- 6 days ago
Love and politics rarely mix cleanly, and these famous weddings proved it. Join us as we revisit historic romances that sparked outrage, secrecy, disapproval, and even tragedy, from royal scandals to forbidden unions. Our countdown includes lovers, monarchs, poets, and social taboos that tore families apart. Which scandalous marriage shocked you most?
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00:00Welcome to our little country shack.
00:04I came at the invitation of the king.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today we're exploring the most notorious incidents of when famous couples in history had families that for one reason
00:13or another severely objected to the couple getting married.
00:16You shall never know by deed or word or hint of mine how much you have grieved and wounded your
00:21father by refusing to do the little thing he asked.
00:25Princess Stephanie of Monaco and Danielle Ducruet.
00:28The daughter of Grace Kelly and Regnier III, Stephanie has constantly been in the spotlight, even more so when it
00:34came to her love life.
00:35Much to Prince Rainer's chagrin, Stephanie now gave the media plenty of fodder, plunging into opt-in affairs with men,
00:43preferably commoners, including a gardener, a croupier, and an artist.
00:47After a string of high-profile relationships, it was announced in 1992 that Stephanie was dating her bodyguard Ducruet.
00:54If that wasn't scandalous enough, he had recently had a baby with another woman.
00:58Months later, Ducruet and Stephanie had their first child.
01:01However, Regnier refused to give his consent for them to marry.
01:04It took the couple having another child in 1994 for the prince to allow Ducruet and Stephanie to marry, which
01:10they did in 1995.
01:12Yet a year later, Ducruet was recorded sleeping with another woman.
01:15As well as Regnier banishing him from court, Stephanie also divorced Ducruet.
01:20People should recognize I've not come out of a fairy tale, but I'm a person instead, just like everyone else.
01:25George IV and Maria Fitzherbert.
01:27It's all happening so secretly in Maria's own drawing room.
01:32None of his family have turned up.
01:34And that chaplain's a bit dodgy.
01:36In 1784, George met Fitzherbert.
01:40She'd had a difficult love life so far, as she was twice widowed and the family of her first husband
01:45had left her essentially destitute.
01:46Yet while both were smitten, not many supported the relationship.
01:50On top of Fitzherbert's multiple marriages, being six years older than George and a commoner, the biggest issue was that
01:56she was Catholic.
01:57This could cause a huge constitutional problem.
02:02Under the act of settlement, the husband of a Catholic could never become king.
02:07As such, George's father, George III, refused to approve their union.
02:12Instead, the couple got secretly married, but it wasn't legal.
02:15I used to have pounds more.
02:17Keep your mouth shut.
02:21Yeah, that's against the law.
02:22I am the law.
02:24King George made his son marry Caroline of Brunswick to clear a debt.
02:28Famously, George hated his wife.
02:30He often asked for a divorce and banned Caroline from his 1821 coronation.
02:35I will enter as queen and without a ticket.
02:41Am I to understand that you are refusing Her Majesty admission?
02:44I only act in conformity with my elders.
02:47Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Ellen Turner.
02:50After kidnapping a teenage heiress, he was sent to jail, which is where he came up with the idea of
02:55founding South Australia's capital.
02:58Nowadays, Wakefield is well-known for his work in colonizing Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
03:03Yet life was very different for him in 1826.
03:06Six years prior, his wife, Eliza Paddle, who was an heiress, passed away in childbirth.
03:12Wanting to further his wealth, Wakefield sought another heiress bride.
03:15So, with the aid of his brother, he went after Ellen, who was half the age of the 30-year
03:20-old Wakefield.
03:21He said that it had been suggested by Mr. Grimsditch, my papa's attorney, that he, Mr. Wakefield, should be my
03:28husband.
03:29Then the estate of Shrigley would be mine, and it would only be in my power to turn my papa
03:34out of doors.
03:36I made no reply to this. Not at this time.
03:40Wakefield employed multiple ploys to lure Ellen to Gretna Green, Scotland, an area closely connected with elopements.
03:46With pressure from Ellen's father, William, the authorities soon tracked down the couple at a hotel,
03:51where Wakefield was arrested and later sentenced to three years in jail.
03:55They took Ellen aside and finally revealed the truth about Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
04:00According to one newspaper, she turned to him and yelled,
04:03I am not your wife! I will never go near you again! You have deceived me!
04:10The marriage was annulled by the UK Parliament, Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Yekaterina Igorivna Malishova.
04:17Typically, royal families don't go public with their displeasure at a marriage.
04:20Yet Prince Ernst August of Hanover Sr. wasn't happy about his son's nuptials with Malishova,
04:25which he publicly stated just days before their wedding date.
04:28However, he wasn't upset with her exactly.
04:33Instead, Ernst August Sr. wanted his son to hand over property,
04:37including Marienborg Castle, which he signed over to Junior around 2004.
04:41His father claimed he wanted to preserve family property,
04:44believing the union between his son and Malishova would destroy that.
04:47Regardless, Ernst August Jr. and Malishova tied the knot in 2017,
04:52which his father didn't attend.
