Royal Couples

Few political families have captured the public's fascination quite like the members of the House of Windsor, the British royal family. This collection of articles compiles The New York Times's coverage of three of the best-known couples in modern history: Harry and Meghan, William and Kate, and Charles and Diana. Through these pieces, readers can witness firsthand the most publicized moments of each couple's story, including engagements, weddings, childbirth, and, in the case of Charles and Diana, a quite public divorce. Furthermore, articles on Diana's untimely, tragic death and Meghan Markle's activism and career as an actor make this an essential guide to the royal family's affairs.

From the author of American Princess: The Love Story of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry comes a funny and delightful history of the royal weddings and marriages of Europe’s most famous—and infamous—monarchs. This edition includes bonus chapters! “An irresistible combination of People magazine and the History Channel.”—Chicago Tribune Since time immemorial, royal marriages have had little to do with love—and almost everything to do with diplomacy and dynasty. Clashing personalities have joined in unholy matrimony to form such infamous couples as Russia’s Peter II and Catherine the Great, and France's Henri II and Catherine de Medici—all with the purpose of begetting a male heir. But with tensions high and silverware flying, kings like England’s Henry II have fled to the beds of their nubile mistresses, while queens such as Eleanor of Aquitaine have plotted their revenge... Full of the juicy gossip and bad behavior that characterized Royal Affairs, this book chronicles the love-hate marriages of the crowned heads of Europe—from the Angevins to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry—and ponders how dynasties ever survived at all.

Historically, many royal marriages have represented the unions of dynasties, with true engagements of the heart notable for their rarity. Yet royal couples could fall in love, and this book is full of surprises, from the undying love that the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, felt for his Tsarina, to the unlikely love that flourished between Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Amongst them, too, are less happy loves of Crown Prince Rudolph for his 17-year-old lover, Countess Mary Vetsera, or, in the 1940s, of the Prince of Sweden, refused consent to marry the girl he loved she only became his princess over 30 years later. Bringing the reader right up to modern times, and touching, absorbing, and tragic by turns, these stories bring the glamour and the contradictions of royalty vividly to life.

Few political families have captured the public's fascination quite like the members of the House of Windsor, the British royal family. This collection of articles compiles The New York Times's coverage of three of the best-known couples in modern history: Harry and Meghan, William and Kate, and Charles and Diana. Through these pieces, readers can witness firsthand the most publicized moments of each couple's story, including engagements, weddings, childbirth, and, in the case of Charles and Diana, a quite public divorce. Furthermore, articles on Diana's untimely, tragic death and Meghan Markle's activism and career as an actor make this an essential guide to the royal family's affairs.

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, made history when she married Prince Harry in a genuine love match, as the first divorced, bi-racial American woman to be welcomed into the British royal family. But for centuries it was accepted that princes married virginal aristocrats for dynastic reasons (and often the large dowries of their brides) and few arranged royal marriages were happy. Most kings and princes took mistresses – or, in the case of Edward II and James I, male lovers. Royal wives were used as baby factories and if found to be unfaithful could be beheaded or have the lover murdered. Prince George of Wales (later George IV) married for money but found his bride, Princess Caroline of Brunswick, physically repulsive, and his marriage became the first War of the Wales. This fascinating book is now able to tell the full story of the second War of the Wales – the tragic mismatch of Prince Charles and Princess Diana which ended in 'Camillagate' and divorce. Now, decades later, the Queen has relaxed the ancient rules, allowing Prince Charles to marry his mistress and the Queen's grandsons, William and Harry to marry for love, in a significant change in royal history.

Provides photographs, illustrations, and descriptions of the union of royal couples from England, Europe, India, and the Middle East.

A captivating exploration of the role in which Queen Victoria exerted the most international power and influence: as a matchmaking grandmother. As her reign approached its sixth decade, Queen Victoria's grandchildren numbered over thirty, and to maintain and increase British royal power, she was determined to maneuver them into a series of dynastic marriages with the royal houses of Europe. Yet for all their apparent obedience, her grandchildren often had plans of their own, fueled by strong wills and romantic hearts. Victoria's matchmaking plans were further complicated by the tumultuous international upheavals of the time: revolution and war were in the air, and kings and queens, princes and princesses were vulnerable targets. Queen Victoria's Matchmaking travels through the glittering, decadent palaces of Europe from London to Saint Petersburg, weaving in scandals, political machinations and family tensions to enthralling effect. It is at once an intimate portrait of a royal family and an examination of the conflict caused by the marriages the Queen arranged. At the heart of it all is Victoria herself: doting grandmother one moment, determined Queen Empress the next.

A generation ago, hidebound royal traditions would have prevented Prince Harry from marrying his love, Meghan Markle, a divorced American actress. But times are changing, even at Buckingham Palace. Celebrate this new chapter as well as the historic marriages of the British Royal family in this special edition, LIFE Royal Weddings.