They met by chance in a night club, today the American became the wife of the Ethiopian prince (Photo)

An American woman became an African princess last month when she married a member of Ethiopia's royal family — after meeting her future husband in a nightclub.

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 a Washington nightclub.

Makonnen said that from the moment she met him, she told him she wanted to meet Austin.

"Not even five minutes later, I said, 'You're going to be my girlfriend,'" he recounts.

While Makonnen didn't immediately tell Austin about his family, the truth about his heritage came out when they started taking the relationship seriously, and that's something that fascinates Austin.

She seems excited to be part of a family that traces its roots to the Bible's King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

The two were married last month in an Ethiopian Orthodox wedding involving 13 priests in Temple Hills, Maryland.

The bride and groom wore crowns and hats at the ceremony, making them look like real "kings". /Telegraph/