Movie stars who dated royalty

Nobility tends to stick to their own kind when it comes to the dating pool, but occasionally, royals might dip their toe in the pool marked ‘Hollywood’ when it comes to finding a mate.

These are the actors who flirted with royalty, including some who tied the knot…

Cressida Bonas

Star of: ‘The Bye Bye Man’ (2017)
Dated: Prince Harry

She may be the youngest daughter of Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon and entrepreneur Jeffrey Bonas and a granddaughter of Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, but this week, Cressida Bonas is the humble old star of horror thriller ‘The Bye Bye Man’. Of course, Cressida is better known in the public as being Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend: the it girl and occasional actress dated the heir to the throne between 2012 and 2014 but the couple split because she couldn’t take the pressure of dating a royal in the public eye. Here’s hoping she can snag a Hollywood boyfriend that’s a little bit more low-key than Harry.

Meghan Markle

Star of: ‘Horrible Bosses’ (2011), ‘Remember Me’ (2010)
Dating: Prince Harry

Scurrilous young royal Harry was forced to officially confirm his fledgling relationship with Meghan Markle in a press release last year, when it was claimed the actress was subject to “a wave of abuse and harassment” by the media and that a “deeply disappointed” Prince Harry was worried about her safety. Markle is a US TV regular, seen frequently in legal show ‘Suits’, but she also has a few film credits to her name, none of them particularly glamorous – ‘Tatiana (uncredited)’ in ‘Get Him To The Greek’, anyone? It’s quite possible Markle’s star will rise, however, given her new high-profile relationship.

Grace Kelly

Star of: Numerous Hitchcock classics
Married: Prince Rainier of Monaco

Kelly set the gold standard of actor-royalty relationships when she married Prince Rainier III, the soverign of the principality of Monaco in 1955. The pair started a correspondence when they met at the Cannes Film Festival earlier that same year, and were married 12 months after they first met, making her Princess Grace of Monaco. The relationship was complicated: Kelly never made another movie after marrying Rainier (Hitchcock quipped how he was “very happy that Grace has found herself such a good part”) and Rainier had to find a bride as part of a treaty with France or his homeland would revert to French rule – hardly the stuff true love was made of.

Olivia Wilde

Star of: ‘TRON: Legacy’ (2010)
Married: Tao Ruspoli

At the tender age of 19, ‘The OC’ actress Olivia Wilde married Italian prince Tao Ruspoli, son of Prince Alessandro Ruspoli, 9th Prince of Cerveteri (translation: he was hella rich). The pair wed on a school bus (probably not the venue she dreamed of as a little girl) and stayed together until they filed for divorce in 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. Wilde’s new partner, actor Jason Sudeikis, may not own priceless land or have fancy royal connections, but what he lacks in nobility he makes up for in comedy – and he’s now the father of her two children. America 1, Italy 0.

Rita Hayworth

Star of: ‘Gilda’ (1946), ‘Pal Joey’ (1957)
Married: Prince Aly Khan

Long before Grace swanned off to Monaco, Rita Hayworth became the first Hollywood actress to officially become a Princess. Like Kelly, screen icon and pin-up girl Hayworth met her royal beau at Cannes: in 1948, she was introduced to Pakistan’s Prince Aly Khan, son of Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III. Although she was still technically married to Orson Welles when the courtship began, Hayworth eventually wed the prince and became Princess Aly Khan. However, she struggled to adapt to her new lifestyle in France and set sail back to showbusiness in America and picked up right where she left off.

Casper Van Dien

Star of: ‘Starship Troopers’ (1997)
Married: Catherine Oxenburg, princess of Yugoslavia

Perhaps slightly less glamorous than Grace Kelly and Rita Hayworth, Casper Van Dien is no less an actor (okay, fair enough) but he too enjoyed his own flirtation with nobility. He married Catherine Oxenburg – who is descended from Serbian royalty – in 1999 and like all high class couples, they laid bare their relationship in their own reality show. 2005’s Lifetime show ‘I Married A Princess’ was technically based on a falsehood, given that Oxenburg does not hold that rank, but it did promise to go “under the tiara and behind the shades”. All you Casper Van Dien fans out there presumably already knew that.

Britney Spears

Star of: ‘Crossroads’ (2002)
Stood up by: Prince William

Everyone’s favourite actress Britney Spears, best known for her seminal teen road movie ‘Crossroads’ and absolutely nothing else, was purportedly on the brink of securing herself a right royal boyfriend back before she started dating Justin Timberlake. Britters revealed on ‘The Frank Skinner Show’ that she and none other than Prince William had been chatting online and tried to hook up. “We exchanged emails for a little bit, and he was supposed to come and see me somewhere, but it didn’t work out,” she said. “It’s all blown out of proportion.” Exactly, Britney. It’s just pop’s purest princess potentially dating the future King of England. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Koo Stark

Star of: ‘Emily’ (1976)
Dated: Prince Andrew

American-born Koo Stark dated Prince Andrew after he returned from the Falkands War in 1982. She’d shot to fame in a series of softcore erotic movies including ‘Emily’ and ‘Cruel Passions’, a fact that helped contribute to the royal’s tabloid moniker ‘Randy Andy’. She also filmed scenes for ‘Star Wars’ playing Luke Skywalker’s friend Camie, but she didn’t make the final film. They broke up in 1983, but Stark spoke out to defend Randy Andy in 2015 following allegations regarding a “teenage sex slave”, saying “I can help rebut, with authority, the allegations against him.”

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