Princess Diana and King Charles were distantly related (Image: Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
The late Princess Diana may have married into the Royal Family in 1981 when she exchanged vows with the now King Charles, but it turns out she may actually have been “more royal” than her prince was. While the marriage between Lady Diana Spencer and the then Prince Charles did not last long, it did give Diana the famous title of the Princess of Wales - a title she held up until her tragic 1997 death.
However, while many may assume the King - as a member of the British Royal Family - was more “royal” than his first wife, this is reportedly not the case. From an aristocratic background, Diana was believed to have been very distantly related to Charles and certain royals herself.
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While Charles, now 76, descended from centuries of royalty, Diana’s family connections made her more aristocratic.
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As a daughter of John Spencer, Earl Spencer, and the Hon. Mrs Frances Shand Kydd, Diana’s Spencer relatives can be tracked back to the late 15th century.
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The Spencer family have links to monarchs such as Henry VIII and King George III, and can also trace their ancestors back to two of the illegitimate children of King Charles II - Henry Fitzroy (b. 1663) and Charles Lennox (b. 1672) - who are distant relatives.
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The Spencers also have connections to King James II and Mary, Queen of Scots. Diana was a distant cousin of Charles because they were both descendants of King Henry VII’s daughter, Margaret Tudor.
With Diana related to English monarchy, the late princess had more English royal blood in her veins than Charles does.
The couple married in 1981 but later divorced (Image: Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
This is because Charles, who is now King Charles III, has some German ancestors as a result of the death of Queen Anne in 1714.
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Queen Anne’s death meant that her nearest living eligible relative became King George I, who became King of England despite being German.
This started the House of Hanover, which then eventually led to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert.
The family name was then changed to Windsor in 1917 as a result of anti-German sentiment during World War I. With Charles being descended from generations of German nobility and British monarchs with strong German ties, the late Diana had more English royal connections than King Charles himself does.
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