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- Royals Who Gave Up Their Titles, Abdicated Thrones or Stepped Back from Duties for Love, Scandal and More</p>
<p>Alex Apatoff, Katie LabovitzJuly 15, 2025 at 3:00 AM</p>
<p>Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ; Steffi Loos/Getty</p>
<p>Wallis, Duchess of Windsor and the Duke of Windsor outside Government House in Nassau, the Bahamas, circa 1942 ; Queen Margrethe II of Denmark attends a state banquet in Bellevue Palace on November 10, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.</p>
<p>If a history class at school hadn't already covered it, anyone who watched the first season of Netflix's The Crown learned that Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI, was on the throne at the start of the series because his older brother — King Edward VIII — had abdicated in December 1936 to marry American Wallis Simpson in 1937.</p>
<p>However, Edward stepping down from being monarch, choosing love over duty to the crown, was far from the first instance of a royal renouncing their title. Still, it was a notable moment in British and world history in the 20th century.</p>
<p>Ahead, discover several other modern royals who stepped back from royal duties or gave up a title for romance, scandal or more personal reasons.</p>
<p>The Duke and Duchess of Windsor</p>
<p>Topical Press Agency/Getty</p>
<p>The Duchess of Windsor (Wallis Simpson) and the Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII) on their wedding day in France on June 3, 1937.</p>
<p>King Edward VIII famously abdicated the British throne on Dec. 10, 1936, to marry American divorcée Simpson, paving the way for his younger brother to become king. Edward was on the throne for less than a year, having been named king on Jan. 20, 1936, when King George V died.</p>
<p>The day after his abdication papers were signed, Edward announced it on the radio, telling the people, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."</p>
<p>After stepping down, Edward was given the title Duke of Windsor by his then-King brother, George VI, and was allowed to keep his title of His Royal Highness.</p>
<p>Edward and Simpson married in France on June 3, 1937 — her second divorce had been finalized that May — and the ceremony was not attended by anyone in the royal family, per Brides. While Simpson did receive the title of Duchess of Windsor, she was not given the added Her Royal Highness before it — something that Edward reportedly wanted for her until his death in 1972. Simpson died 14 years later.</p>
<p>Meghan Markle and Prince Harry</p>
<p>Samir Hussein/WireImage</p>
<p>Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, speak at the Whistler Welcoming Ceremony during day two of the 2025 Invictus Games on Feb. 10, 2025, in Whistler, British Columbia.</p>
<p>On Jan. 8, 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their plan to step back as senior members of the British royal family.</p>
<p>The couple eventually moved from the U.K. to Canada, before settling down in southern California, where they are raising their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Harry remains fifth in line for the British throne behind his brother, Prince William and William's three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.</p>
<p>Princess Mako</p>
<p>SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI/AFP via Getty Images Kei Komuro and Princess Mako at the press conference for their engagement announcement at the Akasaka East Residence in Tokyo on Sept. 3, 2017.</p>
<p>Princess Mako, a niece of Japan's Emperor Naruhito (and whose younger brother is the likely next ruler of Japan), married her longtime love, Kei Komuro, in a simple ceremony at a registry office on Oct. 26, 2021. In marrying Komuro, who is not of royal descent, she gave up her royal title and everything that comes with it.</p>
<p>The couple declared their intent to marry in 2017. Still, negative public sentiment and her father's withheld approval (plus Komuro's enrollment in Fordham Law School in New York City) postponed the wedding until October 2021. Mako, who turned down the $1.3 million usually given by the government to royal women who lose their status through marriage, revealed that she had PTSD as a result of the constant negative attacks against her made by the media.</p>
<p>"I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused, and I am grateful for those ... who have continued to support me," she said at her wedding, according to the BBC. "For me, Kei is irreplaceable — marriage was a necessary choice for us."</p>
<p>Following the ceremony, Mako and Kormuo held a press conference, during which Mako said, "We will be starting a new life. I am sure we will encounter difficulties along the way. But just as we have until now, I want to continue joining forces [with Kei] and walking together side by side."</p>
<p>Mako and Komuro moved to New York City in the fall of 2021, where she reportedly took a job assisting curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Komuro passed the N.Y. bar exam in October 2022 on his third attempt. The couple welcomed their first child in 2025, with Japan's Imperial Household Agency confirming the information on May 30.</p>
<p>Princess Märtha Louise</p>
<p>Shaman Durek/Instagram Princess Märta Louise of Norway and Shaman Durek in a photo posted on Instagram on June 2, 2019.</p>
