star-crossed lover

A star-crossed lover is someone whose romantic relationship is doomed by fate or circumstance.

The term comes from Shakespeare's description of Romeo and Juliet, whose love was thwarted by forces beyond their control—feuding families, bad timing, tragic misunderstanding.

Star-crossed implies that the stars themselves (destiny) have aligned against the couple: They were star-crossed lovers from the start, kept apart by war and distance.

The phrase usually appears in the plural, referring to the pair rather than an individual.