Denmark Succession to the Danish throne followed the specifications of the ''
King's Law'' until the
Danish Act of Succession was passed in 1953. Prominent morganatic marriages include the 1615 marriage of King
Christian IV of Denmark to
noblewoman Kirsten Munk. Kirsten was titled "Countess of Schleswig-Holstein" and bore the King 12 children, all styled "Count/Countess of Schleswig-Holstein".
King Frederick VII married the ballerina
Louise Rasmussen, who was raised to the rank of "Countess Danner" in 1850. There were no children of this marriage. When
Christian IX of Denmark's brother,
Prince Julius of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg married Elisabeth von Ziegesar in 1883, the king granted her the title "Countess of
Røst". Until 1971, Danish princes who married women who did not belong to a royal or noble family were refused the sovereign's authorization, renouncing their right of succession to the throne and royal title (
Prince Aage of Denmark morganatically
eloped with Matilda Calvi, daughter of Count Carlo Giorgio di Bergolo, in January 1914 but renounced his dynastic rights and titles subsequently). They were granted the non-royal prefix of "Prince" and their descendants bear the title
Count af Rosenborg in the
Danish nobility. Neither of the children of
Queen Margrethe II has married a person of either royal birth or of the titled aristocracy. Members of the Royal Family may still lose their place in the line of succession for themselves and their descendants if they marry without the monarch's permission.
France Morganatic marriage was not recognized as a concept in French law. Since the law did not distinguish, for marital purposes, between ruler and subjects, marriages between royalty and the noble heiresses to great
fiefs became the norm from no later than the 12th century through the 16th century. The practice of marrying non-royal noble heiresses helped to aggrandize the
royal demesne and the
House of Capet while gradually diminishing the number of large domains held in theoretical vassalage by nobles who were, in practice, virtually independent of the French crown. The last of these marriages, of
Catherine de' Medici to the future
King Henry II in 1533, brought the last of these lands, the
county of Auvergne, to the crown of France. Antiquity of nobility in the legitimate male line, not noble
quarterings, was the main criterion of rank in the
ancien régime. Unlike the status of a British peer's wife and descendants (yet typical of the nobility of every
continental European country), the legitimate children and male-line descendants of any French nobleman (whether titled or not, whether possessing a
French peerage or not) were also legally noble
ad infinitum. Moreover, there was a French practice, legally distinct from morganatic marriage but used in similar situations of inequality in status between a member of the royal family and a spouse of lower rank: an "openly secret" marriage. French kings authorized such marriages only when the bride was past child-bearing or the marrying prince already had dynastic heirs by a previous spouse of royal descent. The marriage ceremony took place without
banns, in private (with only a priest, the bride and groom, and a few legal witnesses present), and the marriage was never officially acknowledged (although sometimes widely known). Thus, the wife never publicly shared in her husband's titles, rank, or coat of arms. The lower-ranked spouse, male or female, could only receive from the royal spouse what property the king allowed. In secret marriage, Louis XIV wed his second wife,
Madame de Maintenon, in 1683 (she was nearly 50, so no children were likely);
Louis the Grand Dauphin wed
Marie Émilie de Joly de Choin in 1695; Anne Marie d'Orléans (
La Grande Mademoiselle) wed
Antoine, Duke de Lauzun in 1682; and
Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans wed the
Marquise de Montesson in 1773. The mechanism of the "secret marriage" rendered it unnecessary for France to legislate the morganatic marriage
per se. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a few families considered in Germany to be morganatic were considered for crowns elsewhere, constituting unexpected rehabilitation of their status. and his abortive election by the
Taryba as King Mindaugas II of Lithuania in July 1918. In the event, Duke Wilhelm was offered none of these thrones. Relying upon the
Almanach de Gotha to
gazette dynastic events, Germany's deposed heads of state continued to notify its editors of changes in family members' status and traditional titles. In the former royal family of Saxony
Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen adopted and designated as his heir his nephew
Alexander Afif, thus bypassing his
agnatic cousin's morganatic son,
Rüdiger von Sachsen, and his three sons. After
World War I, the heads of both ruling and formerly reigning German dynasties initially continued the practice of rejecting dynastic titles and/or rights for descendants of "morganatic" unions, but gradually allowed them, sometimes retroactively, effectively de-morganatizing the wives and children. This was accommodated by
Perthes' Almanach de Gotha (which categorised German princely families by rank until it ceased publication after 1944) by inserting the offspring of such marriages in a third section of the almanac under entries denoted by a symbol (a dot within a circle) that "signifies some princely houses which, possessing no specific princely
patent, have passed from the first part, A, or from the second part into the third part in virtue of special agreements". The
Fürstliche Häuser ("Princely Houses") series of the
Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels ("Genealogical Manual of the Nobility") has followed this lead, likewise enrolling some issue of unapproved marriages in its third section, "III B", with a similar explanation: "Families in this section, although verified, received no specific
decree, but have been included by special agreement in the 1st and 2nd sections".
