Feel festive, but without all the chemicals
Famously exiled twice, the first time to the Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814 where he languished for nine months before escaping, Napoleon ended his days on remote Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean where he'd been banished in 1815 and where he died in 1821.
In 1654, Christina, Queen of Sweden abdicated the throne at the age of 27 and made a dash for Denmark where she chopped off her hair and changed into men's attire before heading for Rome to live a very masculine and unconventional lifestyle.
Free-spirited Caroline of Brunswick separated from her husband, King George IV, in 1796 shortly after the birth of their only child, Princess Charlotte. Thereafter she took off to live a scandalous life of exploration, moving first to Italy and then traveling extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Napoleon III was the last monarch to reign over France. His disastrous decision to declare war on Prussia, which ended in defeat for the French Army and the capture of Napoleon III himself, led to the disgraced monarch being exiled in England in 1871 along with his wife, Eugénie, their son, and their entourage.
A granddaughter of Alexander II, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna escaped the chaos of revolutionary Russia as a member of the displaced Romanov family to live briefly in Bucharest and then London before settling in Paris. She later emigrated to the United States, then moved to Argentina, before returning to Europe to end her days in Germany.
British monarch King George VIII abdicated the throne in 1936 so that he could marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. As the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the couple settled in France, infamously toured Nazi Germany, and then ended up in the Bahamas during the Second World War. Edward later spent the rest of his life in France.
In December 1967, King Constantine II of Greece was forced to flee the country after a military coup. A Greek republic referendum in 1973 ratified the abolition of the monarchy and in 1974 Constantine was dethroned. He made his permanent home in England before returning to Greece in 2013 as a private citizen with his wife, Anne-Marie. Incidentally, the former monarch is godfather to Prince William.
Manuel II ascended the Portuguese throne after his father, King Carlos I, and his elder brother, Luís Filipe, the Prince Royal, were assassinated in 1908 in Lisbon. His reign, however, was short, ending with the dissolution of the Portuguese monarchy during the 5 October 1910 revolution. Together with his family, he lived the rest of his life in Twickenham, near London.
The fate that befell Czar Nicholas II and his family is well documented. Having ruled Russia since 1894, he was forced to abdicate in 1917 amid increasingly revolutionary fervor, a move that effectively ended the Romanov dynasty's 300-year rule of the country. Denied political asylum by Britain and France, the royal family were imprisoned. The Romanovs were executed on July 17, 1918.
Germany's defeat in 1918 led to the abdication of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia. He relocated to Doorn in Holland, his home for the remainder of his life. His downfall ended the 300-year rule of the House of Hohenzollern.
The last king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III abdicated his throne in May 1946 after the country voted in favor of a republic. Reigning for nearly 46 years, Victor Emmanuel presided over the enabling of Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. He went into exile to Alexandria in Egypt, where he died and is buried.
Michael I of Romania enjoyed two spells as monarch, reigning from 1927 to 1930, and again from 1940 until his forced abdication in December 1947, when communists came to power. He chose exile in Switzerland. After the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist dictatorship in 1989, the former king was allowed to visit the country of his birth.
As King Simeon II, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha reigned over Bulgaria from 1943 to 1946. A referendum in favor of a republic and the abolition of the monarchy forced the royal family into exile in Spain. After the fall of communism in 1990, the former monarch returned to Bulgaria, formed his own political party, and in 2001 was elected prime minister. He's pictured in Mallorca, Spain, in 1965.
As the King of Nepal from 2001 to 2008, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev reigned over a turbulent period in Nepal's recent history. After the Nepalese Constituent Assembly declared the country a democratic republic and abolished the monarchy, Gyanendra stepped down and has since kept a low public profile.
Imprisoned following an uprising and forced to abdicate in July 1567 in favor of her one-year-old son after 25 years as Queen of Scotland, Mary fled south seeking the protection of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Instead, she was detained and spent nearly 19 years in custody before being executed on suspicion of involvement in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth.
