Throughout history, many members of royal families and countless ordinary people have preferred the romantic company of those of the same sex. Acceptance has varied widely across eras and cultures. Being gay was often far easier if you were born into wealth and privilege. What follows are the stories of eight royals from around the world, complex and fascinating people who happened to be gay.
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, was the second son of King Louis XIII and inherited his sexual inclinations from his father. As a child, his mother called him "my little girl" and allowed him to wear women's clothing, a habit he kept throughout his life. He often attended masquerade balls dressed as a woman. He was known as a talented dancer. He was also an excellent military commander who was crowned with glory on several occasions.
His older brother, King Louis XIV, tolerated Philippe's open homosexuality and effeminate behavior because it made Philippe less of a political threat. Like his famous brother, the Sun King, Philippe had a large appetite for romance and sex. He had a few female mistresses, but generally preferred handsome young men.
At eighteen, the prince began a relationship with the seventeen-year-old Philippe Jules Mancini, who was said to be the first to corrupt him with "Italian vice," a common term at the time for homosexuality. The two maintained a close relationship for the rest of their lives.
At twenty-one, Philippe married his cousin, the English Princess Henrietta, daughter of King Charles I, who had been beheaded during the English Civil War. Henrietta and her family had fled to the French court to escape the Puritan regime. The marriage was not happy. The prince told Henrietta he could not love her without permission from his most important lover, Philippe de Lorraine. The three lived together in the royal palace in an atmosphere charged with tension.
Henrietta gave birth to three children, and rumors spread that King Louis was their real father. Both Philippe and Henrietta had a relationship with the legendary womanizer Armand de Gramont, who was notoriously narcissistic. But as the most attractive man at court, his many lovers overlooked that. Armand also seduced the king's mistress, Louise de La Vallière. Armand was exiled from court when he and Henrietta plotted out of jealousy to drive a wedge between Louise and the king.
In turn, Henrietta begged the king to exile Philippe's lover, Lorraine. The king granted her request, but within months Lorraine had returned to the prince's side. Princess Henrietta died suddenly at the age of twenty-six, and it was widely rumored at the time that Lorraine had poisoned her. However, an autopsy revealed she died of inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
Several princesses were approached to become Philippe's second wife, but after the treatment Henrietta had received, most refused. Eventually, the German Princess Elizabeth Charlotte agreed. She had plain features and a full figure, and Philippe remarked, "How will I be able to sleep with her?" She confided to a friend that the prince needed a rosary hung around his private parts in order to perform the act with her.
Despite Philippe's habit of stealing her clothes and jewels for himself and his mistresses, the couple ended up with a somewhat acceptable married life. Unlike the jealous plots of his first wife, Elizabeth was frank and unpretentious. She tolerated her husband's mistresses and was happy to leave his bed after the birth of their third child. She told one of his mistresses, "You are invited to devour the peas. I don't like them."
Philippe was the founder of the House of Orléans and made wise investments with his vast inheritance, securing his descendants' wealth for generations. His private art collection grew to become one of the most important in the world. His four surviving children made good political marriages across Europe, and most Catholic monarchs since then have been able to trace their lineage to him. Thus, the gay prince earned the title "Grandfather of Europe."
Duchess Hortense Mancini, Italian by birth, moved with her four sisters, famed for their beauty, to the court of Louis XIV in France after their father's death, hoping to secure useful marriages. Their maternal uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, took them under his patronage. The five Mancini sisters and their two charming Mazarin cousins were known in French court society as the "Mazarinettes."
Hortense received a marriage proposal from the exiled son of the beheaded English King Charles I, who was living at the French court with his family. However, her uncle rejected the offer because he did not believe the young man had any promising future. Cardinal Mazarin regretted his decision when the English royal family was restored and the young man was crowned King Charles II a few months later.
The cardinal offered a large dowry, but the new English king decided not to make Hortense his queen. Instead, the fifteen-year-old Hortense was married to Armand Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye, one of the richest men in Europe, but the couple lived a miserable marriage. Hortense was intelligent and sociable, while Armand was stingy, jealous, and mentally unstable.
He was strangely strict about sex. He broke all the sensitive parts of his statues and wiped them from his paintings, and even made his maidservants pull out their front teeth so they could not attract men's attention. Armand was so jealous of his wife's relationships with other men and women that he imprisoned her in a convent. She managed to escape with her brother's help.
Now destitute, she used her captivating charm to her advantage and began a relationship with the Duke of Savoy, who provided her with a home in the French Alps. There she hosted literary salons for writers, philosophers, and artists. But when the duke died, his widow threw Hortense into the street.
Without income or support, the English ambassador convinced her to travel to England and try to seduce her former lover, King Charles II. Around this time, she began wearing men's clothing. Hortense's dark beauty and elegant refinement captured the English king's heart. She displaced his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, who became extremely jealous.
