Three's A Crowd

Love triangles are delicious to read about, but less fun to live through. That's why we've collected 20 of the most scandalous, blood-soaked, and influential love triangles in history for your enjoyment. When powerful people fall in love, there are often deadly consequences.

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1. Cleoptra, Marc Antony & Octavia

Everyone knows the Cleopatra/Marc Antony/Julius Caesar love triangle, but things only got messier once Caesar was out of the picture. Not only did Antony abandon his wife for Cleopatra, but he got the whole family involved. Antony's brother-in-law, Octavian was also his political rival, and he was not quiet about the slight that was done to his sister, Octavia.

Courier-Gazette, McKinney, TX Photo from 20th Century Fox, producer of the film. on Wikimedia

2. Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham & Mick Fleetwood

Half the spots on this list could easily be taken up by various Fleetwood Mac configurations. However, we have to go with the classic: Stevie, Lindsay & Mick. Working and sleeping together must have been a nightmare for all involved, but we got the best break-up record of all time out of it.

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3. Eleanor Of Aquitaine, Henry II & Louis VII

Few couples in history were as poorly matched as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France. He was meek and pious; she was brilliant and bold. Eight weeks after their divorce, Eleanor married the king of England, Henry II, who more than matched her temperament.

Frederick Sandys on Wikimedia

4. Eleanor Of Aquitaine, Henry II & Rosamund Clifford

If you thought you'd seen the last of Eleanor and Henry, you were wrong. While Eleanor was pregnant, Henry began an affair with Rosamund Clifford, the most beautiful woman in England. Eleanor refused to be in the same building as Rosamund, and an oft-repeated folktale claims she poisoned her rival.

Evelyn De Morgan on Wikimedia

5. Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley & Claire Claremont

You would think that our story starts with Percy Shelley abandoning his pregnant wife for a teenage Mary Wollstonecraft. It doesn't. Instead, we're skipping ahead to one drug-filled summer in 1816, when the Shelleys, Lord Byron, and Mary's stepsister, Claire Claremont, were all cooped up in Geneva. There were various triangulations.

John Opie on Wikimedia

6. Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds

Following her third husband's death, Elizabeth Taylor found comfort with her future fourth husband, Eddie Fisher. Fisher was already married to America's sweetheart, Debbie Reynolds, who he divorced to be with Taylor. Eventually, Taylor and Reynolds reconciled and were friends for the rest of their lives.

Studio publicity still on Wikimedia

7. Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton & Maria Reynolds

Anyone familiar with Hamilton (which he assume is most people) knows how this story goes, so we'll keep it brief. Having a devoted wife at home didn't prevent Alexander from having an affair with a woman 10 years his junior. Blackmailed by his lover's husband, Hamilton admitted his indiscretions in America's first sex scandal.

Vitold Muratov- скан и дигитализация. on Wikimedia

8. Gabrielle D'Estrées, Henry IV & Marguerite De Valois

The marriage between Henry IV of France and Marguerite de Valois was off to a rocky start when the pair were nearly lynched by a religious mob shortly after their wedding! Things only went downhill from there. As the couple had no children, they were granted an annulment, so Henry was free to marry his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées...unfortunately, she died before the wedding.

François-André Vincent on Wikimedia

9. Edward VII, Susan Vane-Tempest & Alexandra Of Denmark

Grieving her late husband, Lady Susan Vane-Tempest fell into the arms—and bed—of Edward VII, Prince of Wales. Not only was Edward already married to Alexandra of Denmark, but he was known throughout the country as a playboy. Vane-Tempest bore an illegitimate son, a secret she took to her grave. 

W. & D. Downey on Wikimedia

10. Rachel Donelson, Andrew Jackson & Lewis Robards

Andrew Jackson wasn't a man known for his patience, so it's no surprise he married Rachel Donelson four years before she was granted a divorce from her husband! The press had a field day with the bigamy scandal. While Jackson defended his wife's honor in duels, Rachel had a heart attack before she became First Lady.

