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Meghan, Harry and their son, Archie.WPA Pool/Getty Images
Everything that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry do captivates the entire world, but she is not the first American to marry into royalty.
Grace Kelly married the Prince of Monaco in 1956.
Edward VIII, the king of England, famously abdicated the throne to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson.
From Princess Grace to Queen Noor of Jordan, there is a long history of Americans marrying into the royal family of another country.
While Meghan Markle might be the most famous today, here are 15 other Americans who have paved the way to nobility.
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Grace Kelly married the Prince of Monaco, thus becoming the Princess of Monaco.
Kelly in 1956, one month before her wedding day.
Keystone/Getty Images
Marie-Chantal Miller became the Crown Princess of Greece after marrying the Crown Prince of Greece, despite Greece not having been a monarchy since 1973.
Marie-Chantal Miller.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
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Wallis Simpson married Edward VIII, the king of England — that is, until he decided to abdicate the throne for love.
Simpson was one of the first-ever divorcées to marry into a royal family.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Rita Hayworth married the son of a sultan, but it didn't last.
Hayworth in 1947, during her marriage to Orson Welles.
AP Images
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Christopher O'Neill married a Swedish princess, but he's still just Mr. Christopher O'Neill.
On their wedding day in 2013.
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Lee Radziwill, Jackie Kennedy's younger sister, married a Polish prince.
Lee Radziwill.
Reg Burkett/Getty Images
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Lisa Halaby married the King of Jordan, making her Queen Noor.
Lisa Halaby, aka Queen Noor.
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Ariana Austin married an Ethiopian prince she met at a club, Prince Joel Makonnen, the great-grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Joel Makonnen is the great-grandson of the last Ethiopian emperor.
Courtesy of Dotun Ayodeji
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Alexandra Miller married Prince Alexandre von Fürstenberg, but it isn't her family's first brush with royalty.
Alexandra Miller.
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Hope Cooke married the last King of Sikkim, the smallest kingdom in Asia.
Cooke trying on her wedding dress in 1963.
Anonymous/AP Images
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Kelly Rondestvedt became Her Highness Hereditary Princess Kelly of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha when she married a German prince.
Rondestvedt with her husband on their wedding day in 2009.
Julia Kellner/AP Images
Sarah Butler married the Crown Prince of Iraq, becoming Her Royal Highness Princess Sarah Zeid.
Her Royal Highness Princess Sarah Zeid.
Robin Marchant/Getty Images
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Kendra Spears married the great-grandson of a Sultan, whom she was introduced to by Naomi Campbell.
With her husband on their wedding day in 2013.
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Olivia Wilde married an Italian prince when she was only 19.
Now she's happily engaged to Jason Sudeikis.
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Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in May 2018.
Markle and her fiancé Prince Harry the day they announced their engagement.
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German Prince Casimir Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn married American model Alana Camille Bunte in a German castle in June 2019.
Prince Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and Alana Bunte in 2017.
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Luisa Beccaria