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Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau - The romantic Prince Friso gave up his rights to the Dutch throne for love. Friso and Mabel Wisse Smit met in Brussels and got married in 2004, despite the fact that she had been friends with the Dutch drug lord Klaas Bruinsma.

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Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau - Since they had not asked permission from parliament to get married, Friso and his descendants were excluded from the throne succession, and he lost membership to the Royal House as well as his title of Prince of the Netherlands.

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Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau - After giving up his title, Friso moved to London and started working in the financial sector. In 2012, while skiing in Austria, Friso was buried in an avalanche. He spent 18 months in a coma, and on August 12, 2013, he died of complications.

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Prince Louis of Luxembourg - Prince Louis of Luxembourg and Tessy Antony got married on September 26, 2006. By marrying a civilian woman, Louis had to give up his succession rights to the throne. His children with Tessy would also have no rights to the throne.

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Tessy Antony - After eleven years of marriage, Tessy and Louis put an end to it. The former princess lost her title of Princess Tessy of Luxembourg.

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Princess Mako of Akishino -

Japan's Princess Mako has married her college sweetheart Kei Komuro on October 26 2021, after a several-years-long engagement. To be fair, she had a lot to consider, as marrying him meant giving up her royal status. 

Under Japanese law, female imperial family members who marry "commoners" must forfeit their status, though the same doesn't apply to male members. Princess Mako also skipped the usual rites of a royal wedding, opting for a low-key affair, and turned down payment offered to royal females upon their departure from the family—making her the first in the history of the royal family to decline both, the BBC reports.

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Princess Mako of Akishino - In May 2017, the engagement of the Japanese Princess Mako was made public. She met Kei Komuro during her studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo.

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Princess Sayako - Sayako Kuroda, formerly known as Princess Nori, married Yoshiki Kuroda in 2005.

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Princess Sayako - Because Kuroda was a civilian, Sayako had to give up her title of princess and is officially no longer a member of the Imperial House of Japan. She is the only daughter of former Emperor Akihito and former Empress Michiko.

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Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya -

Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya of Thailand has not had an easy life. She too had to give up her royal title after marrying a non-royal, the American Peter Ladd Jensen.

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Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya - The couple had three children together but divorced in 1998. She then returned to Thailand, where fate tragically struck in 2004. Her son, Khun Bumi Jensen, was one of the fatal victims of the tsunami.

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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - When he officially became a British citizen on February 28, 1947, the late Duke of Edinburgh lost his rights to not one, but two thrones!

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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - Philip was born as the prince of both Greece and Denmark. He had spent some time in Scotland for his studies, which made his choice to distance himself from the two thrones easier when he married Princess Elizabeth—the late Queen.

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Infanta Cristina of Spain - Princess Cristina and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, were suspected of fraud and money laundering in 2013.

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Infanta Cristina of Spain - The investigation into tax fraud led her brother, King Felipe VI, to deprive her of the title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca.

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Infanta Cristina of Spain - Although she was found not guilty in 2017, her husband was sentenced to six years and three months.

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Prince Amedeo of Belgium - In July 2014, Prince Amedeo and Lili Rosboch said "I do" to each other. But because he did not seek permission from the king, Amedeo lost his rights to the throne.

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Prince Amedeo of Belgium - In 2015, King Philippe of Belgium retroactively approved their marriage. The prince is now in line for the Belgian throne again.

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Srirasmi Suwadee - Former Princess Srirasmi, ex-wife of the heir to the Thai throne, gave up her royal status at the request of her then husband, after allegations of corruption that involved her family.

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Srirasmi Suwadee - After her family was accused of a series of crimes, the then Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn—now King—separated from the former princess.

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Ayako Moriya - Ayako Moriya, formerly known as Princess Ayako of Takamado, lost her royal title on October 29, 2018 after her marriage to Kei Moriya.

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Ayako Moriya - Nowadays, she simply goes by Mrs. Kei Moriya.

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King Edward VIII - The scandal surrounding the abdication of King Edward VIII is probably one of the most infamous ever. When Edward was still a prince in the 1920s, he had several affairs with married women.

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King Edward VIII - After the death of his father, Edward became the new king on January 20, 1936. However, this did not last long. On December 11, 1936, he renounced the throne in order to marry the American Wallis Simpson, who had already been divorced twice.

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King Edward VIII - The former British Prime Minister gave him the choice: break his relationship with Simpson or renounce the throne. He chose the latter and married Simpson in 1937.

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Diana, Princess of Wales - After her divorce from Prince Charles, the big question was whether or not Princess Diana would retain her title. Although Queen Elizabeth was willing to let Diana retain her title, it was Prince Charles who insisted that she should give it up.

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Diana, Princess of Wales - Lady Di was eventually stripped of the title, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, and would from then on be known as Diana, Princess of Wales. She died on August 31, 1997 in Paris.

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Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - In January 2013, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced her abdication in favor of her son, Willem-Alexander.

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King Albert II of Belgium -

That same year, King Albert II also renounced the throne in favor of his son Philippe.

See also: Royals with surprising hidden talents

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