From Nell Gwyn to Meghan Markle: 9 romances between actors and royals

For centuries, romances between actors and royals have captivated the public. With rumours that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is exploring a return to her former career, Catherine Curzon explores nine other notable relationships between performers and members of royal families

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sit together in an open carriage, smiling and waving to crowds following their wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Harry wears military uniform, while Meghan wears a white wedding dress and veil.

Published: September 7, 2026 at 12:52 PM

Save

On 19 May 2018, Meghan Markle married into the British royal family when she tied the knot with Prince Harry at Windsor Castle.

Ad

The couple – now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – have rarely been out of the headlines in the intervening years, and recently found themselves at the centre of a tabloid storm when it was revealed that they would be returning to the UK with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, having set up home in the United States in 2020.

Meanwhile, rumours are also circulating that the Duchess of Sussex is exploring a return to acting – a career that, to some, seemed incompatible with the traditional expectations of a royal bride. Yet Harry and Meghan’s relationship is merely the latest in a long line of romances between royals and members of the acting profession.

Below, historian Catherine Curzon examines nine other relationships, spanning the 17th century to the present day…

An oil portrait of Margaret Hughes seated in an orange-gold dress with white sleeves and blue drapery, holding a piece of fruit in her lap. She wears a pearl necklace and earrings and is depicted against a dark background with red curtains.

As well as her relationship with Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Margaret Hughes is famed for being one of the first recorded female actors on the English stage | Credit: Getty Images

1. Margaret ‘Peg’ Hughes and Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Better known as Peg, Margaret Hughes (c1630–1719) holds the distinction of being one of the first recorded female actors to grace the London stage, appearing as Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello on 8 December 1660 at the Vere Street Theatre.

Up until this point, women had been forbidden to act on stage at all, and it wasn’t until King Charles II issued a royal warrant declaring that female roles must be played by women in 1662 that female actors became a common sight, as opposed to young men dressed up to look like them.

Peg was no young man, though, and she not only bewitched her audience but managed to steal the heart of Rupert of the Rhine, cousin to Charles II.

After Rupert’s death in 1682, Peg gambled away much of his bequest to her and sold off many valuables, including a necklace that was bought by the infamous Nell Gwyn (see below). Peg died in 1719, having never regained the lifestyle she once enjoyed.

A portrait of Nell Gwynne by Anglo-Dutch artist Simon Pietersz Verelst. The stage star was in a long-term relationship with King Charles II until his death in 1685 | Credit: Getty Images

A portrait of Nell Gwyn by Anglo-Dutch artist Simon Pietersz Verelst. The stage star was in a long-term relationship with King Charles II until his death in 1685 | Credit: Getty Images

2. Nell Gwyn and King Charles II

Perhaps the most famous of all England’s royal mistresses, Nell Gwyn (1650–87) began her career selling oranges to the patrons of a theatre on London’s Brydges Street, Charles II’s royal playhouse. By the time she was 14 years old, Nell was treading the boards as an actor and she found her niche as a leading light of Restoration comedy, soon becoming one of London’s most celebrated comedians.

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham was unofficially appointed to arrange suitably impressive lovers for Nell. Seeing a chance to increase his own influence as well as her cachet, he attempted to install her as the king’s mistress. Though Charles was married to Catherine of Braganza, the queen had long since learned to put up with his many mistresses, recognising them as a fact of royal life.

Nell was amenable to the duke’s scheme, but informed him that she expected a retainer of £500 a year for the privilege. However, the role of king’s mistress was a privileged one, filled with luxury and opulence, and Charles had plenty of willing candidates to choose from – even without paying them £500. When he heard the figure Nell was demanding, Charles rejected the idea, but when he met her in 1668, he was smitten.

Despite plenty of rivals and other mistresses snapping at her heels, Nell bore two children by the king. The actor and the monarch were a couple until his death in 1685, often sharing Nell’s silver bed, upon which the couple’s images were engraved. On his deathbed, the king begged “let not poor Nelly starve”, and she certainly didn’t. Awarded a substantial payment, she lived on for two more years before she succumbed to a stroke, possibly the result of syphilis.

An oil portrait of Mary ‘Perdita’ Robinson seated beneath a tree in a pale, elaborately decorated dress with blue ribbons. A large black-and-white dog sits beside her against a wooded landscape.

