. . .and to others. . .of the mind.

 
But whatever the reason will be, it is their lives, not ours.

 
Let us let them be.



89 years old J. Howard Marshall married 26 years old Anna Nicole Smith in 1994. With an age gap of 63 years, the public cannot help raising their eyebrows. The groom is wheel-chair bound but a billionaire.



Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn have 35 years between them. But more than the age gap, Soon-Yi happened to be the adopted daughter of Woody's former partner. From mother to daughter. That is quiet a transition.



From manager to husband. 26 years her senior, that is how Rene Angelil mattered in Celine Dion's life. Most convenient but could be quiet difficult to balance. But with true love, there could be no problem with that.



"I'd like to father your children." Michael Douglas told Catherine Zeta-Jones. He is exactly 25 years her senior. Michael showed wisdom and experience. Why go the long and winding road of love when you can have it directly. She agreed.



Jeri Kehn is the trophy wife Fred Dalton Thompson was longing for. He got her.The 25 years age difference seem to work for them, they are happily married.



Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had the most publicized courtship. TomKat as they are otherwise dubbed, are 16 years apart. But it doesn't show, on Tom's part.



Who could ever forget the fairy-tale wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana? With 13 years between them, the number seemed bad luck for the marriage. Just kidding.



Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, dubbed as "the beauty and the brain," have 11 years age gap. How come the world's most famous sex symbol got smitten with a playwright? It is the mind and the body coming together.



With not only a 10 year age difference between them, Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett's romance had been unfairly dubbed as "the beauty and the beast," by the harsh tabloids. With that humiliating label, no wonder the couple split after two years.



Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola, married his third wife Thalia. He is older by 22 years. Can't blame Tommy, Thalia is simply gorgeous.

Marrying someone younger is not a man's domain.
Forever young Ms. Demi Moore married Ashton Kutcher, 15 years her junior.



Ah... love is indeed a many splendored thing!

UK Royal Brides Curtsy to Queen Elizabeth

Royal followers are now asking if Meghan Markle did or did not curtsey before the Queen after the wedding ceremony?

Royal brides before her had observed the protocol.

Princess Anne's Wedding to Mark Philipps, November 1973

Prince Charles' Wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, July 1981

Prince Andrew's Wedding to Sarah Ferguson, July 1986 

Prince Edward's Wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones,  June 1999

Prince William's Wedding to Catherine Elizabeth Middleton,  April 2011

Prince Harry's Wedding to Rachel Meghan Markle, May 2018

Did she or didn't she?

It seems like THEY didn't.

Please see full video of the wedding at this link: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a20765894/meghan-markle-did-curtsy-to-the-queen-royal-wedding/ 

Take note of the following time stamps where video is focused on the newly wed couple:

1) 1:01:42 to 1:01:51

2) 1:02:05 to 1:02:29

3) 1:02:53 to 1:03:03  where Prince Harry bowed his head.

The camera panned in aerial view at 1:03:03 to 1:03:10.   Noticeable are the couple's bowing of heads but not very sure on his wife's movements that will  allude curtseying to Queen Elizabeth.  

At 1:03:11 to 1:03:20  the couple started walking to the center and passed by HRH Queen Elizabeth with Prince Harry glancing with a slight nod to his family and his wife casting a swift glance thereafter.

At 1:03:21 until 1:03:25, the couple passed by the Queen, Prince Philip can be seen leaning towards the Queen and muttering something, with Prince William in thoughtful and slight disbelief of what has just transpired.

Could this be the reason that the Queen ordered that she undergo a 6-month training on protocol and etiquette with the Queen's trusted aide Samantha Cohen?

See: http://www.thisisinsider.com/meghan-markle-duchess-lessons-royal-training-2018-5

Surely, the photographer behind the couple can enlighten everyone.

Princess Eugenie's curtsy to the Queen on her marriage to Jack Brooksbank October 14, 2018.

Duchess of Alba, Then and Now

The wedding of this third time bride and her new husband draws mixed reaction from all over the world.

Now it can be said, that people tend to judge by outward appearances, as if everyone falls in love, gets into a relationship then marry for looks alone.Come on.

She is wrinkled and looks old, well of course, she is eighty-five, what one would expect? But this lady, who holds the most number of noble titles more than any other nobility, has every right to live and die happy.

All her riches cannot give her love.