Luxembourg When the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg found itself without a male heir at the beginning of the 20th century, the morganatic
counts von Merenberg proposed themselves as heirs, being the last legitimate descendants in the
male line of the
House of Nassau.
Grand Duke William IV, however, chose to confirm the law of succession stipulated in 1815 by the
Congress of Vienna to allow a female descendant in the Nassau male line to become successor to the throne (his own daughter
Marie-Adélaïde) instead. In 2006, Prince
Louis, the third child of then-reigning
Grand Duke Henri, married
Tessy Antony, an ordinary citizen. Prince Louis was required to renounce his succession rights and those of the couple's children.
Russia Paul I of Russia promulgated a strict new
house law for Russia in 1797, eliminating the sovereign's right to designate the heir to the throne, but requiring that dynasts be born of authorized marriages. In 1820 a new law also stipulated that only children of Romanovs born of marriages with persons of equal status, i.e., members of a "royal or sovereign family", could transmit succession rights and titles to descendants. Alexander III forbade Romanov morganatic marriages altogether by issuance of
ukase #5868 on 24 March 1889 amending article #63 of the Statute on the Imperial Family in the
Pauline laws. By
ukase #35731, dated 11 August 1911, Nicholas II amended the amendment, reducing application of this restriction from all members of the Imperial Family to grand dukes and grand duchesses only. This decree allowed marriages of the
princes and princesses of the Blood Imperial with non-royal spouses, on the
conditions that the emperor's consent be obtained, that the dynast renounce his or her personal succession rights, and that the Pauline laws restricting succession rights to those born of equal marriages continue in force. An early victim of the Pauline laws was
Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, grandson of
Catherine the Great, and viceroy of Poland. On 20 March 1820 his marriage to Princess
Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was annulled to allow him to morganatically wed his longtime mistress,
Countess Joanna Grudna-Grudzińska, in Warsaw on 24 May 1820, who was elevated to the title "Princess Łowicza" upon marriage, which produced no children. One emperor,
Alexander II, married morganatically in 1880. Princess
Ekaterina Mihailovna Dolgorukova, Alexander's second bride, had previously been his long-term mistress and the mother of his three
legitimised children, the
princes and princesses Yurievsky. Beginning a novel tradition, one of that couple's daughters, Princess Olga Aleksandrovna Yurievskaya (1873–1925), in 1895 married the child of an 1868 morganatic marriage in the
House of Nassau,
George, Count von Merenberg (1871–1965). She and her children were made
counts de Torby, her younger daughter,
Countess Nada (1896–1963) marrying, in 1916
Prince George of Battenberg, future
Marquess of Milford Haven and scion of the
House of Battenberg, a morganatic branch of the grandducal
House of Hesse which had settled in England and inter-married with descendants of
Queen Victoria. After the annexation of Georgia in 1801, Leonida's family were deemed ordinary nobility in Imperial Russia rather than royalty, leading to claims that her 1948 marriage to Vladimir (who, however, also belonged to a deposed dynasty by then) was unequal and should be considered morganatic. which is itself one of the several traditional seats that are still officially recognized by South Africa's government. Instead, the Mandelas were given the
chiefdom of
Mvezo and made hereditary counsellors to the
Kumkani (i.e.,
privy counsellors) in deference to their royal ancestry. Following the loss of this chiefdom (which has since been restored to the family) in the
Apartheid era,
the Mandelas retained their positions as nobles of the Transkei. This status entailed, however, a degree of subjugation to the head of the dynasty, in particular in the matter of marital selection, which proved so onerous an issue to Nelson Mandela that it prompted the departure to
Johannesburg that eventually led to his political career. Like the
House of Battenberg in Europe, Mandela's family has since rehabilitated
its dynastic status to some extent: Mandela was still in prison when his daughter
Zenani was married to
Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini in 1973, elder brother of both King
Mswati III of Swaziland and Queen
Mantfombi,
Great Wife of
Goodwill Zwelithini, King of the Zulus.
