How Long Before the Engagement?

[Her_Majesty]

How long did Royal couples wait/ did Royal Couples have to wait until they got engaged?

I'll make the start:

Harald & Sonja
Meeting: 1959 (They already "met" in the late '40s as young kids, but they weren't friends)
Engagement: 1968
(9 years)

Beatrix & Claus
Meeting: 1964
Engagement: 1965
(1 year)

 

[christinacg]

Did Harald and Sonja really date for 9 years before getting married, or were they friends at first? Seems like a long time for them to be dating before getting married, esp. for a future King.

 

[Her_Majesty]

Did Harald and Sonja really date for 9 years before getting married, or were they friends at first? Seems like a long time for them to be dating before getting married, esp. for a future King.

They were really dating for 9 years.
King Olav first didn't allow the marriage because Sonja was a commoner.
You can find some information about their very long courtship in this thread.

 

[Her_Majesty]

Carl Gustav and Silvia Sommerlath
Meeting: 1972
Engagement: 1977
(5 years)

Frederik and Mary Donaldson
Meeting: 2000
Engagement: 2003
(3 years)

Sofia and Juan Carlos
Meeting: 1961 (They already met in 1954, but in 1961 they started dating)
Engagement: 1962
(about 1 year)

Máxima and Willem-Alexander
Meeting: 1999
Engagement: 2001
(2 years)

 

[ZandraRae]

What about Phillipe and Mathilde, Haakon and Mette-Marit?

I believe:
Phillipe & Mathilde
Meeting: 1997
Engagement: 1999? ( I know they got marrid in '99)

 

[Her_Majesty]

Felipe and Letizia Ortiz
Meeting: Late 2002 (?)
Engagement: 2003
(about 1 year)

Haakon and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby
Meeting: 1999 (they first met in 1996. Mette was expecting Marius back then. They started dating in 1999.)
Engagement: december 2000
(about 2 years)

 

[sara1981]

What about Phillipe and Mathilde, Haakon and Mette-Marit?

I believe:
Phillipe & Mathilde
Meeting: 1997
Engagement: 1999? ( I know they got marrid in '99)

CP Phillipe and Mathilde met in 1996 10 years ago they both dating for 3 years.

CP couples got married on December 6th 1999 i think so

 

[magnik]

If I good remember I've read in some thread about Mathilde or Phillipe or about their wedding thread that they had started dating or meet first time about 1995 when Mathilde was 22.

 

[Her_Majesty]

What about Louis and Tessy or Henri and Marie-Theresia?
Does anyone know how long they were dating until they married?

Felipe and Letizia had the fastest engagement of the Crownprincely couples. They were only dating about 1 year!
I just wondered how long Felipe was dating Eva Sannum!
It seems he was quite sure that Letizia is THE ONE!

 

[*SofiaM*]

What about Louis and Tessy or Henri and Marie-Theresia?
Does anyone know how long they were dating until they married?

Felipe and Letizia had the fastest engagement of the Crownprincely couples. They were only dating about 1 year!
I just wondered how long Felipe was dating Eva Sannum!
It seems he was quite sure that Letizia is THE ONE!

It also seems that King JC and Queen Sofia had the shortest courtship of the current Kings and Queens
I read that the first time JC and Sofia met, Sofia didn't like him because she thought he was a show off

 

[magnik]

What about Louis and Tessy or Henri and Marie-Theresia?
Does anyone know how long they were dating until they married?

Maria Theresa and Henri met when they was studying in Geneva a political sciences. For four years they both carried on similar studies, working sometimes in the same study groups. They end it in 1980 and married on 14.02.1981.
About Louis and Tessy they've met around 2004 during his visit to the troops in Kosovo.

Felipe and Letizia had the fastest engagement of the Crownprincely couples. They were only dating about 1 year!
...
It seems he was quite sure that Letizia is THE ONE!

He know her before they've met - he watch her in TV

 

[rop81]

Carl Gustav and Silvia Sommerlath
Meeting: 1972
Engagement: 1977
(5 years)

King Carl XVI Gustav and Silvia Sommerlath married in June 1976, but it´s correct that they met in 1972 (Olympic games in Münich)

 

[Oppie]

Prince Bertil and Lilian Davies

Meeting 1943
Married 1976 (assume they were officially engaged in the same year)

33 years

 

[Her_Majesty]

King Carl XVI Gustav and Silvia Sommerlath married in June 1976, but it´s correct that they met in 1972 (Olympic games in Münich)

I wasn't sure about that. So, Thanks for correcting me!

