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The Ups and Down of Britain's Royal Marriages

   Merissa Melton  April 28, 2011
   Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton pose for a
   photograph in St. James's Palace in central London, November 17, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton pose for a
   photograph in St. James's Palace in central London, November 17, 2011

   Kate Middleton on Friday will become the British royal family's latest
   princess. She may have been born a commoner, but the royal family seems
   to have welcomed her despite her lack of pedigree. History proves that
   does not mean smooth sailing in a royal marriage.

   In 1525, the notorious Anne Boleyn, also a commoner, caused a scandal
   when she caught the eye of King Henry VIII. The king sought an
   annulment of his 24-year marriage to Catharine of Aragon to pursue
   Boleyn, which the pope refused to grant. Henry broke off from the Roman
   Catholic Church and established himself as head of the new Church of
   England, divorced Catharine, and married Boleyn.

   Three years later, the king had Boleyn beheaded for adultery and
   conspiring to overthrow him.

   More recently, the palace was faced with another controversial partner
   for a king - Wallis Simpson, an American socialite and divorcee who
   attracted the affections of then-Prince Edward, heir to the throne.
   Because of her history of divorce, and the king's status as head of the
   Church of England, the palace did not see her as a viable choice for
   queen. In 1936, in order to marry her, King Edward VIII took the
   unprecedented step of abdicating the throne.

   A generation later, Princess Margaret - sister to today's Queen
   Elizabeth - had an affair with Peter Townsend, an officer in the royal
   household. Again, a previous divorce made this royal suitor unfit in
   the eyes of the palace. Margaret accepted Townsend's proposal, but
   after two years, announced she would not marry him after all. Instead
   she married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, a marriage that ended
   in divorce in 1978. She was reported to have carried on affairs with a
   number of men before her death in 2002.

   In a unique position is the former Camilla Shand, who met Prince
   Charles at a polo match in the early 1970s. She was among several women
   with whom he was linked at the time, but the relationsip ended when
   Charles left the country for military service two years later.
   But Camilla was to have her turn. She and Charles resumed their affair
   during his marriage to Princess Diana and hers to Andrew Parker Bowles.
   Diana, also unhappy in the marriage, had affairs of her own; Charles
   and Diana divorced in 1996, and in 2005 he wed Camilla Parker Bowles.
   Since then, she has gone from royal reject to palace insider, gradually
   gaining the acceptance of the royal family and the general public.

   Another woman who entered, then exited, the royal family was Sarah
   Ferguson, who married Prince Andrew, brother of Charles. That marriage
   dissolved after 10 years. Ferguson has since had a string of financial
   troubles and in 2010 was caught on videotape soliciting money in
   exchange for access to her ex-husband. Earlier this year, she admitted
   accepting financial help from a convicted pedophile and friend of
   Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein. She later issued a public apology.

   A third royal sibling, Princess Anne, suffered embarrassment when it
   was revealed that her then-husband, Mark Philips, fathered a child in
   1985 with New Zealand art teacher Heather Tonkin. A paternity test in
   1991 confirmed he was the father. Philips and Princess Anne divorced in
   1992, the same year both Charles and Andrew announced their marital
   separations.

   But the palace also has seen many successes, the latest being that of
   Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who have remained married for 64
   years., While three of the queen's children have gone through divorces,
   her youngest son, Prince Edward, remains married since 1999 to Sophie
   Rhys-Jones, Countess of Wessex, who is said to have a close
   relationship with the queen.

   Where the newest royal marriage will fall on the scandal scale remains
   to be seen. The eight years of courtship between Prince William and
   Kate Middleton have been relatively quiet, which may bode well for
   their union. But whether their life together is smooth or scandalous,
   the world - and royal historians - will be watching.

A Timeline of British Royal Family Weddings, Scandals and Scoundrels

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