<p>In August 2019, Princess Märta Louise of Norway agreed to stop using her princess designation "for her business activities" (but retained it while working in her official capacity as a royal) after the Norwegian royal family objected to the title of her "Princess and the Shaman" speaking tour with her American fiancé, "spiritual guide and gifted healer" Shaman Durek (a.k.a. Durek Verrett).</p>
<p>In November 2022, she went a step further, relinquishing all her royal patronages and stepping back from serving in a working role as a royal in order "to create a clearer dividing line between her business activities and her role as a member of the Royal Family," the palace said in a statement.</p>
<p>At that time, it was announced that Durek would not be receiving a title upon his marriage to Märta Louise.</p>
<p>"In the same way as Erling Lorentzen, Johan Martin Ferner and Ari Behn, Durek Verrett will become part of the Royal Family when they marry, but in line with tradition, he will not have any title or represent the Royal House," the court said in a statement, translated into English.</p>
<p>Märtha Louise and Durek were married in August 2024, an event attended by members of Norway's royal family, including the bride's parents, King Harald and Queen Sonja.</p>
<p>Diana, Princess of Wales</p>
<p>Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images Princess Diana attending the opening of the new Hong Kong Cultural Centre in November 1989.</p>
<p>Upon divorcing then-Prince Charles (now King Charles) in 1996, Princess Diana lost the official designation of Her Royal Highness, per the Los Angeles Times.</p>
<p>She did, however, retain an allowance, her apartment at Kensington Palace and the ability to use St. James' Palace to entertain, as well as certain royal privileges (like the use of the aircraft of the royal squadron).</p>
<p>It's unknown what Diana's role within the royal family would have been in the years to come. She died after a car accident on Aug. 31, 1997.</p>
<p>Prince Philip</p>
<p>Hulton Archive/Getty The first official picture after the announcement of the engagement of Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, the former Prince Philip of Greece, at Buckingham Palace, from July 10, 1947.</p>
<p>To become Duke of Edinburgh (and, more importantly, to marry the future Queen of England), Prince Philip had to renounce his Danish and Greek royal titles and become a naturalized British subject, adopting his maternal grandparents' last name of Mountbatten.</p>
<p>Prince Philip was born in Greece, was a prince of both Greece and Denmark and had been baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. He was baptized into the Church of England the month before his and then-Princess Elizabeth's wedding, which was held on Nov. 20, 1947.</p>
<p>Philip had been in the line of succession for both the Greek and Danish thrones, though he likely would have never ended up king of either country. He was never a king while married to the woman who became the Queen of England because, per Harper's Bazaar, "In British royalty, the wife of a king is called a queen consort, but the husband of a queen is called a prince consort, not a king consort."</p>
<p>The royal couple were married for 73 years. Prince Philip died at age 99 on April 9, 2021. Queen Elizabeth died the following year, at age 96, on Sept. 8.</p>
<p>The Swedish Royal Grandchildren</p>
<p>IBL/Shutterstock</p>
<p>The Swedish Royal Family, with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia in the center, photographed at Solliden on Öland, Sweden, in July 2021.</p>
<p>Five grandchildren of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were no longer members of the Swedish Royal House after their grandfather removed their titles of Their Royal Highnesses in August 2019. Four more grandchildren have been born since, with the latest — Princess Ines — arriving in February 2025.</p>
<p>All retained their titles of prince and princess, but these titles will become personal and any future spouses or children will not have a right to them. The purpose of the revocation was to cut back on the royal duties the children would be expected to perform.</p>
<p>In his 2019 Christmas speech, King Carl XVI Gustaf addressed why he had removed his grandkids' royal titles, saying, "It will hopefully be helpful when my grandchildren eventually carve out their own future. But, to that day, it is far away."</p>
<p>The decision does not pertain to Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar, the children of Crown Princess Victoria (the heir to Sweden's throne) and her husband, Prince Daniel. Unlike their cousins, both Estelle and Oscar will continue to be part of the royal house.</p>
<p>Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands</p>
<p>Michel Porro/Getty Mabel Wisse Smit and Prince Friso arrive at the City Hall for their wedding in Delft, the Netherlands, on April 24, 2004.</p>
<p>From birth, Dutch-born Prince Friso held the titles Prince of Orange-Nassau, Prince of the Netherlands and Jonkheer van Amsberg. Per the Royal House of the Netherlands, when he planned to marry commoner Mabel Wisse Smit, the couple knowingly didn't ask permission from parliament, which was required of them by the country's constitution.</p>
