Chelsea Clinton's 2010 wedding to Marc Mezvinsky was deemed the "social event of the season," with one attendant calling the newlyweds "our royalty." Here's how the high-profile couple went from childhood besties to husband and wife.
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00:00Chelsea Clinton's 2010 wedding to Mark Mezvinsky was deemed the social event of the season,
00:05with one attendant calling the newlyweds a royalty. Here's how the high-profile couple
00:09went from childhood besties to husband and wife.
00:13Details are scarce about when Chelsea Clinton and Mark Mezvinsky actually met for the first
00:17time. However, sources are clear that they've been friends since they were kids. 1993, it
00:21turns out, seems to have been a particularly pivotal year. Mark's mother, Marjorie, was
00:25sworn in as United States Congresswoman that year. It's also the year that Chelsea's father
00:30was sworn in as president. Bill and Marjorie turned out to be crucial political allies.
00:34She cast the decisive vote that led to the passage of his budget bill,
00:37which, according to Politico, led to her getting voted out of office the following year.
00:41And I said, and I will only be your last vote. I know how important this is."
00:45It seems, though, that the Clinton and Mezvinsky families remained friends. Sometime that year,
00:49both families attended a Democratic Party retreat in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
00:54That's likely where Chelsea and Mark met for the first time, according to numerous sources.
00:58By 1997, Chelsea's teenage years in the White House were coming to an end. This meant the
01:03time had come for her to choose somewhere to go to college. Naturally, there was much
01:06speculation about where she would end up. The news finally broke in April 1997,
01:11when CNN reported that Clinton had chosen Stanford University. President Clinton told
01:15reporters,
01:16"[She had wonderful choices. She made her own decision. Her mother and I are proud of her
01:20and support her."
01:21Quickly, though, the press noticed something about Chelsea's choice of school. Stanford
01:25was the same school attended by her old pal, Mark Mezvinsky. While speculation ran rampant
01:29that Chelsea chose Stanford to get closer to Mark, his mother quashed any rumors of romance.
01:34The former U.S. congresswoman told the Spokesman-Review,
01:36"...I think she's too smart for that. They're really good friends. Just dear friends."
01:41In the early 2000s, Mark's father, former Iowa Congressman Edward Mezvinsky,
01:45was brought up on charges related to financial crimes. Edward blamed his
01:49bad behavior on an anti-malaria drug he took for trips to Africa,
01:52which apparently led him to run a pyramid scheme, cheating friends and family members
01:56out of millions. However, U.S. District Judge Stuart Dalzell prevented Edward from claiming
02:01his actions were the result of poor mental health. He was ultimately sentenced to six
02:05and a half years in prison. Ultimately, Mark's friendship with Chelsea wound up being the
02:09matter of legal record. Prosecutor Robert Zosmer told The New York Times that Edward
02:13frequently bragged about his son's friendship to potential victims. He told the outlet,
02:17when he thought it would help, he would call and say,
02:19"...I'm spending the weekend with the Clintons."
02:21Sometime after Stanford, Mark and Chelsea reconnected, and this time,
02:25their friendship turned romantic. The couple first stepped out together in 2005. A few years later,
02:30as public attention once more turned to Chelsea amid her mother's campaign for president,
02:34The New York Times reported on her new relationship. The outlet spoke with
02:37friends who said the couple weren't afraid of public displays of affection,
02:40cuddling up at parties no matter who was watching. The outlet also noted that if
02:44Hillary Clinton were to win the presidency, a potential Clinton-slash-Mezvinsky wedding
02:48would have taken place under a Clinton White House. Chelsea was said to be trying to learn
02:52more about Mark's Jewish faith, even attending a Shabbat dinner at the home of a friend.
02:57Over Thanksgiving in 2009, Mark and Chelsea sent an email to friends and family,
03:01letting them know they'd gotten engaged. The couple tended to avoid publicity,
03:04but of course, the news broke. The following year, the couple weren't the only ones looking
03:09forward to the summer. Their wedding turned out to be the social event of the season.
03:12Before the ceremony, many of the details were kept securely under wraps. The New York Times
03:17reported that guests were only told the wedding would be somewhere within driving distance of
03:20New York City. That didn't stop Inside Edition from asking Mark's father for his thoughts.
03:25He answered,
03:25"[These are two wonderful human beings that have sensitivity about life and
03:29have a warm regard for family.]
03:31Even though Mark and Chelsea tried to keep details of their wedding private,
03:34there was significant public interest anyway. When Ryan Seacrest asked Bill Clinton about
03:39the impending nuptials on his radio show, the former president said,
03:42"'I always thought being her father was my most important job,
03:45so it's a big day for me. It's the biggest day in her life, probably.'"
03:49"'Mark and I are very excited.'"
03:50The wedding took place in Rhinebeck, New York, a picturesque town that's a short drive from
03:54Manhattan. Rhinebeck was overrun with well-wishers and onlookers, some of whom spoke with The New
03:58York Times about the ceremony. Chelsea's friend, Arlene Newman, told the newspaper,
04:02"'It's royalty. It's our royalty.'"
04:04Afterward, Bill and Hillary Clinton released a statement, saying,
04:08"...we could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life
04:11together."
04:12Because Mark is Jewish and Chelsea grew up Christian, the wedding featured a blending
04:16of traditions. They were married under a chuppah, and the groom wore a prayer shawl in addition to
04:20his yarmulke. Consequently, the marriage touched off discourse about growing acceptance of
04:24interfaith weddings. In an op-ed for HuffPost, rabbi and author Edmund Case wrote about the
04:28various ways Clinton and Mezvinsky might incorporate their religions in their marriage moving forward.
