10 troubled royal marriages that did not have a happily ever after

An unhappy marriage is an existing phenomenon in the society that is not only relevant to the mass public, but also has a deep-rooted connection with the royal families. From the royals of England to the ruler of Thailand, hardly anyone has escaped the scandalous experience of a troubled marriage and almost every one of them has either stirred a public outrage and/or ended up in a divorce.

While the stakes of being a part of the royal family are considerably high, it can be as tormenting and challenging for a royal couple to continue, even when they cannot search for a middle-ground to sort their marital distress. That being said, many have either given in to their hearts, while others have had to unwillingly let go. Here are some of the troubled royal marriages that just didn’t work out.

Dating back to the 16th century, Henry VIII was one of the pioneering royals to divorce the first of his 6 wives. Despite his wife Catherine of Aragon’s poise and her popularity, she was unable to birth a son. Her only surviving child was a daughter, Mary I of England, which posed a great challenge to the then existing idea of succession by a male heir. After the King was denied approval for the divorce by the Roman Catholic Church, he established his own Church of England and carried out the divorce.

In 1894, Princess Victoria and Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse were married to each other with the blessing of her grandmother, Queen Victoria. However, the marriage was arranged by the Queen who had denied the Princess’ request to marry, Kirill Vladimirovich, the Grand Duke of Russia. The marriage wasn’t a successful one and immediately after the death of Queen Victoria, the Princess divorced her husband in 1901 and married the Russian Duke in 1905.

Although Princess Margaret married photographer Anthony Armstrong Jones in 1960, much is known about her relationship with Royal Air Force Officer Captain Peter Townsend. Having been quite public about her love affair with him, it came as a shock to many when she chose to marry Jones. That being said, the marriage did not last and the couple decided to separate in 1978.

In 1992, when Princess Diana and Prince Charles chose to go their separate ways, hardly anything was left for the world to speculate. The pressures of being a member of the royal family had got to them, leading to their marital downfall. Later in 1995, when in an interview she claimed to know about her husband’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles for a long time, she made it quite clear to the general public how their marriage had started to crumble a long time prior to their separation. Finally in 1996, the two filed for a divorce.

On 14 November, 1973, Princess Anne and Mark Phillip tied the knot in holy matrimony. However, years later, just two months after the separation of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, the royal couple filed for a divorce. What was assumed to be an outcome of an unfaithful marriage, was proven to be true when a series of private and intimate letters exchanged between the princess and Sir Timothy Laurence, one of the Queen's employees, was revealed by The Sun.

Having announced their divorce in January 2017, Prince Louis and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg chose to separate for various reasons, one of them being Louis’ “unreasonable behavior”, as cited by the Princess herself. Currently, the Princess lives in London with her two sons and the Prince resides in Paris.

The second son of Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, Prince Joachim married his first wife, Alexandra, in 1995. But in 2004, when the couple divorced for undisclosed reasons, it was the first for the Danish royal family in 150 years. However, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik later revealed how deeply they regretted the divorce.

Daughter of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, Princess Caroline of Monaco had married Philippe Junot, when she was only 21. However, the marriage lasted only for 2 years, leading to their divorce in 1980. Later in 1983, the Princess remarried another man, Stefano Casiraghi. Unfortunately, Casiraghi lost his life in a speed boat accident in October 1990. In 1999, she married Prince Ernst August on Hanover, but this marriage did not last too.

After being accused of “disloyalty" in her marriage to King Vajiralongkorn, royal consort Sineenat “Koi” Wongvajirapakdi was stripped off of her royal titles and privileges. According to an official notice, Wongvajirapakdi is said to be guilty of "repeated violations and attempted interference with royal affairs", "disloyalty" and pushing her boundaries.

Sultan Muhammad V of Malaysia married a Russian beauty queen Oksana Voevodina on 22 November, 2018, but only six months later the couple separated, just after the birth of their son. Although the relationship began on a beautiful note, with the Sultan abdicating the throne to marry the beauty queen and Voevodina converting her religion to Islam, the marriage seemed to have taken a wrong turn.

Photo: Instagram/Rihanapetra