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Royal blood: How celebrities from Ellen DeGeneres to Ralph Fiennes have royal relations

The Royal Family has some surprising celebrity links
The Royal Family has some surprising celebrity links

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

IVER HEATH, ENGLAND - JUNE 20: Prince Charles (R), Prince of Wales meets British actor Ralph Fiennes (L) and US Director Cary Joji Fukunaga as he tours the set of the 25th James Bond Film at Pinewood Studios on June 20, 2019 in Iver Heath, England. The Prince of Wales, Patron, The British Film Institute and Royal Patron, the Intelligence Services toured the set of the 25th James Bond Film to celebrate the contribution the franchise has made to the British film industry. (Photo by Niklas Halle'n - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Charles meeting Ralph Fiennes during a James Bond set tour. (Getty Images)

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

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 29:  British film director Guy Ritchie and Isabella Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe arrive in Westminster Abbey ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England. The marriage of the second in line to the British throne is to be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be attended by 1900 guests, including foreign Royal family members and heads of state. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world have also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the Royal Wedding. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth  - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Guy Ritchie at Catherine and William's wedding. (Getty Images)

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

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 03:  Ellen DeGeneres arrives at the Premiere Of Netflix's "Green Eggs And Ham" at Hollywood American Legion on November 3, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic)
Ellen DeGeneres shares an ancestor with the Duchess of Cambridge. (Getty Images)

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

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 29:  Meghan, Duchess of Sussex greets distant relative Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox while Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex looks on in the Red Sox clubhouse before game one of the London Series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium on Saturday, June 29, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB via Getty Images)
Meghan meeting her distant relative Mookie Betts. (Getty Images)

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

British musician Mick Fleetwood attends the 34th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclay's Center on March 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP)        (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Rock royalty... and real royalty? Mick Fleetwood is related to Princes William and Harry. (Getty Images)

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

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Former Governor Sarah Palin speaks during the "Climate Hustle" panel discussion at the Rayburn House Office Building on April 14, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Sarah Palin's link to the royals is surprising. (Getty Images)

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

US singer-songwriter Madonna poses arriving on the carpet to attend a special screening of the film "The Beatles Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years" in London on September 15, 2016. / AFP / Ben STANSALL        (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Madonna is reported to be Camilla's 10th cousin. (Getty Images)

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

BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 25: Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends a press conference of the movie "Hillary" during the 70th Berlinale International Film Festival on February 25, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
She may not have won the White House but she still has links with power. (Getty Images)

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

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 26: Shania Twain attends the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Being related to royalty probably would impress Shania Twain. (Getty Images)

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

PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 10: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attend the official commissioning ceremony of HMS Prince of Wales on December 10, 2019 in Portsmouth, England.  (Photo by Peter Nicholls - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Charles and Camilla's bloodline overlaps thanks to Henry Cavendish. (Getty Images)

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.

Read more: Family photos and keepsakes fill Camilla's office as royals work from home during coronavirus pandemic

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

BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 21: Johnny Depp poses at the "Minamata" premiere during the 70th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Friedrichstadt-Palast on February 21, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The actor Johnny Depp has a distant link to the royals. (Getty Images)

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

ASCOT, ENGLAND - JUNE 17:  Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive in an open carriage to attend day 2 of Royal Ascot on June 17, 2015 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage)
There's a distant link between the Queen and Prince Philip. (Getty Images)

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.

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