History Main / SuddenlySuitableSuitor

** Well, not exactly. Jane finally gives in and agrees to marry Rochester when she realizes how in love they both are. Though she is still uncomfortable with all the finery, she makes a few deals with him about keeping her modesty and the plan the wedding. Things get called off though when [[spoiler: it is revealed that Rochester is ''already'' married. To a madwoman who still lives. Unable to marry him and refusing to be a mistress, Jane flees. When they meet again at the end of the book, Bertha Rochester has ''died'', making it morally and legally ok for Jane to wed him.]]
*** However, it's still strongly implied that she really was foolish to agree to marry him earlier, but has a much better shot at happiness with him once they are on more of an equal footing.

Maybe they're hiding it from each other, because "I can't allow myself to love someone like him"/"A princess could never love a guy like me". [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Maybe she'd like to run off with him, but can't because her people need her]]. Or maybe [[UnableToSupportAWife he just can't afford marriage]] -- at least in the eyes of her social circle. But their marriage is forbidden -- not by her parents, but by law or the rules of society. One or both parties may decide [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy they will sacrifice the relationship to make their beloved happy]].

* In ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'', [[spoiler:when Baldur starts to have a crush on the commoner Fiene, he suspects he would need to abandon the Riefenstahl heirship Bruno planned for him, as Bruno conditions it on Baldur marrying one of his younger daughters. And then it turns out Fiene's father [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal is Bruno's late older brother]][[note]]who died young after a lifelong SoapOperaDisease, so nobody expects him to have children.[[/note]]. Which should make her Suddenly Suited... [[SubvertedTrope but no]]. Since now she belongs to a branch more senior than Bruno's line, ''she's'' Bruno's new heir. [[HeirClubForMen The title of marquis will fall to her husband]], but in this case ''Baldur''[='=]s the suitor.]]

** His grand-nephew Prince Charles then ended up in a similar boat, in love with Camilla Parker Bowles. They both married others, then divorced, and (now that they have married each other with the Queen's blessing) there is still debate about what will happen when Charles takes the throne; some have suggested he should remove himself from the succession over this. After Elizabeth II's death, Charles does become King, with Camilla as Queen Consort.

* ''Island Princess'' Barbie film had this. She's actually the ''main character''. [[spoiler:Who turns out to be the missing daughter of [[MissingMom a queen]].]]

* Gender-swapped: The Duke and Duchess of Windsor. She was an American divorcee. He was the King of England. (And, as such, head of the Church of England, and forbidden from marrying a divorcee.) Solved by having him abdicate the throne in favor of his younger brother George, father of the present sovereign, Queen Elizabeth.

** His grand-nephew Prince Charles then ended up in a similar boat, in love with Camilla Parker Bowles. They both married others, then divorced, and (now that they have married each other with the Queen's blessing) there is still debate about what will happen when Charles takes the throne; some have suggested he should remove himself from the succession over this. The current plan seems to be that Charles will become King with Camilla as Princess rather than Queen Consort.

* In ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'', [[spoiler:when Baldur starts to have a crush on the commoner Fiene, he suspects he would need to abandon the Riefenstahl heirship Bruno planned for him, as Bruno conditions it on Baldur marrying one of his younger daughters. And then it turns out Fiene's father [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal is Bruno's late older brother]][[note]]who died a few months into adulthood after a lifelong SoapOperaDisease, so nobody expects him to have children.[[/note]]. Which should make her Suddenly Suited... [[SubvertedTrope but no]]. Since now she belongs to a branch more senior than Bruno's line, ''she's'' Bruno's new heir. [[HeirClubForMen The title of marquis will fall to her husband]], but in this case ''Baldur''[='=]s the suitor.]]

* In ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'', [[spoiler:when Baldur starts to have a crush on the commoner Fiene, he suspects he would need to abandon the Riefenstahl heirship Bruno planned for him, as Bruno conditions it on Baldur marrying one of his younger daughters. And then it turns out her father [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal is Bruno's late older brother]][[note]]who died a few months into adulthood after a lifelong SoapOperaDisease, so nobody expects him to have children.[[/note]]. Which should make her Suddenly Suited... [[SubvertedTrope but no]]. Since now she belongs to a branch more senior than Bruno's line, ''she's'' Bruno's new heir. [[HeirClubForMen The title of marquis will fall to her husband]], but in this case ''Baldur''[='=]s the suitor.]]

