For Princess Alexandra of Leiningen, a stop on a recent drive marked the beginning of her road to happily ever after. Nearly three years into their relationship, Everett Kohl proposed to Queen Victoria's great-great-great-great granddaughter one morning this month as the couple drove from Vancouver to Whistler.
"Everett often pulls over at beautiful lookouts on our road trips, so when we stopped, I didn't think much of it at first. This time, however, was very special, as he asked me to marry him," the bride-to-be, 28, exclusively tells HELLO!.
© Instagram/Alexa Leiningen
"I was genuinely surprised, and having that moment together in such a beautiful, private setting made it all the more meaningful."
Everett proposed with a dazzling diamond ring featuring a large center stone. "My ring has many sentimental aspects to it," the princess, who goes by Alexa, shares. "Everett put a lot of effort into the design and I couldn't love it more."
The princess showed off the gorgeous ring in a photo with her fiancé, announcing their engagement on Instagram on October 13.
"I am feeling very excited about our engagement and the wedding ahead. I am also feeling incredibly grateful for the kind response we have received since sharing the news," Alexa says.
Proud mother of the bride-to-be, Deborah Cully, celebrated her daughter's engagement on Instagram, writing: "We are overjoyed to announce that our beautiful daughter, Alexa will be marrying the love of her life, Everett."
"Wishing this wonderful couple a life of love, laughter and happiness. Let the celebrations begin."
Alexandra is the youngest of Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen and his wife Deborah's three daughters. Her father, a descendant of Queen Victoria and Tzar Alexander II of Russia, is the son of Prince Karl of Leiningen and Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria. Prince Hermann is also the great-grandson of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and King Louis Philippe I of France.
© Instagram/Alexa Leiningen
Alexa, who graduated from her parents' alma mater, Queen's University, in 2020, grew up in Canada, but would travel to Europe to visit her father's family.
"We would go to Germany and my dad's family lives there, so we got to visit [my relatives’] castle, which was a wonderful experience," Alexa told The Queen's Journal, a student-run newspaper at Queen's University, in 2019.
"We visited a place called Amorbach, which used to be in what was called the 'principality of Leiningen', and therefore still has the palace of Leiningen, castle of Leiningen, Forest of Leiningen and a lot of the restaurants have Leiningen in [their] name. I think that’s a part of my life where it clicked—like, 'This is different.'"
© Instagram/Alexa Leiningen
Royal title aside, Hermann has previously described his North American upbringing as "similar to that of most children."
"We were always told not to advertise our background but to be proud of it, and only to talk about it if someone asked. We never thought it was important for people to know," Hermann once told the Queen's Alumni Review. "In fact, there are many people I have known for many years that still don't know."
Though they've only just gotten engaged, Princess Alexandra and her husband-to-be are already looking forward to planning their big day and celebrating with loved ones.
"We're only just beginning to think about it, but I am really looking forward to the process," Alexa tells HELLO!. "It will be so special to bring our family and friends together to celebrate this next chapter of our lives."