Travancore and Cochin In the erstwhile
princely state of
Travancore, in
India, the male members of the
Travancore Royal Family were, under the existing matrilineal
Marumakkathayam system of inheritance and family, permitted to contract marriages with women of the
Nair caste which is Kshatriya but not royal crown title. These were marriages called
Pattum Parivattavum wherein the children gained their mother's caste and family name, due to
Marumakkathayam. Although they could not inherit the throne, they did receive a title of
nobility,
Thampi (son of the Maharajah) and Kochamma (daughter of the Maharajah). These were the members of the
Ammaveedus and their titles ensured a comfortable lifestyle and all other luxuries. The descendants of these Ammaveedu members were simply called Thampi and Thankachi and they didn't get any other distinguishing privileges.The same way the queen husband from the Kshatriya royal families also doesn't get any privileges or titles as follwed marumakattaym or matrilineal inheritance , their childrens followers mothers title and family name The Cochin Royal family also followed the system of
Marumakkatayam. Traditionally the female members of the family married Namboodiri Brahmins while male members marry ladies of the Nair caste. These wives of the male members are not royalty or didn't receive any royal titles or power, per the matrilineal system but instead get the title of Nethyar Amma. Their position ceases when the Maharaja dies. The children born to Neytharammas will be known by their mother's caste and hold no key royal titles. Currently the family marries mostly within the Kerala Kshatriya class.
United Kingdom The concept of morganatic marriage has never clearly existed in any part of the United Kingdom, and historically the English crown descended through marriages with commoners as late as the 17th century. Only two of the
six marriages Henry VIII made to secure an heir were with royal brides, and
Elizabeth Woodville, queen of
Edward IV of England, was also a commoner. Another link in the English succession involving marriage with a commoner was between
John of Gaunt and
Katherine Swynford. When they married after co-habiting for several years all children born previously were subsequently legitimated by Act of Parliament, this marriage was important, as
King Henry VII was descended from it. The marriage of
George IV as Prince of Wales to
Maria Fitzherbert in 1785 is frequently referred to as morganatic: it was in fact doubly in breach of law, as a marriage to a Catholic and one not having been sanctioned by the king. As in nearly all European monarchies extant in the 21st century, most approved marriages in the
British royal family are with untitled commoners and have been for several generations. In 1923, the future
George VI (then second in line to the throne as
Duke of York), was the first future British monarch to marry a non-princess or prince since 1659 when the future
James VII & II eloped with
Anne Hyde. Wives of British peers are entitled to use the feminine form of their husbands' peerages under
English common law, while wives of royal princes share their husbands' styles by custom unless the Sovereign formally objects. For example,
Catherine Middleton, a commoner, became the
Duchess of Cambridge upon her marriage on 29 April 2011 to
Prince William, who had been created
Duke of Cambridge that morning.
Camilla Parker Bowles, second wife of
Charles, Prince of Wales (as he was at the time), legally held the title "
Princess of Wales" but at the time that the engagement was announced it was declared that she would be known by the title "
Duchess of Cornwall" and, in Scotland,
Duchess of Rothesay (derived from other titles her husband held as
heir apparent) in deference, it has been reported, to public feelings about the title's previous holder, the Prince's first wife
Lady Diana Spencer. It was simultaneously stated that at such time, if any, her husband acceded to the throne, she would be known as "
Princess Consort" rather than "Queen", although as the king's wife she would legally be queen. However, in her 2022
Accession Day message, Queen Elizabeth II stated that it was her "sincere wish" for Camilla to be "known as Queen Consort", and, on Charles' accession, Camilla took this title.
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson On 16 November 1936
Edward VIII informed Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin that he intended to marry the American divorcée
Wallis Simpson, proposing that he be allowed to do so morganatically and remain king. Baldwin expressed his belief that Mrs. Simpson would be unacceptable to the British people as queen due to her status as a divorcee, which contradicted Church of England doctrine at the time, but agreed to take further soundings. The prospect of the marriage was rejected by the
British Cabinet. The other
Dominion governments were consulted pursuant to the
Statute of Westminster 1931, which provided in part that "any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom." Baldwin suggested three options to the prime ministers of the five
Dominions of which Edward was also king:
Canada,
Australia,
New Zealand,
South Africa and the
Irish Free State. The options were: • Edward and Mrs. Simpson marry and she become queen (a royal marriage); • Edward and Mrs. Simpson marry, but she not become queen, instead receiving some
courtesy title (a morganatic marriage); or •
Abdication for Edward and any potential heirs he might father, allowing him to make any marital decisions without further constitutional implications. The second option had European precedents, including Edward's own maternal great-grandfather,
Duke Alexander of Württemberg, but no unambiguous parallel in British constitutional history.
William Lyon Mackenzie King (
Prime Minister of Canada),
Joseph Lyons (
Prime Minister of Australia) and
J. B. M. Hertzog (
Prime Minister of South Africa) opposed options 1 and 2.