A common subversion is for the king to [[ForgotICouldChangeTheRules set aside the rule]], allowing the couple to marry after all.

* In ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'', [[spoiler:when Baldur starts to have a crush on the commoner Fiene, he suspected he would need to abandon the Riefenstahl heirship Bruno planned for him, as Bruno conditions it on Baldur marrying one of his younger sisters. And then it turns out her father [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal is Bruno's late older brother]][[note]]who died a few months into adulthood after a lifelong SoapOperaDisease, so nobody expects him to have children.[[/note]]. Which should make her Suddenly Suited... [[SubvertedTrope but no]]. Since now she belongs to a branch more senior than Bruno's line, ''she's'' Bruno's new heir. [[HeirClubForMen The title of marquis will fall to her husband]], but in this case ''Baldur''[='=]s the suitor.]]

* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' takes the trope to a parodical extreme, as befits the rest of the movie. Lone Starr discovers from Yogurt that he is a prince. So crashes Princess Vespa's planned wedding with Prince Valium, reveals his parentage, and proposes. She shoves her fiancé aside and marries Lone Starr on the spot. (Vespa's acceptance is made even easier since she learned from her father that Lone Starr didn't take the ludicrous reward he originally arranged for saving her from the Spaceballs.)

* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' takes the trope to a parodical extreme, as befits the rest of the movie. Lone Star discovers that he is a prince, crashes Princess Vespa's wedding, reveals his parentage, and proposes. She shoves her fiancé aside and marries Lone Star on the spot.

* In ''Manga/AnatoliaStory'', while Kail ideally can choose his own bride, the Senate is divided on whether or not they accept Yuri as his future wife. On one hand, she has the support of the public and has a good many victories on the battlefield to her name. On the other hand, she doesn't belong to any royal family and thus couldn't bring any valuable alliances to the table. [[spoiler:[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Nakia]] (the tiebreaking factor) finally agrees to give her blessing for the marriage on the sole condition that Yuri serve as Commander in Chief of the military and win at least one battle. While this is clearly meant to provide Nakia opportunities to [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident kill Yuri without suspicion]], Yuri does go on to win a battle and is permitted to marry Kail.]]

* A variation in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem Blazing Sword]]'': None of Priscilla's potential love interests can actually be with her thanks to the fact that she's a noblewoman and they aren't. There is, however, one exception: Erk the mage, who exploits his considerable talent for magic and his ties to Lord Pent, a Count of Etruria, to earn the peerage necessary to marry her.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** His grand-nephew Prince Charles then ended up in a similar boat, in love with Camilla Parker-Bowles. They both married others, then divorced, and (now that they have married each other with the Queen's blessing) there is still debate about what will happen when Charles takes the throne; some have suggested he should remove himself from the succession over this. The current plan seems to be that Charles will become King with Camilla as Princess rather than Queen Consort.

** His grand-nephew Prince Charles then ended up in a similar boat, in love with Camilla Parker-Bowles. They both married others, then divorced, and (now that they have married each other) there is still debate about what will happen when Charles takes the throne; some have suggested he should remove himself from the succession over this.

Differs from ParentalMarriageVeto in that the rule is bigger than the parents, and the suitor becomes suitable not by convincing the parents but by social or financial improvement. Expect spoilers afoot!

* In ''Literature/TheBlueCastle'', when Valancy marries Barney Snaith, the rest of the Stirling clan(except Cousin Georgiana) pretty much ignore the fact of her existence, until towards the end of the book, when it's revealed that her husband is actually [[spoiler:Bernard Redfern, son of millionaire and patent-medicine maker Doc Redfern.]]

* In ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:Jimmy is actually a billionaire, and more so, Muffy's stepson, and MORE SO, Miss Dorothy's brother! So Millie can marry for love and still end up with loads of dosh!]]

* In Creator/RudyardKipling's "Literature/TheThreeDecker", the "crew of missing heirs" turn out to be legitimate after all, when the "Wicked Nurse confessed."