Mary ‘Perdita’ Robinson depicted with a canine companion. The star had a brief affair with the future King George IV, who encouraged Robinson to give up her stage career and become his official mistress | Credit: Getty Images

3. Mary ‘Perdita’ Robinson and King George IV

Mary Robinson (1757–1800) knew all about reinvention. When her father abandoned his family in 1764, Mary’s privileged childhood ended with a bump. Married in her teens, she survived a spell in debtor’s prison thanks to her dissolute husband and took to the stage in need of cash.

Mary became known for her so-called ‘breeches roles’, in which she played men and flashed her famed legs, a part of the female anatomy that wasn’t often on display in the Georgian era. It was as Perdita in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale that she caught the eye of the young and capricious George, Prince of Wales, the future King George IV.

The prince offered Mary a huge payment if she gave up the stage to become his official mistress and she accepted. However, the money was not forthcoming, and soon he had moved on to new lovers, leaving Mary high and dry. With her reputation in tatters, Mary took up her pen and began a new career as a poet and novelist, earning herself the nickname ‘the English Sappho’.

Partially paralysed by a later illness, Mary died in 1800 aged just 43.

An illustration of Dorothea Jordan in costume as Hypolita in the play She Would and She Would Not. She wears an elaborate feathered hat and blue-and-white costume while holding a small hand mirror.

Dorothea Jordan depicted as Hypolita in Colley Cibber’s 1702 play She Would and She Would Not. The Anglo-Irish actor had a 20-year relationship with the future King William IV | Credit: Getty Images

4. Dorothea Jordan and King William IV

While Prince George was romancing Mary, his younger brother William (the future William IV) made a play for Dorothea ‘Dora’ Jordan (1761–1816), a celebrated Anglo-Irish comedian with a long list of lovers in her past. William and Dora lived together as man and wife for 20 years and had 10 children.

However, the couple never married and – with Princess Charlotte of Wales likely to remain the only child of his elder brother and his bitterly estranged wife – William found himself closer to the throne than he had ever expected to be. Perhaps more importantly, William was desperately in need of money to settle his debts and knew that an official marriage might do wonders for his allowance.

He dropped Dora with a bump and promised her an annuity and custody of their daughters on the understanding that she wouldn’t go back to the stage. Unfortunately, when her financial situation led Dora to return to the theatre, William kept his word. He took the girls from her care and slashed her allowance accordingly.

Dora died in poverty in 1816 and left a heartbroken William to rue his decision. Ironically, even when he later made an official marriage, he and his wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, failed to produce any surviving heirs.

A black-and-white photograph of Marguerite Bellanger wearing a long, dark ruffled dress and leaning against an ornate metal railing. She gazes to one side against a painted studio backdrop.

Marguerite Bellanger became one of Emperor Napoleon III’s mistresses after reportedly meeting him in a park in 1863 | Credit: Getty Images

5. Marguerite Bellanger and Emperor Napoleon III

Marguerite Bellanger (1838–86) was born into abject poverty but thanks to a modicum of acting talent and a whole lot of charm, she wouldn’t stay there. She started her performance career as an acrobat and equestrienne and soon progressed to acting, while establishing herself as one of the most popular courtesans in Paris.

Marguerite’s most famous patron was undoubtedly Napoleon III (the nephew of Napoleon I), whom she met while sheltering from the rain in Paris’s Parc de Saint-Cloud in 1863. From that romantic beginning, the couple were together for a decade until his death and they had a son. Though Marguerite still had other lovers, Napoleon awarded her a generous pension and even a castle in which she and his son could live.

After Napoleon’s death in 1873, Marguerite moved to England and married an army officer. The couple eventually settled in France and it was there, in 1886, that she died.

A black-and-white photograph of Lillie Langtry reclining in an elaborate costume as Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Wearing a crown and flowing robes, she holds up a hand mirror while posing against an ornate backdrop.

Lillie Langtry photographed in costume for her role as Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Known as the ‘Jersey Lily’ on account of her Channel Islands origins, Langtry had relationships with several royals – including the future Edward VII | Credit: Getty Images

6. Lillie Langtry and King Edward VII

Anglo-American music hall star Lillie Langtry (1853–1929) was a bona fide megastar of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and she had a love life that would keep any modern tabloid in material for years. As one of many mistresses of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), Lillie was even presented to his mother Queen Victoria. During their three-year relationship, Lillie was happy to share her lover with both his wife and his other mistresses, seeming to enjoy not being tied exclusively to the prince.

