Real-Life Cinderella Stories: American Women Who Married Princes
The Suits star Meghan Markle will definitely go down in history as a real-life Cinderella after meeting Britain’s most desirable bachelor, Prince Harry, on a blind date and having him propose to her a little over a year later.
But Meghan wasn’t the first American woman to have married into royalty.
Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco
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The wedding of Prince Rainier III of Monaco and the 1956 Best Actress Oscar winner was a huge event.
The actress had only been acting in films for four years, and after she got married, she became Princess Grace and retired from acting to devote all her time to her family. She said her vows in a Helen Rose wedding dress with a high neck, an open bodice and a puffed skirt, adorned with dozens of pearls and a 10 plus metre long train. It was a wedding dress to die for that still inspires brides all over the world.
Rita Hayworth
Hollywood’s top movie star of the 1940s married a total of five times, and her husband number three was Prince Ali Khan, a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The two tied the knot a year after they met in Cannes for the first time.
Four years later, they called it quits and Rita went back to Hollywood with her daughter Yasmin Aga Khan.
Princess Salwa Aga Khan
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Model Kendra Spears was born in Seattle and married Prince Rahim Aga Khan in Geneva in 2013.
When news of the marriage broke, Kendra was immediately called the American Cinderella: back in the 2000s, she made a living walking up and down the catwalk in Prada, Marc Jacobs and Dolce&Gabbana outfits. Then she met her prince charming at a party thrown by Naomi Campbell and her life was never the same again. The two are happily married and raising two children.
Marie-Chantal Miller, Crown Princess of Greece
Marie-Chantal Miller’s story is another blind date that ended in marriage. She met Crown Prince Paul of Greece in 1992. Three years later the two got married in London. In 2011, the crown princess renounced American citizenship.
Queen Dowager Noor of Jorda
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Lisa Najeeb Halaby was born in Washington D.C. and also gave up her American passport when she married the King of Jordan in 1978.
After her husband's death in 1999, Lisa became queen dowager. She performed admirably in this capacity, and President Clinton even went as far as to say that Noor had made two nations proud.