04:54Since then, they've had multiple children together.
04:56My secret hobby is gardening.
04:58What's yours?
04:59Rita Hayworth and Edward Charles Judson.
05:02Are you decent?
05:04Me?
05:13Sure, I'm decent.
05:15While struggling to make an impact in Hollywood,
05:17Hayworth met Judson.
05:18He was a promoter who devised a plan to help her launch her acting career,
05:22including changing her stage name and having a makeover.
05:25In order to capitalize on her potential,
05:28Rita's husband, Ed Judson,
05:29and the executives at Columbia decided a change was an order
05:33from the Spanish look that had been so prominent in Rita's earlier film roles.
05:37They set out to create in Rita the all-American girl next door.
05:41However, it also allegedly included Judson encouraging Hayworth
05:45to have affairs with studio executives to boost her career.
05:47In 1937, when Hayworth was 18,
05:51she married the 41-year-old Judson,
05:53who was the same age as her father.
05:55Her parents were very against the relationship.
05:57My father said that nobody liked Eddie Judson.
06:01He was too old to be married to their daughter.
06:03Apparently, he would go over there just to antagonize,
06:07particularly Volga.
06:08Reportedly, Hayworth's mother Volga even slapped Judson when they argued.
06:13With Judson asserting control over Hayworth's life,
06:16she filed for divorce in 1942.
06:18Upon it being granted,
06:19due to Judson controlling her finances for years,
06:22the actor was broke,
06:23but at least she was free.
06:24In order to keep Ed Judson
06:26from revealing what he considered to be scandalous
06:28and damaging information about Rita's personal life,
06:31Harry Cohn paid him $30,000 to stay out of her life forever.
06:36Elizabeth Moulton Barrett and Robert Browning
06:38Not only was Elizabeth's father Edward a slave owner in Jamaica,
06:41but he was also incredibly intense
06:43when it came to his last name of Barrett.
06:45After all, she was born Elizabeth Barrett Moulton Barrett,
06:49which he also mirrored with his name.
06:51Edward forbade any of his children from marrying.
06:53Those who did were disinherited.
06:55You will leave my house at once,
06:57as you are with nothing but the clothes you have on.
07:00Once outside my doors,
07:01you can go to perdition any way you please,
07:04but you will never be admitted again as long as I live.
07:06I think you know I never go back on my word.
07:09After publishing work,
07:11Elizabeth and fellow poet Robert Browning began exchanging letters.
07:14In 1845, they met in person.
07:17We've known each other a bare half hour,
07:18and yet we've talked intimately of art and life and death and love.
07:22We've ordered each other about,
07:23and we've almost quarreled.
07:25Could anything be happier and more promising?
07:28By the following year,
07:29they secretly married and moved to Italy,
07:31creating a literary power couple.
07:33However, Edward followed through with disinheriting Elizabeth
07:36and never spoke to her again.
07:38Elizabeth and Robert would have a child,
07:39Robert, better known as Penn,
07:41before she passed away in 1861.
07:44Although it was agreed that Elizabeth's body
07:46would be reinterred at the Abbey,
07:48this never happened,
07:49which is why today we have the burial of Robert Browning
07:52with an inscription to memorialize Elizabeth.
07:56Poetry may have brought them together,
07:58but Elizabeth's famous sonnet shows us
08:01that this was a marriage of love.
08:02Peter Abelard and Eloise.
08:04A celebrity teacher in his day,
08:06Abelard met Eloise in Paris, France around the year 1115.
08:10Not only did Eloise study with him,
08:12but they also began a relationship.
08:13Our lord was betrayed by Aikis.
08:16That was preordained.
08:19Is this?
08:22From the beginning of time.
08:24For Abelard,
08:25a philosopher rising in the church,
08:27this was taboo.
08:28And when Eloise's uncle and guardian Fulbert
08:30discovered the pair,
08:31he separated them.
08:32Nevertheless,
08:33they eventually managed to marry in secret.
08:36In the name of the father,
08:38the son,
08:40and the Holy Ghost.
08:49Outraged,
08:49Fulbert exposed them,
08:51only becoming more furious
08:52when Eloise attempted to discredit him.
08:54Abelard sent Eloise to a convent for her protection.
08:57However,
08:58Fulbert believed Abelard was disposing of a now inconvenient wife.
09:01So,
09:02he sent people to neuter the scholar.
09:04Afterwards,
09:05Eloise remained at the convent,
09:07and Abelard relocated to a monastery.
09:09Yet the couple continued to send letters to each other,
09:11which have been published.
09:13Was all this preordained?
09:15Only the love.
09:17Pedro Guzman and Ruth Stevenson.
09:19Born in the Republic of Ireland,
09:21James Coyle became the pastor
09:22at what's today known as
09:24the Cathedral of St. Paul
09:25in Birmingham,
09:26Alabama.
09:26There had been a lot of
09:27anti-Catholic incidents
09:29in Birmingham
09:31and in Alabama.
