An American Princess Bride

I away thought I knew just about all of the American Royal Brides, or at least those that got the title Princess added to their name. However, a few months ago I came across a Wikipedia entry for one Clara Ward, who had married into a Belgium princely family in the late 1800's. I had never heard of her, but the entry made her sound fascinating. To quote Lady Caroline Lamb (Who said the following about Lord Bryon) Clara seemed "Mad, bad, and dangerous to know." Imbedded in the entry was a  throw away line about the "first" American Princess, Catherine Willis Gray, Princess Murat. Who? Who was she? "No, no", I said to myself, "Betsy Patterson Bonaparte was the first American Royal Bride." Even if she never held an official title, Betsy was first! A couple of weeks ago I came across a web site that had a whole section of American Royalty, including a couple of American  men who married Princesses. They had good ol' Betsy listed at number o...

In case you haven't heard, there is an upcoming royal wedding. And on this side of the pond there is plenty of excitement because an American woman is marrying into a royal family, and not just any royal family, but The Royal Family of The United Kingdom. Of course Megan Markel isn't the first American to marry European Royalty, she's not even the first American to marry into the House of Winsor, but her marriage to Prince Harry of Wales will mark a major milestone on many levels. It appears that Prince Harry's relations have welcomed her with open arms, but that hasn't always been the case. There have been a number of Trans-Atlantic matches in which the bride's new family refused to acknowledge her, or her new husband had to give up his succession rights to marry his American sweetheart.  When Prince Rainer of Monaco married the beautiful American Actress, Grace Kelly, many of the established royal houses of Europe "Lost" their invitations. Th...