In France, the duke of Windsor—formerly King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Northern Ireland—marries Wallis Warfield, a divorced American socialite for whom he abdicated the British throne in December 1936.
King Charles III is the first British monarch who has previously had a civil marriage and a civil divorce. In 1981, Charles, then the Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer in a fairytale wedding watched by 750 million people worldwide. However, the royal couple separated in 1992 and they were divorced in 1996.
In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second.
King Edward abdicated in 1936 so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, making Elizabeth's father the new king. Anne Sebba, the author of "That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor,” joined Judy Woodruff to discuss.
The Royal Marriages Acts decreed that all members of the royal family were required to obtain the sovereign's consent before contracting a marriage. As King, he was obliged to follow the Act of Settlement, but he was exempt from the Royal Marriages Act. There was also no law against marrying a divorcee.
Oedipus, in Greek mythology, the king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.
The royal family are closely affiliated to the Church of England, which only began permitting divorcees to remarry while their former spouses were alive in 2002. Take a look back at the royals' first wedding photos and details...
The Mughal king Shah Jahan , who built the Taj Mahal, married his own daughter Jahanara after Mumtaz's death because she looked like Mumtaz to Shah Jahan. Mumtaz died on 17 June 1631 while giving birth to Shah Jahan's 14th child.
However, Queen Elizabeth gave the marriage the go ahead, highlighting the changing attitudes towards divorce within the Royal Family. Since 2002, the Church of England has allowed the remarriage of divorced people in certain circumstances, largely thanks to the Queen's change in stance.
Anne was the first of the Queen's children to be divorced. She separated from her husband of 19 years, Captain Mark Phillips, in 1989 and divorced in 1992. Charles and Andrew both divorced from Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, respectively, in the same year.
Scientists have identified Akhenaten, the “heretic” king who introduced monotheism to ancient Egypt, as Tutankhamun's father. Akhenaten first married Nefertiti, who was renowned for her great beauty, but had no sons so he then married his sister in an effort to have a son.
This king claimed the boy and raised him as his own. When Oedipus grew to manhood, a prophet warned him that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
King Edward IV, married her for love, not political gain. Yet, her life as queen was marred by scandal and heartbreak. Elizabeth Woodville has enjoyed a revival of late, due to Phillipa Gregory's novel, The White Queen, based on her life before, during, and after her queenship.
Three of the Queen's children went through a divorce - Prince Charles to Princess Diana, Princess Anne to Mark Phillips and Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson. Charles remarried the Duchess of Cornwall, while Anne found love again with Timothy Laurence.
Never married
William II, Edward V, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I all lived and died unmarried. In addition, Edward VIII was unmarried during his tenure as monarch, though he then married Wallis Simpson after his abdication (which was caused by this marriage plan).
The other royals
Princess Margaret's son David Armstrong-Jones and his wife Serena called it quits in February 2020, after 27 years of marriage, as per Cosmopolitan magazine. Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn also announced their split in February 2020 and officially got divorced the next year.
It's rumored that Camilla's father planted a fake Camilla-Andrew engagement notice in The Times, apparently forcing Andrew's hand. Literally. Prince Charles returned home to news of Camilla and Andrew's engagement. According to Bedell Smith, that fake engagement announcement explains why Charles didn't marry Camilla.
The youngest royal bride was Isabella of Valois, who was aged just six when she became the second wife of Richard II in 1396.
Mary, Queen of Scots (aged 15/16), was married to Francis, Dauphin of France (aged 13/14), in 1558. The pair had been betrothed since Mary was five and Francis was three. Mary had originally been betrothed when she was six months old to the future Edward VI of England, whom she was supposed to marry at the age of ten.
Why did Henry VIII marry Katherine of Aragon? He loved her – and Spanish Katherine's powerful family also provided useful allies to the English throne. Katherine was first married to Henry's older brother, Arthur, who died soon afterwards.
Answer and Explanation: King George III had only one wife, and unlike his predecessors, reportedly never took any mistresses.
Abumbi II, the 11th fon, or king, of Bafut, Cameroon, has close to 100 wives. They weren't all his to start. According to local tradition, when a fon dies, his successor inherits all his wives and then marries his own queens.
Cathy asks: If Diana were still alive, could Charles remarry? In a church? Answer: If Diana were still alive, Charles could remarry, because they were legally divorced. But he couldn't do it in an Anglican church.
Royal marriages to commoners have historically been uncommon, due to traditions of members of royal families, especially high-level ones, only marrying other persons considered to be royalty, sometimes with penalties for royals who married far below their rank, deemed morganatic marriage.
It's a tale as old as time: A prince or princess falls madly in love with a commoner who, once wed, ascends to royal status themselves - but this isn't always the case. Japan 's Princess Mako has this week wed “commoner” Kei Komuro, a move which means she will lose her royal status.