Please note that we have only included royals from currently reigning royal families, those who actually reigned but were then exiled or exiled/mediatised royals who married a royal from a reigning family.
2010
Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma was the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne, and he was already divorced from his wife, Princess Irene of the Netherlands when he passed away at the age of 80 on 18 August 2010. Their four children are now incorporated into the Dutch nobility and his eldest son, Carlos is the current pretender.
Embed from Getty Images2011
Princess Antoinette of Monaco, Baroness de Massy
Princess Antoinette was the elder sister of Prince Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and aunt of Albert II, Prince of Monaco. She was married three times and had three children by her first marriage to Alexandre-Athenase Noghès. Shortly before this marriage, she was created Baroness de Massy. After planning to depose her own brother, she was estranged from the Princely Family for many years. She died at the age of 90 on 18 March 2011.
Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg
Princess Elisabeth was the daughter of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma. Her elder brother, Jean was Grand Duke of Luxembourg between 1964 until his abdication in 2000. Her nephew, Henri is the current reigning Grand Duke. Elisabeth married Franz, Duke of Hohenberg – a grandson of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne who was assassinated in 1914. They had two daughters together – Anita and Sophie. She was widowed in 1977, and she returned to live in Luxembourg. She suffered a stroke in 2010 and died on 22 November 2011 at the age of 88.
Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Born in 1925 as the 12th son of King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud went on to serve as defence minister. He was also appointed Crown Prince in 2005, a title he held until his death in 2011. He had 32 children by various wives.
Embed from Getty Images2012
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte was born a Swedish Prince – the fourth son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and his first wife Princess Margaret of Connaught. He lost his succession rights and royal title when he married Kerstin Wijkmark in 1946. In 1951, he was admitted into the Luxembourgish nobility with the title “Count of Wisborg.” He divorced Kerstin in 1987 and remarried the following year to Gunnila Wachtmeister af Johannishus. He had two adopted children from his first marriage. He died on 5 May 2012 at the age of aged 95.
Princess Ragnhild of Norway
Princess Ragnhild was the eldest child of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. She was never in the line of succession as Norway did not allow women to succeed at that time. However, at the time of her birth, she was 17th in the British line of succession – owing to her descent from Princess Maud of Wales, the youngest daughter of King Edward VII. In 1953, she became the first Norwegian royal to marry a commoner – Erling Lorentzen. She was downgraded from “Royal Highness” to “Highness,” and the couple settled in Brazil. They went on to have three children. She died in Brazil on 16 September 2012 at the age of 82. She was buried in Oslo.
King Norodom Sihanouk
King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia reigned from 1941 until 1955 and again from 1993 until 2004. He had 14 children by five different wives. He abdicated in 2004 in favour of his son, Norodom Sihamoni who has remained unmarried. He died in October 2012.
Nayef bin Abduk-Aziz Al Saud
Born in 1934 as the 23rd son of King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, Nayef bin Abduk-Aziz Al Saud went on to serve as Minister of the Interior. In 2011, he was appointed Crown Prince but he did not enjoy the title for very long – he died on 16 June 2012.
Prince Tomohito of Mikasa
Born in 1946 as the eldest son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa – he was a first cousin of the Emperor Emeritus Akihito. He married Nobuko Asō in 1980, and together, they had two daughters. He was first diagnosed with cancer in 1991 and was initially in remission. In 2008, the cancer had spread to the larynx, and he died of multiple organ failure in June 2012.
2013
Princess Lilian of Sweden
Born Lillian May Davies in the United Kingdom in 1915, Princess Lilian went on to become a much-loved member of the Swedish Royal Family. She had a relationship with Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland in 1943, but he faced the possibility of having to serve as regent for his nephew who was still a minor so he could not marry her – which at the time would have meant giving up his title. The couple lived together discretely for over 30 years. His nephew became King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1973 and – having married a commoner himself – approved of Bertil’s and Lilian’s marriage, and they were married in 1976. Lilian survived her husband for 13 years – dying on 10 March 2013 at the age of 97.
Count Christian of Rosenborg
Born Prince Christian to Denmark in 1942 as the son of Hereditary Prince Knud, he was high in the line of the Danish succession as his uncle King Frederick IX had only daughters who could not succeed him at the time. A change in the law in 1953 meant that his cousins were included in the line of succession. In 1971, he married Anne Dorte Maltoft-Nielsen and did not seek permission for this marriage. He renounced his rights to the throne and was demoted to Count of Rosenborg. He and Anne had three daughters together. He died on 21 May 2013.
Prince (Johan) Friso of Orange-Nassau
Perhaps the most shocking one of all was the death of Prince Friso in 2013. The younger brother of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands had married without permission in 2004 and subsequently lost his succession rights. He and his wife Mabel went on to have two daughters together. In 2011, while vacationing in Lech, Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche and suffered massive brain damage. He died of complications in August 2013 – never having fully regained consciousness. He was only 44-years-old.
2014
Queen Fabiola of the Belgians
Born in 1928 as Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, she married King Baudouin of the Belgians in 1960. The couple would have no surviving children together as all five of her pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Upon Baudouin’s death in 1993, he was succeeded by his younger brother, King Albert II (who abdicated in 2013). Fabiola reduced her royal duties but remained a popular member of the family. She died on 5 December 2014.
Yoshihito, Prince Katsura
Born in 1948 as the second son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, he received the title Prince Katsura and permission to start his own branch of the Imperial Family in 1988. Shortly after, he suffered a series of strokes and became paralysed from the waist down. He remained an active member of the Imperial Family but never married. On 8 June 2014, he suffered a massive heart attack and died. He was 66-years-old.
