Co-habitating Royals

Lady Bluffton · #1 06-13-2007, 06:24 PM

Can we do a list of royals who co-habitated with their current spouse prior to marriage?

Haakon & Mette-Merrit come to mind.

Do you think this activity is helpful or harmful to the Royal image?

acdc1 · #2 06-13-2007, 06:27 PM

Haakon and Mette-Marit did, and it seems like I heard of some others, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

Did one of the Italian princes (Emanuelle?) and his wife live together, because she was pregnant when the married. Of course, that doesn't mean they lived together, but I was just wondering.

marian · #3 06-13-2007, 06:45 PM

I know that the princes of Sweden, Carl Philip, Madeleine, and Victoria do, William of Wales did, Albert of Monaco, Laurent of Belgium is a playboy and maybe he did, Andrea and Pierre Casiraghi did, and I think that Stephanie of Monaco should be living with some boy. The royals young now are living with their partners, I think that this is very modern.

Bosana · #4 06-13-2007, 06:52 PM

Zara Phillips, Princess Anne's daughter, lives with her long time boyfriend. And, of course, so did her uncle Charles and Camilla. It seems to be a much more straightforward thing these days, rather than the secrecy of how it was done before.

crisiñaki · #5 06-13-2007, 07:30 PM

I think (correct me if I'm mistaken) that Letizia started living at the Zarzuela Complex near Felipe just after the engagement was made public

NGalitzine · #6 06-13-2007, 07:56 PM

Peter Phillpis and his girlfriend, Autumn Kelly, live together. Edward and Sophie Wessex are supposed to have lived together at Buck House prior to their engagement.
The young royals private living arrangements aren't much different than the rest of the population, except perhaps for the size of the residence.

Empress · #7 06-13-2007, 07:57 PM

Well, for me, I think that it makes a heck of alot more sense to live with someone before you commit to spending the rest of your life with them. It seems to me to be only realistic. How can you commit to the rest of your life, if you have no idea what a person does in their own home?

In other times, there was no option of divorce, and you were simply stuck with what you got when you married.. And royals then, and any other people, could also live seperately. Of course in other times, the media was not so prevalent.

scooter · #8 06-13-2007, 08:19 PM

Camilla was widely reported to be Charles' official hostess at Highgrove, even during his marriage to Diana. IIRC, Clarence House was redone to her taste well before they married.

NGalitzine · #9 06-13-2007, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empress

Well, for me, I think that it makes a heck of alot more sense to live with someone before you commit to spending the rest of your life with them. It seems to me to be only realistic. How can you commit to the rest of your life, if you have no idea what a person does in their own home?

In other times, there was no option of divorce, and you were simply stuck with what you got when you married.. And royals then, and any other people, could also live seperately. Of course in other times, the media was not so prevalent.

I agree, especially in cases of commoners marrying into a royal family. You should get a real up close look at the family and how they balance their public and private life and what may be expected of you in the future. Not everyone is meant to live their life in a fish bowl.

acdc1 · #10 06-13-2007, 09:12 PM

I think that it's not a huge deal anymore if royals live together before marriage and/or engagement, as it's what a great deal of the population is doing right now. I remember hearing that it was a pretty big deal with Edward and Sophie, because when they did it 13 or 14 years ago, even though commoners often did it, it just wasn't something that the royals did. Same with divorce. But now that more and more are doing it, it doesn't cause such an uproar. It still probably causes some controversy.

yvr girl · #11 06-13-2007, 11:01 PM

but it was kept hush, hush.

Nichola · #12 06-18-2007, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acdc1

I remember hearing that it was a pretty big deal with Edward and Sophie, because when they did it 13 or 14 years ago, even though commoners often did it, it just wasn't something that the royals did.

I remember during an engagement interview Sophie defended this, saying they hadn't lived together. However, apparently she was given a key and 'free reign' over the house so to speak a couple of years into dating Edward.

I think Diana lived at Clarence House with the Queen Mother prior to her wedding to Charles? I suppose a 'fast track' lesson into royal life.

Did Charles live here too during this time?

michelleq · #13 06-18-2007, 08:37 PM

If this thread can be opened to Princely Families, then Prince Gustav of Sayn Wittgenstein Berleburg is co-habitating with his girlfriend, Carina Axelsson.

pollyemma · #14 06-19-2007, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empress

Well, for me, I think that it makes a heck of alot more sense to live with someone before you commit to spending the rest of your life with them. It seems to me to be only realistic. How can you commit to the rest of your life, if you have no idea what a person does in their own home?

In other times, there was no option of divorce, and you were simply stuck with what you got when you married.. And royals then, and any other people, could also live seperately. Of course in other times, the media was not so prevalent.

i dont know about that. studies have consistently indicated that couples who cohabitate before marriage have much higher divorce rates. I read an article in some journal recently that couples who cohabitate before marriage are 59 percent more likely to divorce. so maybe our royals would be wise to eschew this route...

BurberryBrit · #15 06-19-2007, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pollyemma

i dont know about that. studies have consistently indicated that couples who cohabitate before marriage have much higher divorce rates. I read an article in some journal recently that couples who cohabitate before marriage are 59 percent more likely to divorce. so maybe our royals would be wise to eschew this route...

I was about to post this. Getting used to living with someone is part of the "fun" of marriage, I think. If you live with someone years and years before you tie the knot, what's to discover in the marriage? I know, I'm old fashioned. I see nothing wrong with setting up the household prior to marriage, though.

Henri M. · #16 06-19-2007, 03:35 AM

Miss Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti lived in the Brussels appartment of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien during the non-official period of her relationship to the Prince of Orange. To give her new relationship a fair chance, miss Zorreguieta moved from Deutsche Bank in New York to the EU Affairs bureau of the bank in Brussels. Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien (who is important inside the royal family) were happy to accomodate miss Zorreguieta.

Brussels is a magic place for romances. Prince Constantijn knew Laurentien all his life, as her parents are lifelong friends of the Queen. In Brussels they felt in love with each other. It was also Princess Laurentien who presented her friend, the director EU of the Open Society Institute, a certain miss Mabel Wisse Smit, to her brother in law Prince Friso. Also this happened in Brussels.

When finally, in March 2001, after her engagement her relationship changed into a formal one, miss Zorreguieta moved from Brussels to Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague. This palace is the Queen's private residence and there are a few annexes (houses) on the palace domain. Miss Zorreguieta lived in one of those.

After her wedding on 02-02-2002 she finally moved to the Prince of Orange's estate in The Hague. So the Princess, oldfashionedly, did not live together with the Prince until they were in wedded state.