Royal blood: How celebrities from Ellen DeGeneres to Ralph Fiennes have royal relations
We may all love to lay a bit of claim the royal family, but there are some surprising celebrities who do have links to the Queen et al.
And while it would seem obvious that Meghan’s marrying into the royal family would bring in American ancestry, it’s actually Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who has the most US links.
Here are some surprising royal connections.
Prince Charles and Ralph Fiennes
According to the Financial Times, actor Ralph Fiennes is an eighth cousin of Prince Charles.
His full name is Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes and he is a distant relation of James II of Scotland, who ruled in the 1400s - as is the Prince of Wales.
Duchess of Cambridge and Guy Ritchie
According to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Kate is the sixth cousin of film director Guy Ritchie.
Both of them are related to David Martineau, who was a surgeon alive in the 1700s.
He attended her wedding to Prince William in 2011.
Duchess of Cambridge and Ellen DeGeneres
The society also traced Kate’s family history and found a link to Ellen DeGeneres, the TV presenter.
They said they are 14th cousins twice removed, sharing an ancestor named Sir Thomas Fairfax who was alive in the 1500s.
Read more: Charles and Camilla mark 15 years of marriage: Their love story
Kate also has a distant link to the First US president, George Washington. They share an ancestor in Sir William Gascoigne, who was alive in the 1400s.
Duchess of Sussex and Mookie Betts
Not so well known in the UK, Mookie Betts is a World Series winning baseball player, and a distant cousin of one of the newer members of the royal family.
He and Meghan, now the Duchess of Sussex, share relatives about 150 years back. Their great-great-grandfathers, Jacob Betts and Joseph Betts lived next door to each other, and then in 1920, Meghan’s great-great-aunt married Betts’ great-great-uncle making them cousins.
They met in 2018 and shared a hug.
Princes William and Harry and Mick Fleetwood
The princes are related to Mick Fleetwood, the drummer of Fleetwood Mac, through a family connection of Princess Diana’s.
According to The Mirror, Edward Lascelles was both her ninth great-grandfather and Fleetwood’s sixth great-grandfather.
That means the music legend is the sixth cousin three times removed of the second in line to the throne.
Princess Diana and Sarah Palin
The late Princess of Wales’ links go far and wide, including to former presidential candidates.
Diana and Sarah Palin, according to the Telegraph, share a common ancestry and are both descendants of John Strong and his wife Abigail Ford.
Read more: How the royals tackle parenting
Strong was born around 1605 and emigrated to the US.
Duchess of Cornwall and Madonna
The New England Historic Genealogical Society also unearthed some of Camilla’s interesting familial relations.
She is a distant cousin of Madonna, as they both descend from 17th century French-Canadian couple Madeleine Ernard and Zacharie Cloutier.
They are reported to be 10th cousins.
Duchess of Cornwall and Hillary Clinton
Another of Prince Charles’ wives with a political link, the New England Historic Genealogical Society claims Hillary Clinton is also related to Camilla.
According to the BBC, the pair are distant cousins.
Duchess of Cornwall and... lots of celebrities
Camilla’s French-Canadian ancestry is shared between many other household names, according to the MailOnline.
She’s also understood to be related to Justin Trudeau, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, and Shania Twain.
Cloutier, who emigrated to Canada in the 1600s, is a common link for most of them.
Duchess of Cornwall and her husband, Prince Charles
The heir apparent is understood to be related to his second wife, Camilla. They share an ancestor in Henry Cavendish, a philosopher who was alive in the 1700s.
According to the MailOnline, Charles is descended from his oldest daughter and Camilla from his youngest and they are ninth cousins.
They also have closer links, as Camilla’s great grandmother is Alice Keppel was the lover of Charles’ great-great-grandfather King Edward VII. But that’s not thought to have led to a genetic link.
The Queen and Johnny Depp
According to Hello!, the actor discovered he was a distant relative of the Queen on an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?
Some of Depp’s ancestors go up to Sir William Gascoigne, who was married to Margaret Percy and hailed from Yorkshire in the 15th century.
Margaret was a direct descendent of King Edward III, and the Queen is his great-granddaughter, 17 times over.
That makes them very distant cousins.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip
It’s not unusual for royals to marry relatives, and the Queen’s link with her husband might be one of the closest on the list.
The Queen and Philip are related through the Scandinavian royal family and Queen Victoria.
The Queen is a descendant of Victoria, who married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Victoria’s second daughter, Alice, went on eventually to be Prince Philip’s grandmother.