Michael Joseph Savage (
Prime Minister of New Zealand) rejected option 1 but thought that option 2 "might be possible ... if some solution along these lines were found to be practicable" but "would be guided by the decision of the Home government". Thus the majority of the Commonwealth's prime ministers agreed that there was "no alternative to course (3)". On 24 November, Baldwin consulted the three leading opposition politicians in Britain:
Leader of the Opposition Clement Attlee,
Liberal leader
Sir Archibald Sinclair and
Winston Churchill. Sinclair and Attlee agreed that options 1 and 2 were unacceptable and Churchill pledged to support the government. The letters and diaries of working-class people and ex-servicemen generally demonstrate support for the King, while those from the middle and upper classes tend to express indignation and distaste.
The Times,
The Morning Post, the
Daily Herald, and newspapers owned by
Lord Kemsley, such as
The Daily Telegraph, opposed the marriage. On the other hand, the
Express and
Mail newspapers, owned by
Lord Beaverbrook and
Lord Rothermere, respectively, appeared to support a morganatic marriage. The King estimated that the newspapers in favour had a circulation of 12.5 million, and those against had 8.5 million. Backed by Churchill and Beaverbrook, Edward proposed to broadcast a speech indicating his desire to remain on the throne or to be recalled to it if forced to abdicate, while marrying Mrs Simpson morganatically. In one section, Edward proposed to say: Baldwin and the
British Cabinet blocked the speech, saying that it would shock many people and would be a grave breach of constitutional principles. Ultimately, Edward decided to give up the throne for "the woman I love", whereupon he and his descendants were deprived of all right to the Crown by Parliament's passage of
His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. He was created
Duke of Windsor on 8 March 1937 by his brother, the new
George VI. He would marry Wallis Simpson in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. In the meantime, however,
letters patent dated 27 May 1937, which re-conferred upon the Duke of Windsor the "title, style, or attribute of
Royal Highness", specifically stated that "his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute". This decree was issued by the new king and unanimously supported by the Dominion governments. The king's authority to withhold from the lawful wife of a prince the attribute hitherto accorded to the wives of other modern British princes was addressed by the Crown's legal authorities: On 14 April 1937,
Attorney General Sir
Donald Somervell submitted to
Home Secretary Sir
John Simon a memorandum summarising the views of
Lord Advocate T. M. Cooper,
Parliamentary Counsel Sir
Granville Ram, and himself: • We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent. • The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it. • We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstances. The new King's firm view, that the Duchess should not be given a royal title, was shared by Queen Mary and George's wife,
Queen Elizabeth. The Duchess bitterly resented the denial of the royal title and the refusal of the Duke's relatives to accept her as part of the family. In the early days of George VI's reign the Duke telephoned daily, importuning for money and urging that the Duchess be granted the style of Royal Highness, until the harassed King ordered that the calls not be put through. However, within the household of the Duke and Duchess, the style "Her Royal Highness" was used by those who were close to the couple.
Morganatic vs. invalid The
Royal Marriages Act 1772 made it illegal for all persons born into the
British royal family to marry without the permission of the sovereign, and any marriage contracted without the sovereign's consent was considered invalid. This led to several prominent cases of British princes who had gone through marriage ceremonies, and who
cohabited with their partners as if married, but whose relationships were not legally recognised. As a result, their partners and children (which would be considered illegitimate) held no titles, and had no succession rights. This differs from morganatic marriages, which are considered legally valid.
England/Scotland James II/VII and Anne Hyde It has been suggested that
William, Prince of Orange, expected to have a strong claim to the throne of
England after the
Duke of York during the reign of
Charles II. In fact, the Duke's two daughters from his first marriage,
Princess Mary and
Princess Anne, were considered to have the stronger claim by the English establishment. William's expectation was based on the continental practice of morganatic marriage, since the mother of both princesses,
Anne Hyde, was a commoner and a lady-in-waiting to William's mother,
Princess Mary. It was through his mother, a sister of Charles II and the Duke of York, that William claimed the throne, because, to his mind, the son of a princess had a stronger claim than the daughter of a commoner. It was to shore up his own claim to the throne that he agreed to marry his first cousin, Princess Mary. When James II fled at the
Glorious Revolution, William refused to accept the title of
king consort (which
Philip II of Spain had been granted under
Queen Mary I in the 1550s) and insisted on being named King in his own right. The compromise solution involved naming both to the crown as had rarely happened in the past (see for example
King Henry II and his son
Young King Henry, who ruled England simultaneously).
Elsewhere Variations of morganatic marriage were also practised by non-European dynasties, such as the
Royal Family of Thailand, the polygamous
Mongols as to their non-principal wives, and other families of Africa and Asia. == Examples ==