Mathew Benjamin Brady on Wikimedia

11. Warren G. Harding, Florence Kling & Nan Britton

Warren G. Harding had several mistresses, but none so infamous as Nan Britton. Never mind that Harding was 31 years Britton's senior, or that he'd been with his wife longer than Britton had been alive. What began as a teenage crush spiraled out of control in America's first tell-all memoir.

Harris & Ewing on Wikimedia

12. Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White & Harry K. Thaw

This love triangle was a disaster from start to finish. Evelyn Nesbit was a teenage actress caught between a rock (Stanford White, who assaulted her) and a hard place (Harry K. Thaw, her violent husband). When Thaw found out that White "ruined" his wife, he took manners into his own hands—with a gun.

Gertrude Käsebier on Wikimedia

13. Louis XIV, Madame De Montespan & Maria Therese

The Sun King had five official royal mistresses in addition to his wife, Maria Therese. The most notorious mistress was Madame de Montespan, with whom he had six children. Unfortunately, Montespan fell out of the king's good graces when she became involved in the scandalous Affair of the Poisons.

Hyacinthe Rigaud on Wikimedia

14. George Harrison, Pattie Boyd & Eric Clapton

Another love triangle that gave us some great music. George Harrison and Eric Clapton were good friends as well as rivals over the same woman: Harrison's wife and muse, Pattie Boyd. As sword duels were out of fashion, the two musicians vied for Boyd's affection with a guitar duel—Clapton won.

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15. Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley & Amy Robsart

Elizabeth I may not have married, but there's significant evidence that she was in love with one of her courtiers, Robert Dudley. Dudley was already married, and Elizabeth was intensely jealous of his wife, Amy Robsart. When Robsart broke her neck falling down the stairs, suspicion was naturally cast upon her husband.

Attributed to William Segar / Attributed to George Gower / Formerly attributed to Nicholas Hilliard on Wikimedia

16. Lola Montez, Ludwig I & Therese Of Saxe- Hildburghausen

Before Edward VIII abdicated the throne of England for Wallis Simpson, Ludwig I abdicated the throne of Bavaria for Lola Montez. Montez was enormously unpopular, while Ludwig's wife, Theresa was beloved by the people. Forced by an angry mob to give up either his lover or his throne, Ludwig chose the latter.

Joseph Karl Stieler on Wikimedia

17. Pedro I, Constanza Manuel & Inês de Castro

Pedro I of Portugal wasn't the first king on this list to fall in love with one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting, and he won't be the last. Pedro took up with Inês de Castro while married to Constanza Manuel, and sought to make Inês his bride before Constanza's body was even cold! Pedro's father then had Inês assassinated; in retaliation, Pedro executed his lover's murderers and had her corpse proclaimed queen.

Ernesto Ferreira Condeixa on Wikimedia

18. Mary Stuart, Lord Darnley & James Hepburn

Mary, Queen of Scots was married three times, and each husband was more scandalous than the last. Her second husband, Lord Darnley, was vain, violent, and possibly having an affair with Mary's secretary (believed to be the father of her child too boot). Mary got him out of the way by blowing him up, then marrying his murderer.

François Clouet on Wikimedia

19. Horatio Nelson, Frances Nisbet & Emma Hamilton

The wife of a sailor wasn't an easy one, as Frances Nisbet well knew. Not only was her husband, war hero Horatio Nelson, often at sea, but he started a public affair with former courtesan Emma Hamilton. Hamilton even named her illegitimate daughter Horatia; she must have thought she was so slick!

Lemuel Francis Abbott on Wikimedia

20. Henry VIII, Catherine Of Aragon & Anne Boleyn

The one you've all been waiting for: the love triangle that created a new church. Dissatisfied with Catherine of Aragon's inability to provide a male heir, Henry VIII let his lecherous eye wander to one of her ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. When the Pope refused to grant an annulment, Henry created the Anglican church in response.

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