See the American woman who becomes a princess after marrying Ethiopian prince she met in a nightclub

Ariana Austin, now 33, was on a night out with a friend when they were approached by Joel Makonnen in the Pearl nightclub.
Fairytales are not known for beginning in a Washington DC nightclub, but for this American woman it was where she met the Ethiopian prince who would go on to become her husband. 

“I said: ‘You guys look like an ad for Bombay Sapphire',” he told The New York Times about their first encounter.
“Not even five minutes later I said: 'You're going to be my girlfriend'.”
What he didn't reveal that night 12-years ago, was that plain old Joel was actually Prince Joel, the great-grandson of Haile Selassie I, Ethiopia's last emperor.

The pair married in a lavish Ethiopian Orthodox Christian wedding with 13 priests, two crowns and a pair of capes on 9 September.

But after the couple started dating seriously, Mr Makonnen, who works as a lawyer, eventually revealed his royal heritage.
Born in Rome, his parents Prince David Makonnen and Princess Adey Imru Makonnen, had been forced to live in exile after a communist coup in his homeland.

His father had escaped the bloodshed in his homeland because he was studying abroad at the time. The family subsequently settled in Switzerland.
Mr Makonnen is related to Haile Selassie I through the emperor’s second son Prince Makonnen.


Art's curator, Ms Austin told the newspaper it is an “unbeatable heritage and history” that “combines sheer black power and ancient Christian tradition”.

The royal family traces its roots back to the Biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.