History Main / SuddenlySuitableSuitor

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

* It is, however, played straight and subverted in ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', Briar Rose is told she can't marry whom she wants because she is a princess and betrothed. But it is subverted in that Prince Phillip is told that he can't marry a peasant girl because he is a prince and betrothed--however, he seems completely willing to marry a peasant girl anyway, and his father seems to be at a loss to stop him. Of course, it turns out to be a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.

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

* ''TheBelgariad'': Garion and Ce'Nedra (humorously inverted in that, once his parentage is known, it becomes an ArrangedMarriage...and they've been thrown together all along with the intent that they fall in love, because everybody else ''already knew they were betrothed'').
** Not exactly true. The people who knew his true identity can pretty much be counted using the fingers on one hand. Even his prophecy assigned shapeshifting guardian had no idea who he really was or what he was supposed to do.
*** Counting all the sorcerers, Polgara, and Asharak/Chamdar, that probably extends to the second hand.

* ZerothLawOfTropeExamples: In WilliamShakespeare's ''The Winter's Tale'', the young prince falls in love with a shepherdess who is eventually revealed to be the believed-dead princess of the neighboring kingdom. The subtext there, I remember, is that the prince could never have fallen in love with a real shepherdess, since she would've been vulgar and coarse; what he falls in love with are her inherent royal qualities shining through.

* In OscarWilde's play ''{{The Importance of Being Earnest}}'', Jack is forbidden to marry the woman he loves because he's an orphan who as a baby was left in a handbag at a railway station. At the end of the play it turns out his parents actually were of good standing, and left him by accident, thus making it acceptable for him to marry a high society lady. Probably a parody of this trope considering the silliness involved.
** With a side of ValuesDissonance: How do they know he's of appropriate social standing? He's the woman's [[KissingCousins cousin]].

* ''DragonQuestVIII'': The princess who was a horse throughout the game has to marry PrinceCharmless (literally) because of a political alliance between the two kingdoms. But wait! It appears the main character is [[ContrivedCoincidence Prince Charmless's long lost cousin.]] [[DeusExMachina What luck!]]
** He can hardly be called long lost. The main character was born in the hidden realm where the dragons live - only they knew who he really was. The royal family he belongs to had no idea he even existed.

* In GeneStrattonPorter's ''Freckles'', Angel would take him without such a background, but Freckles refuses. So she dug it up.

She loves him. He loves her. But they can never marry, because she's a princess, and he's not a suitable match for a [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]].

* Played with in ''ArrestedDevelopment''. George Michael finds out that [[spoiler: his beloved Maeby is [[NotBloodSiblings not biologically his cousin]]. His father tells him that she's still family and they can't have a relationship. Maeby wasn't too interested, anyways.]]

* In Stuart Pattison's version of ''{{Cinderella}}'', Cinders rejects PrinceCharmless in favour of Callum the stable boy. Who then turns out to be LostOrphanedRoyalty of a neighbouring kingdom.

** Subverted somewhat in that Cinderella's family was noble from the start, and as her father's only true heir, the only one legally entitled to inherit his entire estate -- her step-mother just didn't Cinderella to get everything while her own daughters only got dowries with a marriage.

** Subverted somewhat in that CInderella's family was noble from the start, and as her father's only true heir, the only one legally entitled to inherit his entire estate -- her step-mother just didn't Cinderella to get everything while her own daughters only got dowries with a marriage.

* A variant occurs in one of RobertEHoward's ''King Kull'' stories: the law forbids a certain young noble from marrying the girl he loves, because she's a slave. Even the King can't change the law, although he's thoroughly sympathetic to the lovers. And then the girl learns of a plot against Kull, and her lover rushes to the King's aid ... and Kull, at the end of the story, [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight smashes the tablet on which that law is inscribed]].

* In ''Reader and Raelynx'', by Sharon Shinn, Cammon, a common man, and Amalie, the princess, fall in love. They then subvert this trope by [[spoiler:persuading another noble to pretend Cammon is her bastard son to make him into this trope]].

* Subverted in first ''PrinceOfPersia''. The titular character marry the princess despite of not being prince... and then played straight in the sequel ''Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame'', when revealed that he was a prince all along (but they were married by this time already).

* Subverted in first PrinceOfPersia. The titular character marry the princess despite of not being prince... and then played straight in the sequel Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame, when revealed that he was a prince all along (but they were married by this time already).

-->''"I just found out. That's what this says. I'm an honest-to-God prince! Will you marry me?"''\\
-- '''Lone Starr''', ''{{Spaceballs}}''

* This is a plot point in the first two books of Christopher Stasheff's ''Wizard in Rhyme'' series. Complicated by the fact that the "divine right" to rule actually exists, as a talent for selecting the correct military/political decision for your country. But it has to be pointed out to the new queen that love and marriage are personal, even for royalty, and that in this case following her heart is not only good for her, but her country as well.

* Disney was very fond of this trope. In ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', Briar Rose is told she can't marry whom she wants because she is a princess and betrothed. Prince Phillip is told that he can't marry a peasant girl because he is a prince and betrothed. [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage Isn't it lucky that they were betrothed to each other? ]]
* Disney's ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' would probably not have got her prince (being a scullery maid and all) if his father did not demand that whole slipper test.

* In ''ComingToAmerica'', EddieMurphy plays an African prince who is arranged to marry a general's daughter, who has been groom from childhood to be the "perfect wife" (i.e. a complete airhead). He wishes for a woman who is more his intellectual equal and goes to New York to find one. He meets and falls in love with the daughter of a fast food restaurant owner. She falls for him as well, until the King (JamesEarlJones) arrives and explains her the situation. She tells the prince they're from two different worlds and can't marry him. He leaves with his parents back to Africa. His mother berates the king for messing with true love, but he replies that he can't violate tradition. She points out that he's the king and can do anything. The wedding day comes, and the prince meets his bride only to lift up the veil and see his love.

* In the SherlockHolmes story ''The Sign of the Four'', Watson falls in love with Holmes' latest client, Mary Morstan. Then she inherits a treasure worth a large sum of money, and Watson feels it would be improper for him to make his feelings known. Then the treasure is lost in the Thames, and Watson confesses his feelings. The two then got married.

* ''Island Princess'' Barbie film had this. OrSoIHeard.

* 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 on his younger brother George, father of actual Queen Elizabeth.

** Some historians suggest that the ''real'' reason that the government wasn't willing to change the rules and let King Edward marry Mrs Simpson and retain the throne was her sympathy towards the [[ThoseWackyNazis then-current German Administration]]. Whether anyone in England in those days would have known enough to see this as a major liability is a potentially contentious issue.