What would you give up to be with the person that you love?

Before The Crown aired, very few people knew that Prince Philip gave up not one, but two claims to the throne in order to marry Queen Elizabeth II. The Duke of Edinburgh, now 97, was actually born as a prince in both Greece and Denmark.

The British Royal Family has opened its ranks to ‘commoners’ in recent years. Both Catherine and Meghan didn’t have royal blood, and Meghan isn’t even British which, along with her divorce, meant that Harry had to get the Queen’s permission before they were allowed to get married.

This kind of liberal behaviour, however, was not always in play, reports E Online.

In fact, the Queen is only on the throne because of a prior abdication in favour of marrying a commoner. Which brings us to our first couple:

King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

Perhaps one of the biggest royal scandals of all time, and quite spicy:

Far more infamous than Prince Philip’s decision (which, let’s be honest, was probably a rather easy one to make) was King Edward VIII’s bold move to abdicate the throne after less than a year when he married Wallis Simpson, an American (gasp!) divorcee (double gasp!).

Wallis was still technically married to her second husband when she and the then King of England fell in love, so their relationship was ripe with drama from the start, but especially because the Church of England has very strict rules, namely that it forbade divorce and remarrying remarrying if one’s former spouse was still alive. That’s strikes right there.

Edward and Wallis got married in 1936. His brother, King George VI, took over after his abdication, forever changing the course of the monarchy and making it so that Elizabeth took over from him as Queen when George died.

One last bit of scandal – the couple infamously met Adolf Hitler in 1938, and had some odd ties to Nazi sympathisers.

Dutch Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau and Mabel Wisse Smit

Prince Frisco married Mabel without the permission of parliament – a big no-no for Dutch Royals. In order to retain his title and place in the royal succession (second, behind his brother), Frisco needed to have the marriage approved.

Which it wouldn’t have been, as it turns out that Wisse Smit had a previous relationship with one of the country’s most infamous drug lords, Klaas Bruinsma, with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenendesaying that the couple had provided “incomplete and incorrect information” during the vetting process.

After the couple married they were still considered royal, but not part of the Dutch Royal House.

King Carol II and Elena Lupescu

King Carol II of Romania was forced to vacate the throne in 1940 because of his public affair with Elena Lupescu, a French woman he would go onto marry in 1947.

Carol had been married twice before, with both marriages ending in drama because of his illicit affairs and alleged heavy drinking. Carol, then a soldier, technically deserted when he got married the first time, with it later ended in an annulment. His second marriage to Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark came to an end after years of his affairs in 1928.

Carol would eventually become king, but his mistress would never be recognised by the royal family. He would then abdicate again, following another affair.

Standard royal behaviour, then.

Princess Mako and Kei Komuro

Japan’s Princess Mako, Emperor Akihito’s oldest grandchild and Ayako’s cousin, got engaged to commoner Kei Komuro, giving up her title and palace allowance in 2017.

The couple have been dating since 2012 after meeting while both studying at the International Christian College in Tokyo, and were set to wed in November, but the nuptials were abruptly postponed. Rumors of financial woes in his family surfaced, along with reports that the 83-year-old Emperor’s planned abdication and Japan’s heir issues all leading to the decision to hold off on the wedding until further notice.

The couple says that they would like to be a little older and a little more mature before tying the knot.

Lennart Bernadotte and Karin Nissvandt

Lennart Bernadotte, a Swedish Prince born Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland, willingly gave up his title when he was not granted permission to marry Karin Nissvandt.

During the couple’s 40-year marriage (which included four children), Lennart believed he was treated unfairly by the Royal Court, which even forbade him from using any title, and pointed to that treatment as a reason for their divorce in 1971.

In the year that he married Karin (1932), the family gave him the island of Mainau, which he turned into a tourist attraction.

With the exception of King Carol, who abdicated less for love and more so that he could get around with various women, all of these royals gave up their titles.

So the question remains…would you do it?

[source:eonline]