 

[Stefanie]

Period between engagement and marriage...

...is in this connection also interesting. Some of the shortest engagement periods are about three months (Silvia and Carl Gustav, Mathilde and Phillippe). Others last almost a year (Alexandra Berleburg and Jefferson, Maxima and Willem Alexander), others two years: Anne-Marie and Konstantin of Greece - and some will last forever : Olga of Greece and Aimone of Savoy.....

 

[LadyK]

um, Stefanie, King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia and CP Mathilde and CP Phillipe were dating three years.


oh... I just realized that you meant the period between engagement and marriage! Sorry.

 

[Her_Majesty]

Prince Bertil and Lilian Davies

Meeting 1943
Married 1976 (assume they were officially engaged in the same year)

33 years

Oh wow! I thought Harald and Sonja were dating a long time... I never knew that Bertil and Lilian waited 33 years!
Were they really dating 33 years or did they live seperately in some periods?

 

[LadyK]

Can someone say exactly why Lilian and Bertil didn't marry for so long? I remember that there was a reason that they couldn't, that they weren't allowed, but I'm not sure exactly what.

 

[Oppie]

This is a really short version, at the time when they met 1943 swedish princes couldn't marry commonors. Two of his brothers married and lost there positions and then the Carl Gustaf father died in a plance accident leaving only the Carl Gustaf (who was a baby) and Bertil in the line of succession, so he didn't get married because it was likely one day he would need to be regent for Carl Gustaf his grandfather died before he turned 18.

Once Carl Gustaf became King he allowed Bertil and Lilian to marry.

They lived together for most of those 33 years.

 

[Princess_Beatrix]

Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven got engaged in 1965.
Does anyone know when they met?

 

[LadyK]

Thanks Oppie for clearing that up!

 

[Lady Jennifer]

This is a really short version, at the time when they met 1943 swedish princes couldn't marry commonors. Two of his brothers married and lost there positions and then the Carl Gustaf father died in a plance accident leaving only the Carl Gustaf (who was a baby) and Bertil in the line of succession, so he didn't get married because it was likely one day he would need to be regent for Carl Gustaf his grandfather died before he turned 18.

Once Carl Gustaf became King he allowed Bertil and Lilian to marry.

They lived together for most of those 33 years.

Talk about dedication to the man you love.

 

[LadyK]

Talk about dedication to duty.

 

[Little_star]

Queen Rania and King Abdullah met at a dinner party in 1993.....5 months later they were married.

 

[Olka]

This is a really short version, at the time when they met 1943 swedish princes couldn't marry commonors. Two of his brothers married and lost there positions and then the Carl Gustaf father died in a plance accident leaving only the Carl Gustaf (who was a baby) and Bertil in the line of succession, so he didn't get married because it was likely one day he would need to be regent for Carl Gustaf his grandfather died before he turned 18.

Once Carl Gustaf became King he allowed Bertil and Lilian to marry.

They lived together for most of those 33 years.

Yes, it is a great and unbelievable story...I read Marta Schad's book about the Swedish Royal Family and it is written that the Swedish people admire a lot Prince Bertil and Lilian for their attitude, love and sense of duty.

 

[Princess_Beatrix]

Queen Rania and King Abdullah met at a dinner party in 1993.....5 months later they were married.

Wow that was quick...

 

[Claire]

The Earl of Wessex met Sophie Rhys-Jones on 9 September 1993. By the end of October 1993 they were dating. Edward's friends and family were already predicting a 1994 wedding. Some were buying hats. But no engagement came. It is guessed the Queen personally asked Edward to wait for his brother's divorces to die down. Either way whether they actually were engagement before 1998 and it was never made public is a matter for debate - as one thing after another took precedence.
They were officially engaged in November 1998, it was announced on 6 January and they were married in June 1999. So they dated for 6 years and eight months.

Oddly enough one of Prince Edward's friends told the press she attended the wedding in 1997 down in New Zealand!?

 

[puppigurl2005]

all that i could find about Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven is that they met while she was studying at the University of Lieden. which i guess is universal knowledge here.

 

[Josefine]

Victoria and daniel may be one of the longest
harlad and sonja were about 10 years

 

[Josefine]

adeleine and JOnas met 7 years ago