Meghan Markle Isn't Alone: 9 Black Women Who Married Royalty
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UPDATE 5/15/18
The Royal wedding is just four days away and we couldn’t be more excited about Meghan Markle joining the Royal family May 19 when she weds Prince Harry. But as we prepare to celebrate this International fairytale love story this weekend, we figured it was a good time to look back on other Black women who married royalty in recent years.
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I think we can all agree that the news of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (fifth in line for the British throne) announcing their engagement is pretty awesome. The 36-year-old actress is set to be the first biracial person to marry a senior British royal. And while we don’t expect their union to have any real impact on race relations or conversations across the pond and in the United States, it’s nice to see a woman of color get something of a fairy tale ending. But Markle isn’t alone.
There are plenty of women outside of the British monarchy who have married men who have royal blood. If you’d like further proof of this, hit the flip for more Black princesses, queens, baronesses, marchionesses and more.
Ariana Austin
Austin’s story made headlines after she said “I do” in September. The African-American and Guyanese Austin married Joel Makonnen, or Prince Yoel of Ethiopia, the great-grandson of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie. The couple reportedly dated on and off-again for more than a decade, and in the early stages of their relationship, he kept his lineage a secret.
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Queen Sylvia of Buganda
Born Sylvia Nagginda in the U.K but raised in Uganda, she married Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II in 1999 to become the Queen (or Nnabagereka) of Buganda, which is a kingdom in Uganda.
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Emma McQuiston
McQuiston is the daughter of Suzanna McQuiston and Nigerian oil tycoon Ladi Jadesimi, so she had some pretty elite blood already. She married Ceawlin Henry Laszlo Thynn, Viscount Weymouth in 2013. He is a British businessman and the child of the seventh Marquess of Math, Alexander Thynn. A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank who is above an earl but below a duke. As for McQuiston, she is Britain’s first Black marchioness.
Princess Angela of Liechtenstein
Angela Gisela Brown is the wife of Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein. When they married in 2000, she became the first person of known African origin to become part of a reigning European dynasty through marriage.
Baroness Cécile de Massy
Born Cécile Irène Gelabale in Guadeloupe, she is the fourth wife of Christian Louis de Massy, the son of Princess Antoinette of Monaco, the Baroness de Massy. He is also the nephew of the late Prince Rainier of Monaco (who married late actress Grace Kelly).
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Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso
Seeiso married King Letsie III of Lesotho in 2000 and became the first commoner to marry into the royal family of Lesotho.
Countess Mary Von Habsburg of Austria
According to Black Enterprise, the Sudanese native married Ferdinand Leopold Joseph Count von Hasburg of Austria’s Hasburg royal family in 1999.
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Princess Keisha Omilana of Nigeria
Keisha is the wife of Prince Kunle Omilana of Nigeria, or better put by her, “Prince Adekunle Adebayo Omilana from the Arigbabuowo ruling house. The crown royal dynasty, Ipetu Ijesa of Yoruba Kingdom, Nigeria.”
Countess Lei von Habsburg
Countess Lei, a lawyer from South Carolina, is married to Franz Ferdinand (sometimes referred to as Frank) Habsburg. He is a son of the Archduke Geza of Austria. They wed in 2013.