#TBT Royals who quit for love

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced in January 2020 that they’d be officially stepping back from the British Royal Family

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

The couple indicated a desire to spend more time focusing on charity work and raising their son, Archie. Instagram: @sussexroyal - “The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. You must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

Some other infamous splits from the royal family:

Prince Friso of The Netherlands

Once second-in-line to the throne, Prince Friso threw it all away by marrying Mabel Wisse Smit. Smit’s college friendship with a Dutch crime lord meant that their marriage could not be sanctioned by the government. Friso married her anyway — thus giving up his claim to the throne.

King Edward VIII

The only English monarch to give up the throne did so to marry a divorced woman named Wallis Simpson in 1937. The Church of England was opposed to remarriage then, so Edward abdicated the throne less than a year after taking it.

Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya of Thailand

While attending college in the U.S., the Thai princess started dating American Peter Jensen. Against the wishes of her parents, she married him in 1972 and was stripped of her royal title.

Prince Carl Johan Bernadotte of Sweden

In 1946, the Prince of Sweden married journalist Kerstin Wijkmark. The marriage could not be approved by the Swedish government as she was the “daughter of a common man.” So, the prince renounced his title and succession rights to be with her.

Brut.