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Albert Einstein photo by Orren Jack Turner-.

10 Famous People who Married their Cousins

Cousin weddings have been common in many civilizations all over the world for a very long time. Various renowned people have wed their cousins, despite the fact that this kind of union has been frowned upon in some nations.

It’s noteworthy to note that most nations have laws that either forbid or restrict getting married to family members. Inbreeding and genetic abnormalities were linked by scientists and early sociologists as early as the nineteenth century.

However, this does not imply that people have always followed the recommendations of these sociologists and scientists or that they still do. For instance, it’s still acceptable to marry your first cousin in a number of U.S. states.

Additionally, as a matter of fact, many renowned couples had a family connection, and some of these celebrity unions are more recent than you might imagine. Even scientists have married their relatives, in addition to politicians and artists. Here are 10 famous people who married their cousins:

1. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein photo by Orren Jack Turner-.

One of the world’s smartest men Albert Einstein wed his second cousin on his father’s side and first cousin on his mother’s side.

Together, they spent their formative years’ summers in Munich before Albert’s family relocated to Milan when they were teenagers. Soon after, Elsa Einstein wed Max Lowenthal, a textile trader, and the two of them produced three children, two of whom lived into infancy.

After Elsa and Max eventually got divorced, she and her girls moved to Berlin to be closer to her parents. Her cousin Albert, who was at the time wed to his first wife, Mileva Maric, was reintroduced to her around this time.

Albert and Elsa fell in love with one another, and Albert divorced Mileva; he and Elsa got married in 1903 and the couple had two daughters Liesserl and Ilse, and a son Hans Albert.

2. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip photo by Titanic Belfast-.

Modern royalty is no exception to the sad tradition of the royal family intermarrying in order to maintain the blue blood. Did you know that Prince Phillip, the spouse of our beloved late Queen Elizabeth II, and she are related And not just once, but twice; they are third cousins through Queen Victoria and second cousins once removed through Christian IX of Denmark.

When Elizabeth was eight and Philip was thirteen in 1934, when they first met. They reconnected in 1939, and with the encouragement of others around him who could see the benefits of their union, they started communicating often.

It’s amazing how the entire family encouraged the 18-year-old kid to express his feelings for his cousin, who was 13 years old, via love letters. Apparently, it was successful because the pair wed in 1947, following King George’s directive that the ceremony is postponed until Elizabeth became twenty-one.

3. Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria photo by Alexander Bassano-.

 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert enjoyed one of the most devoted marriages of all the English and British kings and queens. Victoria was crowned little than a month after turning eighteen, making her one of the few reigning monarchs in the United Kingdom.

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was Victoria’s first cousin, and during her teenage period, her father and mother’s family were determined to get Victoria married.

Victoria disregarded Leopold despite the fact that this was really an attempt by Victoria and Albert’s uncle to control Victoria and, in turn, to rule the United Kingdom.

She did, however, fulfill her family’s decision by getting married to Albert, who she adored. Even though they had a few arguments at the beginning of their marriage, the pair genuinely loved one another.

Nine children were born to them during their twenty-one years of marriage. Victoria wore black mourning garments for the rest of her life and set out clothes for Albert every day in memory of him after he passed away at the comparatively young age of 42.

4. Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin photo by Herbert Rose Barraud-.

The creator of evolution, Charles Darwin, married his first cousin. Charles and his cousin Emma Wedgwood were close when they were younger; Emma backed him when her father first banned him from traveling on the Beagle, and Charles hurried home to break off Emma’s engagement to a family member who had been involved in a scandal.

Emma turned down multiple marriage proposals in favor of staying at home and taking care of her sister and mother, who were both bedridden.

She married Charles when she was thirty; curiously, the Reverend performing the service was their cousin. Charles was then twenty-nine years old and he had 10 children however three died as infants.

5. Rudy Giuliani

Although Rudy Giuliani married Regina Peruggi, who is his second cousin, he has tried to make the situation seem a little less awkward by stating that Regina is his third cousin.