09:33And there was violence
09:34and there were threats,
09:35and
09:36Father Coyle,
09:37for seven years,
09:38knew of these threats.
09:40In 1921,
09:41he was said to marry
09:42Pedro Guzman
09:42and Ruth Stevenson.
09:43However,
09:44with the Jim Crow era at the time,
09:46a wedding between a Puerto Rican man
09:48and a white woman
09:48wouldn't go down well with some.
09:50So Coyle married the couple in secret
09:52after Ruth had converted to Catholicism
09:54months before.
09:55Because he was the pastor,
09:56only he had the authority
09:58and church law
09:59to do the wedding so quickly
10:02without the bans of marriage.
10:03So,
10:04he did the wedding
10:05and
10:07what happened to Father Coyle?
10:08Ruth's father,
10:09Edward Roscoe Stevenson,
10:11found out within the hour.
10:12In addition to being a Methodist minister,
10:14Edwin was also a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
10:17Only hours after the wedding,
10:18Edwin fatally shot Coyle at his church.
10:21Despite there being many witnesses,
10:23Edwin was acquitted at the trial.
10:25It's like one of the trials of the century
10:27to see if a man
10:29would be prosecuted
10:31for killing a Catholic priest
10:32in the Deep South.
10:34And the answer was,
10:35yeah,
10:35they would get away with it.
10:36Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson.
10:39I don't care what woman
10:41you carry on with at night,
10:42as long as you
10:43show up for duty in the morning.
10:45Wallace is not just some woman
10:47I'm carrying on with.
10:48We intend to marry.
10:52Excuse me.
10:53Not even a year into his reign
10:54as the UK's monarch in 1936,
10:57Edward caused a crisis
10:58by announcing his intention
10:59to marry Simpson.
11:00Already divorced once,
11:01she was married at the time
11:02to Ernest Simpson.
11:04The outrage throughout the kingdom
11:05of a monarch tying the knot
11:06with a soon-to-be two-time divorcee
11:08forced Edward to abdicate
11:10at the end of 1936.
11:11We have found it impossible
11:13to carry the heavy burden
11:15of responsibility
11:18and to discharge my duties
11:20as king
11:21as I would wish to do
11:25without the help
11:26and support
11:27of the woman I love.
11:31Reluctantly,
11:32his brother,
11:32George VI,
11:33took on the crown.
11:34However,
11:35George's wife,
11:35Elizabeth,
11:36the mother of Elizabeth II,
11:38reportedly believed
11:38the abdication
11:39contributed to George's early death.
11:41As such,
11:42she referred to Simpson
11:43as that woman in letters.
11:45When Edward and Simpson
11:46married in 1937,
11:47no one from his side
11:49of the family was there
11:50and reportedly,
11:51George didn't speak
11:52to his brother again.
11:53It was a romance
11:54that rocked the empire
11:55but it thrilled the world
11:56and every step
11:57of their honeymoon
11:58received full play
11:59in newspapers
12:00around the globe.
12:0125 years later,
12:03they are still
12:03constant travelers
12:04and they have returned
12:06many times
12:06to the scene
12:07of their Venetian honeymoon.
12:08Henry IV of France
12:10and Margaret of Valois.
12:11I am being forced
12:13to marry our cousin,
12:14Henry.
12:16Mother arranged it
12:16with Sister Edith.
12:18No,
12:18no.
12:21No,
12:21you will not
12:22because I will not allow it
12:23and I am king.
12:25For years,
12:26the French wars of religion
12:27between the Catholics
12:28and Protestants,
12:29also known as Huguenots,
12:30had been going on.
12:31To achieve peace,
12:32Catherine de' Medici
12:33set up the marriage
12:34between her daughter,
12:35Margaret,
12:35and Henry
12:36who would later
12:36become France's king.
12:38However,
12:38months before,
12:39Henry's mother,
12:40Jeanne,
12:40suddenly died,
12:41making Henry
12:42the king of Navarre.
12:43Allegedly,
12:44she was killed
12:45on Catherine's orders.
12:46As the date approached,
12:47both sides of the family
12:49were tense
12:49with some not wanting peace.
12:51We stand to gain
12:52a great deal
12:53from this offer
12:54and I happen to like Margot
12:57so I think
12:57it's worth the risk.
12:58Henry,
13:00you have learned
13:01an enormous amount
13:03in a short time
13:04but you do not know
13:06Catherine like we do.
13:07Days after the wedding,
13:09Catherine allegedly
13:10set up the assassination
13:10of one of the Huguenot leaders,
13:12Gaspard de Coligny,
13:13which failed.
13:14This sparked
13:15the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
13:17where thousands of Huguenots
13:18were slain,
13:19many of whom were influential
13:20and had arrived in Paris
13:22for the wedding.
13:30Are there any other
13:31historical weddings
13:32that their families
13:33were against
13:34that we missed
13:34from the video?
13:35Let us know
13:36in the comments.
13:38The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
13:40The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
13:40is a production of the U.S.
13:40The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
13:40is a production of the U.S.
13:41The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
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