Every Person Who Married Into The Royal Family In The Last Century, Ranked

Royal weddings over the last century have run the gamut. They’ve ranged from quiet partnerships to over-the-top royal weddings in Westminster Abbey that have ended in heartbreak. The royal marriages of the last 100 years have been as varied, fascinating, romantic, and troubled as the people who have married into the royal family - and they've had mixed success.

Can royalty marry commoners? Absolutely. While the public generally assumes that royals are only supposed to marry other royals, there are plenty of Cinderella stories in the last 100 years that turn that notion on its head. 

The children and grandchildren of monarchs have married both elites and people from more humble backgrounds. Prior to 2018, the last commoner to marry British Royalty was Catherine Middleton in 2011, but that title has gone to Meghan Markle when she wed Prince Harry in 2018. In fact, it is becoming more and more common for royals - both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere - to opt for common spouses over royal ones. Though members of the British Royal Family have had to seek the monarch’s permission before marrying - thanks to the Royal Marriages Act of 1774, which wasn’t repealed until 2013 - they have increasingly chosen to marry outsiders. Indeed, people who have married into the British Royal Family have come from all walks of life: artists, athletes, attention-seekers, and homebodies have all joined the House of Windsor.