The history of the world’s royals is steeped in legends and outrageous revelations. They are as fascinating, if not even more so, than current celebrities. And royal weddings – well those take the cake.
Royal weddings are arranged in a way that both families gain allies, influence, and power – but they don’t always go according to plan.
Stories of obsession, betrayal, and odd quirks have been recorded throughout history which leaves us scratching our heads at some of the world’s most famous rulers.
1. Queen Elizabeth II’s tiara mishap
Let’s start with the mildest of wedding mishaps.
The famous Fringe Tiara is made of diamonds, gold, and silver. It has a long history with the royal family, and that’s why Princess Elizabeth wanted to wear it on her big day. But on the morning of November 20, 1947, she had a bit of bad luck when her hairdresser broke it.
The royal jeweler recalled an emergency police escort for the tiara back to the House of Garrard workshop (the same designers who made it).
“We fixed the tiara that morning, had it sent back to Queen Elizabeth, and then she got married in it. You don’t expect the royals to have those sorts of mix-ups, but they do!”
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were together for more than 70 years until Philip’s passing on April 9, 2021. He was 99.
2. King Edward VIII abdicated for love
Ok, so this is bigger than a tiara problem, at least for the monarchy (the bride and groom were perfectly happy).
King Edward VIII was the ruler of the British Empire who rocked the monarchy and the press when he abdicated his throne to marry American Wallis Simpson. Simpson was divorced, and that created a scandal with the British monarchy.
Edward, after abdicating, declared, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”
Simpson married Edward just a month after her divorce, further scandalizing the British nobility.
3. Alfred The Great was in pain
Alfred the Great was only 19 during his wedding in 868 AD. The King of Wessex had been dealing with hemorrhoids, so the night before his wedding, Alfred prayed to God that he might get a less painful disease.
When he woke up the next day, his problems were much worse. There was a flare up of the intestines that made his hemorrhoids look mild.
Historians today think it was Crohn’s disease. They say that when Alfred found out, he supposedly exclaimed, “If only I’d stuck with the hemorrhoids!”
Exactly what you want to say on your wedding day, right?
4. Roman Emperor Maximilian I arranged marriages way ahead of time
It was common for royal families to arrange marriages with other families, hoping their children will marry into another royal family. But this royal would arrange marriages with unborn children.
In 1506, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I went ahead and arranged a double-marriage. His heirs were to marry the children of King Vladislas of Hungary and Bohemia. In terms of forging an alliance, it worked.
The first wedding saw Maximilian’s 3-year-old grandson, Ferdinand, marry Vladislas’s daughter Anna, another 3-year-old. The second wedding was Maximilian’s granddaughter Mary, a baby, who was promised to marry the child in Vladislas’s wife’s belly.
In 1515, the arranged marriages were held with tween and teen brides.
Yikes.
5. King Edward II kissed his male lover
King Edward II of England married Isabella, a young French princess, in 1308. Isabella was just 12 at the time she witnessed her new husband kiss another man instead of her.
Edward II did have a preference for men, and his relationship with a knight named Piers Gaveston, the man he kissed, wasn’t exactly a secret. Isabella was able to seize the throne for herself though.
6. King Harthacnut literally dropped dead at a royal wedding
King Harthacnut left a lasting memory for wedding guests in 1042. He was the ruler of Denmark and England and abruptly dropped dead in the middle of a toast.
Harthacnut was replaced by Edward the Conqueror. He was the last Scandinavian ruler of England.
7. Princess Augusta Of Saxe-Gotha puked on her future mother-in-law
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, like any bride to be, was really nervous on her wedding day. The princess made the trip from Germany to Britain in 1736 to marry the heir to the United Kingdom, Prince Frederick. Augusta was just 16 while her groom was almost 30. The two had only met once, not to mention she couldn’t speak English.
Augusta’s nerves got the better of her on the day of the wedding. The princess vomited all over her dress, then on her mother-in-law, Queen Caroline.
8. Marie Antoinette’s fitting dilemma
In 1770, Marie Antoinette, then only 14, left Austria to marry the heir to the French throne, Louis XVI. They barely knew each other but the French went all out on her elaborate white and silver dress which was covered in diamonds. The problem was it didn’t fit.
The dress was too small. No revisions were made so Marie Antoinette,with a gap in the back of her dress,walked to the altar. It was scandalous (but not the most scandalous she’d ever be!).
9. King James VI focused on witch trials during his honeymoon
King James VI of Scotland sailed the open waters in 1589 to meet his future bride, Anne of Denmark. On the return trip, storms almost sank the ship and James returned to Scotland hell bent on the idea that witches were after him.
A woman named Geillis Duncan “confessed” during torture that other women were to blame, leading to the North Berwick witch trials. The king himself tortured accused women to force confessions for his honeymoon woes.
10. Both Diana and Charles wanted to back out
She also spilled a bit of perfume on her wedding dress which left a noticeable stain.
Then in 1994, Charles revealed his side of the story saying that he was forced into the wedding by his father, Prince Philip.
11. King George IV was drunk and crying
When George finally saw Caroline, he exclaimed, “I am not well. Get me a glass of brandy!”
It gets even worse for George who was so drunk, he couldn’t stand on his own 2 feet. Two dukes had to hold him up… while he wept during the ceremony.
12. King Henry VIII’s disastrous weddings
King Henry VIII of England is no stranger to wedding tales of disaster. His first wedding resulted with Henry breaking a thousand-year alliance with the Catholic Church that resulted in the English Reformation.
Then came Anne Boleyn and that infamous story. She had a miscarriage, and she knew of the consequences should she fail to provide Henry with a son. Eventually, she was convicted of treason and beheaded.
13. King Henry VIII quickly moved on from Anne Boleyn
Jane Seymour was one of Boleyn’s maids-of-honor and became queen following Boleyn’s execution. But she died nine days after giving birth.
Anne of Cleves was Henry’s fourth bride. He divorced her after only six months as Henry found her repulsive.
Catherine Howard was his fifth bride. She was Anne Boleyn’s cousin who was also beheaded for allegedly cheating on Henry.
Catherine Parr, Henry’s sixth, managed to outlive the controversial king.
14. King Philip IV’s child could barely function
King Philip IV of Spain married his own niece in 1644. It was just another typical royal inbred marriage.
But the problem is that it continued too long and the Spanish Hapsburg line ended because of hereditary deformities that resulted in death and sterility.
15. King Henry of Navarre’s nuptials became a bloody massacre
The royal wedding of August 18, 1572 between Margaret of France and Henry of Navarre occurred during the French Wars of Religion. The event divided Paris since Margaret, daughter of Queen Catherine de Medici and sister of France’s king, was raised Catholic while King Henry of Navarre, was a Protestant. This was during the darkest days of the Reformation.
Days after the public wedding, Catholics sent by Catherine de Medici slaughtered at least 3,000 French Huguenots. The bloody slaughter became known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.
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