Since they got divorced in 1980, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Intriguingly, the Catholic Church gave them an annulment because they had never been given papal permission to marry a second cousin in the first place.

Giuliani, as you are aware, later rose to the position of mayor of New York City, while Peruggi became the institution’s first female president. In addition, Giuliani had remarried twice while Peruggi never remarried.

6. Edgar Allan Poe 

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most well-known authors of his day, notable for both his gothic prose and his terrible, destitute demise. What few people know about him is that his beloved wife was none other than Virginia Clemm, his first cousin.

Their tale is peculiar and resembles something from one of Mr. Poe’s stories. Despite the fact that the marriage certificate stated her age as 21, they got married when she was 13 and he was 27.

Many people have speculated that Virginia’s cousin married her to prevent her and her remaining family from living in poverty because she was homeless for a large portion of her youth. At various stages during their marriage, she and Edgar did indeed house her family.

Whatever the motivations behind their marriage to her, they soon developed a complete devotion to one another. Virginia advised Edgar not to worry when she contracted tuberculosis because she would be his guardian angel in the afterlife. He drew inspiration from her passing for many of his works, notably Annabel Lee and Lenore.

7. H.G. Wells

Although H.G. Wells is best recognized for his amazing and prolific writing, not many people are aware of him. Isabel’s life is largely unknown; she was possibly born in 1865 or 1866, making her either 15 or 16 years old when they got married.

The pair was barely married for three years before divorcing so that H.G. could wed one of his students however they had no children. In addition to having two boys together, H.G. and his second wife had what appears to be a very progressive relationship because she allowed him to engage in numerous extramarital romances.

He claimed to love a number of the women with whom he had affairs, and he even fathered two illegitimate children, yet she and H.G. never seemed to have any marital issues.

8. Jerry Lee Lewis

The three things for which Jerry Lee Lewis is best known are his rock & roll, his piano prowess, and his union with Myra Gale Brown. Lewis’s career almost ended as a result of the marriage, which generated intense controversy.  

Myra Lee was only thirteen years old and was also Jerry Lee’s first cousin once removed. While Jerry Lee Lewis was on tour in the UK, the information was made public. Being twenty-two, this was Jerry Lee’s third marriage.

The reality could not be kept from the public, despite Lewis and his manager’s insistence that Myra was fifteen and not thirteen. Lewis’ tour was terminated after only three performances due to media reports calling him a cradle-snatcher and suggesting that police had visited his child bride.

In a well-known TV interview, Jerry Lee and Myra are seen rejecting allegations that they were treated with hostility, refusing to reveal their wedding date, and explaining their abrupt return to the US.

9. Henry VIII

In several different ways, Henry VIII was linked to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. They were not just brother and sister-in-law, but also third cousins once removed. Many people, including Catherine, believed that her marriage to Henry’s older brother Arthur, who passed away from illness as a youngster, had never been fully consummated.

Henry started to believe that God was punishing him for taking his brother’s wife when they were unable to have a son. However, not all of Henry VIII’s wives were related to him by blood, including Catherine. Henry’s sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr, was also his third cousin once removed.

Anne of Cleves and Jane Seymour were fifth cousins, and first cousins Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were fifth cousins once removed from Henry. It makes sense why Henry struggled to conceive.

10. Martin Van Buren

Hannah Hoes, the wife of Martin Van Buren, is mostly unknown because she passed away before he took office. Van Buren never mentioned his wife, not even to their kids, and he only briefly mentioned her in his memoirs, which many academics have found odd but have attributed to his grief at her death.

The fact that Hannah Van Buren and Martin were first cousins once removed is one of the few things we do know about her. The cousins were a year apart and were brought up together in the Dutch-established community of Kinderhook, New York.

They grew up together and eventually became childhood sweethearts. Early in their 20s, they got married, and during the course of their twelve-year union, they had five kids. Hannah passed away from tuberculosis at the age of 35. Martin was one of the few presidents who remain single while in office because he never remarried.