But Hortense's romances soon led, ironically, to the cooling of desires of one of the most debauched kings in history. The English called her the "Italian Whore." Hortense's worst sin was her relationship with Charles's illegitimate daughter, seventeen-year-old Anne, Countess of Sussex. The two lovers fought a sword duel in St. James's Park wearing only nightgowns, and the public watched in astonishment.
After this scandal, Anne's husband sent her to a convent, where she continued to long for Hortense, lying in bed all day and kissing a miniature portrait of her lover. Anne was later taken out of the convent and seduced by her mother's lover, Ralph Montagu. King Charles dismissed Hortense, but they remained friends. She was provided with a country house and a pension. She was one of the first women whose memoirs were published in France.
Hortense also had a relationship with the writer and playwright Aphra Behn, who wrote of her: "Brilliant princess, how a woman of your sex loved you without bounds. And I assure you that among all your many conquests, you have never subdued a more faithful slave than this one." Hortense died at the age of fifty-three. Her extremely jealous husband, Armand, finally managed to control her after her death. He bought her body from her creditors and carried it with him all over France. She was eventually buried in the Mazarin family tomb.
Prince Henry of Prussia was the thirteenth of fourteen children and a grandson of George I of Great Britain. He was the younger brother of Frederick the Great. The siblings resembled each other in appearance, personality, and interest in the French arts and literature, as well as in men. But Henry hated living in his brother's shadow, and theirs was an explosive relationship.
Despite their disputes, Henry remained loyal throughout his brother's reign. He was appointed colonel at the age of fourteen. Although nepotism may have helped him rise through the ranks, he proved himself a capable and brilliant commander. He led forces in the Silesian Wars against Austria and did not lose a single battle in the Seven Years' War.
At thirty, Henry married Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel, but the couple had no children. Henry did not hide his romantic inclination toward men. His lovers included the actor Blainville and the French aristocrat Count La Roche-Aymon. A young soldier, Major Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst, exploited Henry's feelings to obtain a palace for himself, where he lived a life of extravagance and debauchery.
Later in life, Henry served as a statesman and proved his skill in that as well. He had the opportunity to become king of Poland, and Catherine the Great of Russia offered him the kingdom of Wallachia, but his brother the king prevented him both times. In post-Revolution America, there was a plan devised by members of the Continental Congress to invite Henry to become king of America.
Prussia was greatly admired by Americans as a common enemy of Great Britain, and monarchy was seen as a means of political stability for the emerging nation. However, neither Henry nor the majority of the American people had any interest in the idea, and the plan failed. After his brother's death, Henry was an important adviser to his nephew and grand-nephew, Frederick William II and III, during their successive reigns. Voltaire saw in Henry the embodiment of the philosopher king and a beacon of the Age of Reason. He lived to the age of seventy-six.
Princess Isabella of Parma was the daughter of Infante Philip of Spain and Louise Élisabeth, the eldest daughter of Louis XV of France. At eighteen, she married Archduke Joseph II of Austria, brother of the French Queen Marie Antoinette. Joseph later became Holy Roman Emperor. He was infatuated with his young bride, but the more affection he showered on her, the more she pulled away.
She preferred the company of her husband's sister, Archduchess Maria Christina. Isabella and Maria, nicknamed Mimi, were inseparable at court and were compared to the legendary lovers Orpheus and Eurydice. The two young women shared a love of music and the arts and exchanged about 200 letters. Maria was a talented artist. This is a painting she made of herself.
She had a happy and cheerful nature, while Isabella expressed her hatred of the court's pomp and ceremony and longed for a more sensual life. Isabella was very afraid of pregnancy, and given the risks of childbirth at the time, her fears were not unfounded. As much as Isabella preferred to avoid her husband, she had a duty to produce an heir to the throne.
A year after their marriage, she became pregnant, and after a difficult pregnancy and birth, she gave birth to a daughter named Maria Theresa. Isabella fell into a depression and was terrified of becoming pregnant again, but Joseph, who was infatuated and inexperienced, failed to sympathize with his wife. She went through two more pregnancies, but both ended in miscarriage and more grief and sorrow.
At the age of twenty-two, while six months pregnant with her fourth child, Isabella contracted smallpox. She went into early labor and gave birth to a stillborn daughter. A week later, Isabella succumbed to the disease and followed her daughter in death. Joseph was heartbroken, and although he married again, he lived an unhappy relationship with his second wife and had no children with her. Mimi, Isabella's beloved, who also felt dizzy, later married the couple's mutual friend, Prince Albert of Saxony.
Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria was a member of the Habsburg family. His brothers were Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Ludwig, nicknamed "Luzi-Wuzi," was a spoiled young man and served as the "black sheep" of his powerful family. He pursued a military career as was expected of him, but he had no interest in politics.