04:33He wrote,
04:34"...as so many others are proving, the struggles intermarried couples face can be great,
04:38but the rewards can be greater."
04:40Less than a year after they married, rumors swirled that Chelsea and Mark were already
04:44headed for a divorce. A source spoke with The National Enquirer and claimed that they'd argued
04:48over starting a family. The source told the outlet,
04:50"...Chelsea asked her mother and father if they could help her get an annulment.
04:54She's heartbroken, but she isn't afraid to end the marriage. She regrets now that she ever
04:58married Mark."
04:58Speculation kicked into overdrive when Mark set out on a snowboarding trip,
05:02leaving Clinton behind in New York. However, it all turned out to be much ado about nothing.
05:06A friend of the couple spoke with People and insisted,
05:09"...any report suggesting there is trouble in the marriage is absolutely false."
05:13For the rest of February 2011, Chelsea and Mark put in the work to make sure everyone
05:17knew they were still together. The Daily Mail noted that Chelsea wore her wedding ring prominently
05:21on a walk around New York City, and Us Weekly reported that the couple attended an Amphar
05:25gala together, looking very much in love.
05:28By the time 2014 rolled around, Chelsea and Mark had been married for only a few years
05:32and had already dealt with rampant speculation in the press about a possible divorce. However,
05:37they powered through it all, and that year, Clinton opened up about married life in an
05:41interview on Mondays with Marlowe. Both Chelsea and Mark had high-powered jobs,
05:45which meant they needed to work out a way to remain committed to one another,
05:48even though they weren't necessarily spending as much time together as they would've liked.
05:51Date nights, it turned out, became incredibly important to the couple.
05:55They insisted on at least one a week. Chelsea said on the show,
05:58"...sometimes that means there are weeks where we don't really see our friends,
06:01but we ensure that every week at least we have one date night."
06:04Furthermore, Chelsea also emphasized the importance of regular communication, saying,
06:08"...we ensure that if we're really tired one night, we don't talk about our days.
06:12That's okay. But we never have two days where we don't talk about our days."
06:15Their regular check-ins made sure both parties felt both supported and informed
06:19about what their partners were up to. Chelsea added,
06:21"...we do little things like that, that might sound manufactured, but that are really important
06:25to the discipline of maintaining strong communication and the bonds that are so
06:29important to each of us." Chelsea and Mark are parents to three children, two boys and a girl.
06:34Jasper was born in 2019, Aiden came along in 2016,
06:38and Charlotte was the firstborn child back in 2014.
06:40"...I'm deeply grateful for my life now. I love my life."
06:43Hillary Clinton has held many important positions, including senator and secretary of state,
06:47but when Charlotte's impending arrival was announced, she wrote on Ex,
06:50"...my most exciting title yet, grandmother-to-be."
06:53Bill Clinton and I are thrilled that Chelsea and Mark are expecting their first child.
06:57Chelsea has spoken about how important motherhood was to her,
07:00especially because she helped out on her mother's presidential campaign in 2016.
07:04She spoke with a blog called The Fifth Trimester and reflected that her experience of having
07:08children made her want to be involved in politics more than ever. Chelsea told the outlet,
07:12"...I didn't know that I could care any more intensely about politics until I became a
07:16parent and found that I could, and that did really surprise me. I just hope that someday
07:20my children will feel as much pride toward me as I feel for my mom."
07:23"...I'm just in awe of her strength and her grace."
07:26In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Chelsea gave an interview with People about how hard
07:31it was to parent kids while working from home. She said,
07:34"...lots of guilt and navigation, and just trying to do the best we can
07:37every day. And some days, the best is going to be better than others."
07:41With her first daughter's first birthday approaching, Chelsea spoke with People about
07:45life as a mom. She said she was loving it, and that being a mom made her reconsider many
07:49relationships in her life. She told the outlet,
07:51"...somehow, I love my husband even more. I love my parents even more. I think my love
07:55for Charlotte has just opened more space in my heart and my brain that I didn't even know
07:59was there."
08:00Chelsea did have one gripe, however. Her husband apparently avoided diaper duty.
08:04She insisted that her husband helped out in other ways, telling the magazine that his
08:08reluctance to change dirty diapers was the exception. In fact, she said it had become
08:12a running joke between them. She told People,
08:14"...he's so attentive. He's so engaged with her. Reading to her, helping her get dressed,
08:18getting her into her pajamas at night, helping give her a bath, everything else."
08:22Apparently, Mark wasn't particularly happy that his wife shared this information in the
08:26pages of People. Clinton appeared on Today shortly after the interview,
08:29and revealed that her husband had started to pitch in. She shared,
08:32"...he was really rather mortified that I shared that. So he's been changing lots of diapers in
08:35the last week. I didn't know that that would have the impact it would. If I did, I would
08:39have talked to people much earlier."
08:42As one might expect from the offspring of not one, but two famed political dynasties,
08:46Chelsea and Mark live quite a lavish lifestyle. Chelsea has worked for McKinsey, a consulting
08:51firm, and managed hedge funds at Avenue Capital Group. Mark, on the other hand,
08:54has worked in private equity. Presumably, this is all how they've been able to make
08:58some seriously impressive real estate moves. In 2013, the New York Post reported that the
09:03couple had purchased a four-bedroom, $10.5 million condo in a Madison Square Park area
09:08building called the Whitman. A source told the Post,
09:10"...it's great for them, because it is in a hot neighborhood, and it is very private.
09:14There aren't hundreds of neighbors, and there is great security."
09:16While Bill and Hillary toured the 5,000-square-foot apartment,
09:19they posed for pics with construction workers on site. Three years after they moved in together,
09:23the Post reported that they had listed Chelsea's former apartment on Fifth Avenue for $6 million.