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October 15

royal ancestry

A crack on Twitter about royal inbreeding provokes my curiosity: who were the last common ancestors of the parents of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge? (I'm guessing they were much further back than those of Elizabeth and Philip, who are four generations from Victoria.) —Tamfang (talk) 06:09, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Googling the subject yielded this,[1] which says Charles and Diana were both descended from Henry VII. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:10, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

So are millions of other people, so that's pretty meaningless.[2].--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:15, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

"Diana is descended from not one, but two illegitimate children of King Charles II of England: Henry Fitzroy and Charles Lennox". [3] Charles's descent from Charles II is a bit tenuous due to the Glorious Revolution and the Act of Settlement 1701. Alansplodge (talk) 10:18, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

If Charles II had any legitimate children, all that fuss might not have happened. — Diana is also descended from Henrietta FitzJames, illegitimate daughter of Charles's brother! —Tamfang (talk) 03:41, 17 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Christian IX of Denmark (1818-1906) beats Victoria (1819-1901) by surviving her and being 1 generation closer on the groom's side (still 4 on wife's side). Though Victoria wins by birthdate and "how long they could've seen them grow up if they became and barely still are the oldest verifiable humans of their sex" (1938 or 1941 AD vs 1934) Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 15:22, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The common ancestor is James I… Diana via James’s son Charles I (and thus to Charles II) … Prince Charles via James’s daughter Sofia (and thence the Hanoverian line). Blueboar (talk) 13:08, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Almost - Sophia of Hanover was the daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, who was James I's daughter. Alansplodge (talk) 13:41, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I stand corrected… thanks. Blueboar (talk) 14:27, 15 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think that the conclusion must be that Charles and Diana were not related in any meaningful way. Alansplodge (talk) 11:39, 17 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think Diana would have agreed with you if you'd asked her towards the end of their marriage. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:45, 17 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]