<p>As a result, Prince Friso was stripped of his title as Prince of the Netherlands in 2004 and was removed from the Dutch Royal line of succession. Unlike some other royals on this list, Prince Friso had been second in line to the throne after his older brother, Willem-Alexander. (There is a third brother, Prince Constantijn.) Their mother, Beatrix of the Netherlands — see below — was the Queen when Prince Friso was married, though not when he died. By then, his older brother was crowned King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.</p>
<p>Prince Friso was in a skiing accident in February 2012, getting buried under an avalanche, which led to brain damage and falling into a coma. He died at age 44 in August 2013 from complications from the accident, per Today.</p>
<p>Beatrix of the Netherlands</p>
<p>Tim Rooke/Shutterstock Princess Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands attend the state funeral service of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, London, on Sept. 19, 2022.</p>
<p>Now known as Princess Beatrix, having stepped down from being queen of the Netherlands, she reigned from 1980 until abdicating the throne to her eldest son, King Wilhem-Alexander, in 2013. Her middle son, Prince Friso, died later that same year from complications following a skiing accident. The youngest son, Prince Constantijn, is still a member of the Dutch Royal House.</p>
<p>This transfer of command is a family tradition: Beatrix's mother, Juliana of the Netherlands, was Queen from 1948 until her abdication in 1980 when Beatrix took over. Juliana became Queen when she did because her mother, Wilhelmina, was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, after which she stepped down so Juliana could reign.</p>
<p>In addition to being loved and respected by the people of the Netherlands (per BBC), Beatrix is friendly with other European royal families. A cousin of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, she's godmother to his eldest daughter/heir to the throne, Crown Princess Victoria. Beatrix was also friends with Queen Elizabeth II and a distant relation.</p>
<p>Princess Anne's Children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall</p>
<p>Antony Jones/Getty Siblings Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips attend the Tusk Ball 2022 at the Natural History Museum in honor of African conservation in London on May 19, 2022.</p>
<p>Due to her status as the only daughter to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Princess Anne's children — Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall — weren't guaranteed royal titles. However, they were offered courtesy titles by the Queen when they were born.</p>
<p>Anne and her then-husband Mark Phillips declined, stating they wanted their children to have as normal lives as possible.</p>
<p>"I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles," Princess Anne told Vanity Fair in 2020. "So I think that was probably the right thing to do."</p>
<p>In a 2015 interview with The Times, Zara said she felt "very lucky" not to have a title, as it allowed her more freedom than her cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry.</p>
<p>Peter works in business and participated in the funeral processions for both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth with his cousins. Zara is an accomplished equestrian, earning a silver medal as part of Great Britain's Eventing team at the 2012 Olympics in London.</p>
<p>Margrethe II of Denmark</p>
<p>Steffi Loos/Getty Images</p>
<p>Queen Margrethe II of Denmark attends in a state banquet in Bellevue Palace in Berlin on Nov. 10, 2021.</p>
<p>After reigning for more than half a century — the longest run for a Scandinavian monarch — Queen Margrethe II of Denmark stepped back so her son, now known as King Frederik X, could take over.</p>
<p>The announcement came on New Year's Eve 2023 that she would abdicate just two weeks later, alluding to health concerns being a major reason for the decision.</p>
<p>"In two weeks' time, I have been Queen of Denmark for 52 years. Such an amount will leave its mark on anybody — also on me! The time takes its toll, and the number of 'ailments' increases. One cannot undertake as much as one managed in the past," she said in the English translation of her speech.</p>
<p>In addition to the length of her historic reign, Queen Margrethe made history as being the first woman allowed to inherit the throne in Denmark — which she did from her father, King Frederik IX, in 1972 — because of the 1953 Act of Succession.</p>
<p>Princess Ayako</p>
<p>JIJI PRESS/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Kei Moriya and Princess Ayako arrive at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo for their wedding ceremony on Oct. 29, 2018.</p>
<p>In October 2018, the youngest daughter of the late Prince Takamado (a first cousin of former Emperor Akihito — see below) wed a commoner shipping executive. By doing this, Princess Ayako gave up her princess title and took the last name of her husband, Kei Moriya, becoming Ayako Moriya.</p>
<p>"How happy I am that so many people have celebrated [our wedding]. We want to make efforts to become a couple like my mother and father," she said at the time, per The Mainichi newspaper, adding that her father would have "rejoiced at my marriage."</p>
<p>Ayako is a second cousin of Princess Mako, also on this list.</p>
<p>Emperor Akihito of Japan</p>
<p>Jun Sato/Getty Emperor Akihito of Japan greets the public at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Dec. 23, 2014.</p>