He preferred collecting art and hosting evenings at his palace for his colorful friends. He was open about his homosexuality and his inclination to wear clothing of the opposite sex. His family tried many times to arrange political marriages for him. His brother Maximilian tried to marry him to Princess Isabel, daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. His mother tried to arrange his marriage to Duchess Sophie Charlotte of Bavaria, but Ludwig evaded all marriage plans.
He became involved in a brawl at the central baths in Vienna, and that was the last straw for his brother the emperor, who exiled him from the capital. Ludwig spent the rest of his days at Schloss Klessheim Palace near Salzburg, where he was charitable and a patron of the arts and continued to hold lavish parties. He lived to the age of seventy-six.
Duchess Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo was the only daughter of Joaquín Álvarez, Duke of Medina Sidonia, one of the most important noble families in Spain, which was granted its hereditary title in 1445. At nineteen, her father died and Luisa became the twenty-first Duchess of Medina Sidonia. That same year, she married the nobleman José Leoncio González de Gregorio y Martí.
Luisa gave birth to three children, fulfilling her role in the hereditary line. Three years after their marriage, in 1958, the unhappy couple separated, though they remained legally married. Unlike most aristocrats, Luisa was outspoken and controversial. She earned the nickname "The Red Duchess" because of her association with the secret Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. She opposed the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and was imprisoned by the regime in the 1960s.
She was also a historian and managed her family's vast archive of historical documents. The Casa de Medina Sidonia archive is considered one of the most important collections in Europe. She published numerous research papers, including her findings that the Americas may have been explored by Moroccan sailors long before Columbus.
In the 1980s, Luisa began a relationship with her secretary, Liliana Maria Dahlmann. Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain in 2005, and Luisa finally had the chance to divorce her long-estranged husband. In 2008, on her deathbed, Luisa married her old love Liliana in a civil ceremony. Luisa died eleven hours after the wedding. As her legal widow, Liliana now holds the title of Dowager Duchess. She also inherited the presidency of the family archive, which Luisa had feared her children would sell after inheriting it. Her children continue to fight legal battles over the estate, estimated at about 47 million euros.
Lord Ivar Mountbatten is the great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and a cousin of her husband, Prince Philip. Ivar knew from a young age that he was bisexual. He attended a private boarding school in England and a college in Vermont. At thirty-one, he married Penelope Anne Vere Thompson, and the couple had three daughters: Ella, Alexandra, and Louise.
Ivar said of his marriage: "Penny was aware before our marriage that my attraction included both sexes. She was understanding and I will always be grateful to her." Ivar and Penelope divorced amicably after seventeen years of marriage. Ivar is particularly close to the queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, and is the godfather of his daughter, Lady Louise Windsor.
In 2016, Ivar publicly announced that he was in a relationship with flight attendant James Coyle, whom he met at a ski resort. In 2018, the two married at the Mountbatten estate in Bridwell Park. Ivar was escorted down the aisle and handed to his new husband by his ex-wife. The couple were celebrated with "Pol Roger" champagne, Churchill's favorite, and chose a selection of layered cheeses instead of a wedding cake. He is the first member of the British royal family to publicly announce his homosexuality and marry someone of the same sex.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil was born in 1965 and is the heir to the Maharaja of Rajpipla in India. In 1971, the Indian government abolished recognition of all maharajas and stopped their annual pensions. The family converted the "Raj Bhawan" palace into a tourist resort and film location. The family remains prominent despite its diminished status.
In 1991, Manvendra married Princess Chandrika Kumari in a traditional ceremony. He said of the marriage: "I thought everything would be fine, that with a wife I would have children and become normal. I never knew, and no one ever told me, that I was gay, that this in itself is normal and will not change, and that it is not a disease. I feel very sorry for destroying Chandrika's life. I feel guilty, but I simply did not know what was better than that."
The marriage was never consummated, and both parties were unhappy in the relationship. Chandrika filed for divorce after a year, and Manvendra refused many other marriage offers. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 2002. He told his psychiatrist to tell his parents he was gay. They accepted it but said that no one should ever know.
In 2006, Manvendra met a sympathetic journalist and decided to publicly announce his homosexuality. He said: "All these years I hid my sexual orientation from my parents, my family, and people. I never liked it, and I wanted to face the truth. When I announced my identity and gave an interview to a friendly journalist, my life changed completely. Now people accept me."
Manvendra's announcement made headlines and received mixed reactions. Effigies representing the prince were burned in Rajpipla and his family disowned him. In 2007, he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and explained: "I knew they would never accept me for who I am, but I also knew I could no longer live a lie. I wanted to reveal my identity because I became involved in rights activism and felt it was no longer right to live in hiding."
Manvendra founded the Lakshya Trust, which serves LGBT and HIV-affected communities in India. Manvendra is also the editor of the Indian gay magazine "Fun." He has opened the fifteen acres of his palace grounds to shelter the most vulnerable LGBT people.