Zog I of Albania had ruled his country since 1922, first as prime minister, then president, and finally as king. But in 1939 Italy invaded Albania and after Mussolini declared the country an Italian protectorate under King Victor Emmanuel III, Zog was forced to flee. He spent the rest of his days in exile, first in England and then in France.
Spain abolished its monarchy in 1931. In 1939, General Franco established himself as the country's head of state. Juan Carlos, the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last king of Spain before the abolition of the monarchy, was only crowned as Alfonso's successor in 1975, after Franco's death. In June 2014, Juan Carlos abdicated in favor of his son after becoming embroiled in a financial scandal. He is now living in self-exile from Spain.
Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last King of Afghanistan, reigned for 40 years as his country's monarch before being overthrown in the pro-Russian coup of 1973. He spent the next 29 years in exile in Italy, returning only after the fall of the Taliban government. He was given the title Father of the Nation, an honor he held until his death.
Portsmouth, a city on the south coast of England, became the unlikely home of Jamshid bin Abdullah and his family after the former royal and last reigning Sultan of Zanzibar was deposed in the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.
Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV, Marie de' Medici enjoyed all the trappings of royalty until her husband was assassinated on May 14, 1610. She was subsequently banished from France by her son (the future Louis XIII) and ended her days in the city of Cologne in the Holy Roman Empire.
King of Egypt and the Sudan, Farouk I was overthrown in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and forced to abdicate in favor of his infant son, Ahmed Fuad. Farouk and his family fled Egypt into exile in Italy. The following year his wife, the former Queen Narriman, left Farouk to return to Egypt.
Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, relinquished his throne when the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished in 1922, and the secular Republic of Turkey was created. He went into exile in Malta, later living on the Italian Riviera.
After Oliver Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, the vanquished monarch sought sanctuary in France, essentially exiled. Charles returned to England only after the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy, and reigned until his death.
King of France from 1814 to 1824, Louis XVIII spent 23 years in exile, variously in Prussia, England, and Russia and during the French Revolution, the First French Empire, and the Hundred Days War (March–July 1815).
Italy's last king was Umberto II. The only son among the five children of King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena, Umberto failed to succeed his father as king in 1944 as the country had already been declared a republic. Umberto II lived for 37 years in exile, in Cascais near Lisbon, and died in Geneva, having never again set foot in his native land.
Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Charles I was formally dethroned by the Austrian Parliament in 1919 after the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria (a country that briefly flourished after the First World War). Charles was exiled to Switzerland, but in 1921 relocated to the Portuguese island of Madeira.
George V of Hanover was the last King of Hanover. He was deposed after Prussia annexed the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866. Having fled to Austria, the king was unsuccessful in persuading the great powers of Europe to intervene in what became the Austro-Prussian War, and he went into exile in France. He is buried at Windsor Castle in England.
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 led to the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Already suffering from cancer, he died in exile in Egypt the following year.
Sources: (Library of Congress) (History Today) (Newsweek) (Vanity Fair)
Idris (pictured, center) reigned as the King of Libya from 1951 to 1969. While in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed by army officers led by Muammar Gaddafi. Idris and his Queen traveled to Greece and then went into exile in Egypt.
James II of England was also James VII of Scotland. He was the last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and, after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain in France.
Harry and Meghan's move to America and their desire to distance themselves from the British royal family has been dubbed "Megxile" by the tabloid press. But theirs is by no means a unique story. Over the centuries, kings, queens, emperors, and numerous other royals around the world have ended up in exile, either by choice, through force, or as a result of abdication.
Click through and take a look at the monarchs who took off.
A timeline of royals in exile
Exiled kings, queens, and other nobles
LIFESTYLE World
Harry and Meghan's move to America and their desire to distance themselves from the British royal family has been dubbed "Megxile" by the tabloid press. But theirs is by no means a unique story. Over the centuries, kings, queens, emperors, and numerous other royals around the world have ended up in exile, either by choice, through force, or as a result of abdication.
Click through and take a look at the monarchs who took off.