This Woman Married A Real-Life Prince She Met In A Nightclub
In my 30-something years of life, I have met a lot of interesting men in the club.
I've met doctors, hot Australian special forces troops, and even a guy still rocking a jheri curl - all gold everything, and diamond grills. But in all my club travels I have never met a prince of any kind - not a man named Prince, nor a real life prince. In fact, when it comes to men at the club, most of us usually just meet a headache.
But, for Ariana Austin, a Washington DC philanthropist, the club was the jumping off place of her real-life fairytale. Only this fairytale was straight out of Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America. Twelve years ago, one fateful night, Ariana met Joel Makonnen at a Washington DC-area club called Pearl.
When Prince Yoel approached his future wife, he introduced himself as "Joel." He told Ariana that she and her friend, Jami Ramberan, looked like a Bombay Sapphire ad. Not a very princely pick-up line, but he knew what he wanted and made it clear. "You're going to be my girlfriend," he said to her later that night.
Along the way the truth of their lineages came out. Joel was actually Prince Yoel, the 35-year-old great-grandson of Haile Selassie who was the last emperor of Ethiopia. Ariana, was no stranger to stateliness either. She was the granddaughter of the lord of Georgetown (the capital city of Guyana).
Ariana soon fell for Prince Yoel, and the couple spent their courtship keeping busy. They wrote on their wedding website,
From the streets of Adams Morgan to boulevards in Paris, from Howard to Harvard, holidays in Nice and Addis, we talked history and culture and law. We’ve always believed that when it came to our love — it was written — and we’re thrilled to experience the next chapter unfold.
Ariana told The New York Times,
“I think we both had this feeling that this was our destiny...But I felt like I had things that I had to do.”
The ceremony took place at the Debre Genet Medhane Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Temple Hills, Md and was complete with royal capes and crowns. As expected, the reception was just as lit. Complete with a photo booth, a candy table and plenty of Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye.
For those of us who side-eye our way through the club and assume every man within sight is an emotionally unavailable f-boy, here is a case study for the ages. Despite the setting (and his lackluster opening remarks), the man Ariana met at Pearl that evening in DC ended up being her actual prince-charming.
I can only imagine how many frogs this real-life Princess had to kiss before meeting her future spouse, but let the record show, that love - even the Disney princess kind of love - can find you anywhere.
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ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Crystal Renay Is Prioritizing Healing, Her Kids, And Her Coins Amid Divorce
Crystal Renay is reclaiming her time and her identity after dealing with heartbreak. The model was married to Ne-Yo for seven years and they share three young children together. However, after a cheating scandal that resulted in a baby outside of their relationship, Crystal decided to end her marriage to the “So Sick” singer. Now, she is focusing on her bag and her kids. She is co-owner of Johnny’s Chicken and Waffles, launching a lip kit line, and is back on TV starring in the new WE TV reality series Bold & Bougie.
But it wasn’t an easy road, especially with reality TV. From the beginning, Crystal and her castmates bumped heads due to misconceptions and alliances with her ex-husband’s former partner, Monyetta Shaw. However, the mother of three exclusively tells xoNecole that she doesn’t regret her decision to join the show.
Crystal Renay
Photo courtesy
“Honestly, being in that space, we had a– you know, when you're first getting to know people, sometimes it can be smooth, and sometimes it can be rocky,” she says. “In our case, it was a little bit rocky and just getting to know each other, and I like to call it growing pains. And I felt like we had a couple of moments, but all in all, like the experience was really good for me, and I would do it over again.”
Crystal describes herself as “career-oriented” and says she is in her selfish season because she is now prioritizing herself first. But she admits that she is still healing from her divorce. The reality TV star shares some tips for others who may be going through the same thing.
“I would definitely say pray, pray as much as you can. Try to take your emotions out of your reactions to things because it’s always going to be something that you don't like in the situation,” she says. “But we can't move off of emotion because 10 times out of 10, a few months later, you're not going to feel like that. So, I'm a firm believer in not doing things that I will regret later. So I would just say be patient with yourself and stay positive.”
While there may be an opportunity to find love again, that’s not Crystal’s focus at the moment. She is in the rebuilding phase of her life, emphasizing the importance of self-care, personal growth, and finding her own happiness. She has had her share of challenges, including dealing with negative emotions and the public's perception of her, but her priorities involve spending quality time with her children and running lucrative businesses.
“I would definitely say pray, pray as much as you can. Try to take your emotions out of your reactions to things because it’s always going to be something that you don't like in the situation.”
“With my kids, I'm very hands-on. I’m team mother with soccer kids, and they don't really make no goals because they like five years old, but I'm there cheering them on every week,” she jokes. “I want to travel, especially this summer, with my kids and take them somewhere internationally because they're at the age where they can handle a long flight. So, me just spending more time and more new experiences with my kids is my main focus with them and showing them all the love that I could possibly give them.”
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Photo courtesy of Crystal Renay