Famous Divorced Royals Who Have Remarried

Several real divorces are quite well known. After all, no real observer worth his salt ignores Prince carlos’ infamous divorce from his late ex-wife, Princess Diana. Some new members who have married into the family, such as Camila Parker Bowles and Meghan Markle, are also famous for their divorce, but they are not the only ones. Although once almost unheard of (we have King Henry VIII to thank for the almost), divorce among members of the royal family is no longer so rare, nor is remarrying after the fact.

Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are probably the most famous divorced members of the British royal family. After all, it was while married to their previous spouses, Princess Diana and Andrew Parker Bowles respectively, that the two carried out a affair that soon became the world’s worst kept secret.

Both Parker Bowles and Prince Charles divorced their spouses (Parker Bowles in 1995 and Charles in 1996), but it was years before the two married.

At the core of his inability to marry sooner was the fact that remarriage after a divorce was nearly impossible for members of the royal family, and marrying a divorced person could prevent them from ascending the throne. Queen Elizabeth II’s own uncle, King Edward VIII, notoriously abdicated the throne to his younger brother, King George VI, to marry divorced American Walis Simpson.

However, since those days, modern laws have been passed that not only allow remarriage after divorce, but also allow divorced people to marry into the royal family. Charles and Parker Bowles took advantage of the 2002 law and they were married in 2005.

Meghan Markle

Before marrying Prince Harry in 2018, Meghan Markle had been married to film producer and literary manager Trevor Engelson. The two reportedly met in 2004 and enjoyed a long courtship before marrying in 2011. However, by 2013, the two were reportedly barely spending any time together, as Markle’s acting career kept them largely apart. .

That year, Markle filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. Markle married Harry, while Engelson found his match in his wife Tracey Kurland. Like Markle and Harry, Engelson and Kurland are the proud parents of two children, although the latter couple had two girls instead of a boy and a girl.

princess ana

Of Queen Elizabeth’s four children, three have been divorced. Of those divorced adult children, only Prince Andrew has not remarried, although he still lives with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, with whom he shares a close relationship. Prince Edward, the queen’s youngest son, is the only non-divorced brother.

Princess Anne married her first husband, Mark Phillips, in 1973 and was the first of Queen Elizabeth’s children to marry. The couple welcomed two children, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, before divorcing in 1992. That same year, Anne married her current husband, Timothy Laurence. As the 2002 law on remarriage after divorce had not yet been passed, the Princess Royal had to marry her new husband in Scotland to avoid the complicated legalities.

True love can’t always wait for the law to say it’s okay to be together and dedicate your lives to each other.