Royals Who Gave Up Their Title For Love

"American culture is in love with love," said Chad Swiatowicz, who conducted a study on popular music. After analyzing the most popular songs between two periods — 2002 through 2005 and 1968 through 1971 — he discovered that 50 percent of the classics were about love and relationships and 60 percent of our favorite modern-day tunes were too. Yes, we love love — and we have for a while. But it's not just Americans who are hopeless romantics. Love is a universal language, after all — and it's a powerful force.

While love can indeed be magical, it can also be complicated. This is especially true if you happen to hail from royalty and end up falling in love with someone outside your caste. Across the world, some of the most noble and important royals have succumbed to the powers of love and willingly relinquished their positions to be with "the one." These are their stories.

In a scandal that marred the British royal family for decades and changed the course of history, King Edward VIII chose to abdicate the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée, in 1936. Edward had been sitting on the throne for mere months when he addressed the nation with his decision. "I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love," he said in a radio broadcast at the time (via History). 

The very next day, Edward's younger brother, Prince Albert, was named the new ruler and thus titled King George VI. Despite the scandal, George named his brother the Duke of Windsor and, in June 1937, Simpson and the Edward married. Though his relationship with his family would never be the same, the former king and his wife would have each other until Edward's death in 1972.

Prince Philip may have been born a royal, but he still had to renounce his title if he wanted to one day marry Queen Elizabeth II. You see, Philip wasn't British royalty — despite being the distant cousin of his eventual wife. Yes, that's right, cousins. Philip was born to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice. In order to marry then-Princess Elizabeth, he had to become a British subject and thus give up his position as heir to the throne in both Greece and Denmark. Upon doing so, he also took his mother's maiden name, Mountbatten. 

Just before he and Elizabeth wed, he was given his new royal titles: Knight of the Garter, Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merioneth, and Duke of Edinburgh. Philip also served as the Queen's consort, a position the duke didn't quite love at the start. Nevertheless, the Queen of England and Prince Philip's marriage has stood the test of time.

Princess Ubolratana was born into Thai royalty as the first-born of Bhumibol Adulyadej and Sirikit Kitiyakara — the King and former Queen Consort, now Queen Mother, of Thailand, respectively. According to Public Radio International (PRI), the princess relocated to the United States to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and, later, the University of California. While in school in Boston, Ubolratana met — and fell in love with — an American man, Peter Jensen.

Los Angeles Times reported that this was quite the scandal back when it happened back in 1972. Regardless, the princess willingly gave up her royal position and married Jensen. This also led to her being banished from her family. Though, they did eventually make peace. Sadly, Ubolratana and Jensen's love story would come to an end in 1998. Jensen and the former princess divorced after having three children and Ubolratana ultimately made her way back to Thailand, children in tow.

In November 2005, Japanese Princess Sayako, the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, relinquished her title in order to marry a commoner, urban planner Yoshiki Kuroda. Sayako's parents and other close family members joined the couple in celebrating their union at a hotel in Tokyo. While you could (rightfully) take this to mean that the Emperor and Empress didn't disprove of their daughter's choice of husband, it wasn't really up to them. It was — and still is — up to Japanese law. The Telegraph reported that Sayako had to forego both her position in the imperial family and her "generous palace allowance." But that was A-okay with Sayako.

"I want to learn various new things and I look forward to a new life as a member of the Kuroda family, while treasuring in my heart the life I have led up until now with their Majesties and my family," Sayako revealed in a Japanese television interview (via The Telegraph). 

Princess Mako may just become the next Japanese royal to relinquish her title for love. Although Mako had originally planned to give up her title and marry commoner Kei Komuro in late 2018, the couple postponed their wedding until 2020. Is Mako having cold feet about giving up her royal title? A statement provided to CNN seems to indicate otherwise. "It is because of our immaturity and we just regret it," 26-year-olds Komuro and Mako explained. Mako added, "I wish to think about marriage more deeply and concretely and give sufficient time to prepare our marriage and for after the marriage." 

CNN further cited sources from the Imperial Household, who confirmed that the "lack of preparation" was the reason for the couple's postponement. When Komuro and Mako do eventually wed, the princess will join the other royals who've traded in royalty for romance. That is, unless the law changes first, of course.