Though the couple separated amicably, Edward wasn’t Lillie’s last royal fling. While still in a relationship with the Prince of Wales, she fell pregnant by Prince Louis of Battenberg (1854–1921). He was the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and had been naturalised as a Briton, eventually changing his name to Mountbatten.

Louis was a member of the Royal Navy, so when news of the pregnancy came out, the horrified Prince Alexander had his son sent to sea aboard HMS Inconstant. The Prince of Wales, meanwhile, paid for Lillie to spend her pregnancy in Paris, where she gave birth to a daughter.

Lillie died in 1929 and to this day her name remains synonymous with the glory days of the British music hall.

A black-and-white photograph of Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan standing beside a car outside the Ritz Hotel in London in 1949. Hayworth wears a wide-brimmed hat and pearl necklace, while Aly Khan stands beside her in a suit and tie.

Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan photographed outside the Ritz Hotel in London in 1949. Their marriage began to unravel soon afterwards amid reports of the prince’s infidelity | Credit: Getty Images

7. Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan

In 1949, Rita Hayworth (1918–87), one of Hollywood’s most popular and celebrated actors, gave up the silver screen for life as the wife of Prince Aly Khan. The prince was the son of Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III, the hereditary imam of the Nizari Ismailis, one of the largest Shia Muslim communities in the world.

Sadly for Rita, her new husband had a weakness for actors and two years later he was back in the very club where he and his princess first met, this time romancing Hollywood star Joan Fontaine. Rita took their daughter, Yasmin, and filed for divorce, convinced that Aly Khan would abduct the little girl if she wasn’t kept under guard.

The couple’s divorce was a tabloid favourite: as lawyers argued over whether Yasmin should be raised as a Christian or a Muslim, she played in the courtroom and even settled on the judge’s lap. Ultimately the court found in Rita’s favour, and she was awarded custody of her daughter.

A black-and-white photograph of Princess Grace of Monaco cradling her sleeping infant son, Prince Albert, in March 1958. Grace reclines against cushions and looks towards the camera as the baby sleeps in her arms.

Princess Grace of Monaco holds her infant son, Prince Albert, in March 1958. The Oscar-winning star gave up the silver screen for a life of royalty aged just 26 | Credit: Getty Images

8. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco

As Hollywood royalty, Grace Kelly (1929–82) was beloved by cinemagoers across the world. Having earned an Academy Award for her performance in The Country Girl (1954) and starred in hits from High Noon (1952) to Rear Window (1954), it seemed the perfect fairy-tale ending when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956.

In fact, Princess Grace’s life was anything but a fairy tale. Her marriage at the age of 26 marked the end of her Hollywood career. She was forced to turn down the title role in Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Marnie (1964) when the people of Monaco reacted with outrage to the idea of their princess playing a criminal. Further rumoured returns to the screen were similarly rejected as a result of Rainier’s wish for his wife to remain in professional retirement.

Instead, Grace dedicated herself to philanthropy and her three children. She also struck up a friendship with Diana, Princess of Wales. Sadly, Grace died at the age of 52 as a result of a car accident in 1982.

Clotilde Courau looks over the shoulder of her husband Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice, following their wedding in Rome in 2003 | Credit: Getty Images

Clotilde Courau looks over the shoulder of her husband Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice, following their wedding in 2003 | Credit: Getty Images

9. Clotilde Courau and Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice

In 2003, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, reportedly had to swallow his pride when his son, Emanuele Filiberto, married the politically outspoken left-wing French actor Clotilde Courau (born 1969).

Courau had once been described by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica as “a militant anarcho-Communist” – making her an unconventional choice of bride for the grandson of Italy’s last reigning king, Umberto II.

Unlike many of the other stars on this list, Clotilde refused to give up her career after marrying into royalty and continued to act, while also pursuing charitable activities under her official title, Clotilde of Savoy.

The couple had two daughters together before announcing that they had begun formal divorce proceedings in April 2026.

Ad

An older version of this article was first published by HistoryExtra in May 2018

Authors

Catherine CurzonHistorian

Catherine Curzon is a historian of the eighteenth century. She has appeared on Radio 4's PM and her work has been featured online by BBC News, BBC History Extra and The Daily Express.

Ad

Ad

Loading...

Ad

Loading...