In Focus

Wanna marry a prince? 7 steps to find your royal

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-04-28 13:31

LONDON - Well forget kissing frogs and try playing tennis or putting your party shoes on.

Social network site Badoo (www.badoo.com) has come up with the "Seven Golden Rules" on how to find a prince, after conducting a study of 107 royal romances since World War II.

It said the best strategy is to work in the media or showbusiness, attend university -- ideally Cambridge, think sporty -- ideally tennis, get your party shoes on and target Europe, namely Monaco or Scandinavia.

"Until now, the only known strategy for meeting a prince has been to kiss lots of frogs," Lloyd Price, director of marketing at Badoo said. "We have produced the first practical strategy based on analysis of hard data."

As Middleton met Britain's Prince William while studying at St Andrews university, Badoo said university was the "new royal marriage market."

"Target a top university, since princes are more likely to attend one. Best of all, target Cambridge, the only university in Badoo's study to produce two royal romances," it said.

European princes are far more likely to romance both commoners and foreigners than are princes elsewhere, Badoo said.

"Only 6 percent of the European princes in Badoo's study romanced women who were fellow royals, compared to 26 percent of princes globally."

Parties are also key for finding a future royal spouse.

"Parties are the new frogs. The more you attend, the better your odds of meeting a prince," it said. "Of course, all parties are not equal. The best are those thrown by mutual friends."

You can also find your prince through sports: "Either playing or attending sport is a good way to meet princes, especially European ones.

"But some sports -- like polo, swimming or, best of all, tennis -- offer better prospects than others, such as, say, beach volleyball or darts."

You need not worry about not having royal blood -- some 71 percent of the women who romanced European princes were commoners rather than royals or aristocrats, Badoo said.

"What's more, there are more princes to go round than you think. There are still over 30 reigning royal families worldwide, plus assorted European aristocrats and ex-royals still entitled to call themselves 'prince'," it said.