<p>Emperor Akihito began his reign in January 1989 after the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito. Though Akihito is not the firstborn of the seven children in his family (he's fifth), he's the eldest male child, and Japan's current rules are that the line of succession only includes male relatives. Akihito abdicated in 2019, passing the throne to his eldest son, Emperor Naruhito.</p>
<p>Abdication is not a common occurrence in a hereditary monarchy, especially one as old as Japan's — according to the BBC, Akihito is the 125th emperor in his family's line, dating back 2,600-plus years. The last one before his in 2019 was nearly 200 years prior.</p>
<p>An exception was made for Akihito because he was opting to step down because of his health, as he had prostate cancer surgery in 2003 and a bypass operation on his heart in 2012. Per the BBC, he was "worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the State."</p>
<p>Ahead of his abdication, Akihito went to Japan's Ise Grand Shrine to perform a sacred ritual, the "Shinetsu no Gi." This religious ceremony confirms his resignation from the throne to the gods and triggers the succession process.</p>
<p>Prince Michael of Kent</p>
<p>John Downing/Getty Images Prince Michael of Kent and Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz on their wedding day in Vienna on June 30, 1978</p>
<p>To marry Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, a Catholic, Prince Michael of Kent — Queen Elizabeth II's cousin — had to forfeit his then 15th place in the line of succession due to the Act of Settlement 1701. When they married, Marie-Christine was henceforth known as Princess Michael of Kent. The couple would both use the style of His/Her Royal Highness ahead of their royal title.</p>
<p>Prince Michael of Kent was reinstated into the line of succession in 2015 after the passage of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013. He's now 53rd in line for the throne, with his three children after him (they had maintained their spot on the list since birth, as they are part of the Church of England).</p>
<p>Both Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Michael of Kent have had their fair share of controversy over the years, including alleged connections with President Putin and racism allegations for her.</p>
<p>Juan Carlos I of Spain</p>
<p>Carlos Alvarez/Getty King Juan Carlos I of Spain attends a gala dinner honoring Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, at The Royal palace in Madrid on Feb. 9, 2009.</p>
<p>King Juan Carlos I first became King of Spain in 1975, following the death of Francisco Franco. He held the position until 2014, when he willfully passed the torch, abdicating the throne to his only son, King Felipe VI.</p>
<p>Five years later, Juan Carlos, then 81, retired from public duties as a royal. He stepped down as king and then back in general, reportedly to avoid his son having to wait to take over as then-Prince Charles was while Queen Elizabeth was still ruling into her 90s.</p>
<p>In June 2020, it was announced that the former king was being investigated for alleged corruption involving $100 million in kickbacks for his part in a rail project in Saudi Arabia being handled by Spanish firms. Two months later, Juan Carlos sent word to his son that he was leaving the country, writing in part, "Now, guided by the conviction of providing the best service to the Spaniards, their institutions and you as King, I communicate to you my thoughtful decision to move, at this time, outside of Spain."</p>
<p>Multiple fraud investigations were dropped in March 2022 and Juan Carlos' first time back in Spain was two months later, during which he met up with his family, having not seen his wife (Queen Sofia) or King Felipe VI since his self-imposed exile.</p>
<p>Prince Andrew</p>
<p>JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty</p>
<p>Prince Andrew, Duke of York arrives at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, to attend the Easter Mattins Service, on March 31, 2024.</p>
<p>Prince Andrew, the third child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, announced his decision to resign from his royal duties in November 2019 in the wake of backlash to his BBC Newsnight interview surrounding his relationship with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.</p>
<p>"It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support," he said in a statement. "Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission."</p>
<p>Andrew is still the Duke of York, though Queen Elizabeth did strip him of his military titles and patronages — including His Royal Highness — in January 2022 after he attempted to have a sexual assault lawsuit against him thrown out. An out-of-court settlement was reached instead.</p>
<p>In unsealed documents from the Epstein Files in January 2025, Prince Andrew was alleged to have groped a woman's breast, according to a woman's 2016 deposition. A motion filed in the case in 2014, on behalf of an alleged victim of Epstein's identified only as Jane Doe #3 at the time (later revealed to be Virginia Giuffre), claimed that Jane Doe #3 "was forced to have sexual relations with [Prince Andrew] when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations."</p>
<p>Andrew is still in line for the British throne, presently eighth behind Princess Lilibet.</p>
<p>If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.</p>
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