An American woman became an African princess last month when she married into the royal family of Ethiopia - after meeting her future husband at a modern day 'ball'. Ariana Austin, 33, married 35-year-old lawyer Joel Makonnen, a great-grandson of Haile Selassie I, the last emperor of Ethiopia, on September 9 in Maryland. The couple married 12 years after they first met on the dance floor of Washington, DC nightclub Pearl. Makonnen told the New York Times that he hit on his future bride and her friend using a cheesy pick-up line. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4985638/Woman-marries-Ethiopian-prince-met-nightclub.html#ixzz4w2GMdP1W Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
He did not reveal to her that he was a prince, It was only when they started dating seriously that he told her of his royal heritage just like in the movie Coming To America. 12 years after that first meeting, Ariana and Joel married in a lavish Ethiopian Orthodox Christian wedding with 13 priests, two crowns, and a pair of capes on 9 September. According to the Times, the wedding festivities, which took place in Maryland, involved a "marathon day of events that lasted from 11 a.m. until late in the evening, and took place within two states."
Prince Joel is the great-grandson of Haile Selassie I, Ethiopia's last emperor. 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.
Haile Selassie was the 225th and last in the line of King of the Kings of Ethiopia, ruling the east African country for 40 years until he was overthrown in 1974. The royal family traces its roots back to the Biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
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