The following is from FindMyPast.com:
New prince or princess shares ancestry with Beyoncé, Brangelina and Hilary Duff offspring
LOS ANGELES (July 8, 2013) – As the world waits with bated breath for the birth of the heir to the British throne, findmypast.com, an international leader in online family history, has uncovered His or Her Royal Highness’ celebrity cousins.
Prince William and Kate Middleton may expect petitions for palace play dates from the following celebrity royalty whose children are related to the Royal Baby:
11th cousins: Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s three children Violet Anne, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth and Samuel Garner Affleck. With lines connecting through Affleck and the Royal Baby’s grandmother, Princess Diana, this is the closest celebrity/royal relationship reported by findmypast.com.
22nd cousin: Uma Thurman and Arpad Busson’s daughter, Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson.
20th cousins twice removed: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard’s two daughters, Ramona and Gloria Ray Sarsgaard.
19th cousin once removed: Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie’s son Luca Cruz Comrie. Duff used to top the list of celebrities most closely related to the Queen as her 18th cousin. The Queen and Duff can both trace their ancestry to King Edward III.
23rd cousin twice removed: Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter. Blue Ivy’s relation to the Queen comes through French royal heritage.
27th cousins: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s biological brood, including daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. Shiloh is related to the royal family through both parents, although Pitt has more royal ties than Jolie.
26th cousins thrice removed: Celine Dion and Rene Angelil’s three kids, Rene-Charles, Eddy and Nelson Angelil.
“While not surprising, the closest connection unearthed among Hollywood’s babies comes from a connection to the late Princess Diana, the royal baby’s grandmother,” said D. Joshua Taylor, findmypast.com’s lead genealogist. “Diana’s ancestry includes a number of early New England families, which means a large number of Americans will find a closer kinship with the heir to the throne than to the current Queen. Therefore, you don’t have to be a celebrity to trace your ancestry to the royal family. Millions of Americans are related to royalty and their family tree is just waiting to be discovered.”
The people most likely to be related to the royal family can trace their ancestry to England or New England, particularly Massachusetts and Connecticut. Although some Southerners will also find their lineage leads to the monarchy.
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Findmypast.com, owned by brightsolid, provides the most complete and relevant records in online family history and genealogy research. Findmypast members worldwide share our passion, and rely on our expertise to help them discover the roots to their family tree. Our accurate search tools and data featuring unique and core U.S., English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Australian and New Zealand records dating back as far as the 7th century, help both professional and budding genealogists find their past. Findmypast.com works closely with the genealogy community, including local libraries, archives, societies, and other organizations from around the world, to preserve, digitize and provide access to historical records and genealogical publications. To learn more, visit www.findmypast.com, the findmypast.com blog, Facebook or Twitter.
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Methodology
Using published research from a variety of sources, including the work of Gary Boyd Roberts (http://www.notablekin.org) and Leo van de Pas (http://www.genealogics.org) considered by many to be the leading authorities on royal descents, findmypast.com analyzed the ancestry of each celebrity through a computer genealogy database program.
Findmypast.com also looked at the full known ancestry of Queen Elizabeth II to identify where her Majesty’s lineage intersected with each celebrity. From there, the team examined connections into the ancestry of Catherine Middleton and Diana, Princess of Wales. Finally a computer program was used to calculate their relationship.
As genealogical research can be unpredictable, the known descents of each celebrity are still subject to further research and discovery.
Ben Affleck is of Edward I Longshanks and King James of Scotland line like Princess Diana.