If you are a fan of the British royal family, you might have wondered how far back their ancestry goes and whether they have any connections to famous historical figures. One of the most intriguing questions is whether Queen Elizabeth II, the current monarch, is related to William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England who invaded the island in 1066 and changed its history forever. The answer is yes, but the relationship is not very close.
Contents
According to Wikipedia, William the Conqueror was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. He had four sons and five daughters with his wife Matilda of Flanders, who was also his distant cousin. One of his sons was Henry I, who became king of England after his brother William II died in a hunting accident. Henry I had many children, but only two legitimate ones: Matilda, who was his designated heir, and William Adelin, who died in a shipwreck.
Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet, the count of Anjou, and gave birth to Henry II, who became king of England after a long civil war with her cousin Stephen. Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine and had eight children, including Richard I (the Lionheart) and John (Lackland). John succeeded his brother as king and had five children with his second wife Isabella of Angoulême. One of them was Henry III, who became king at the age of nine and reigned for 56 years.
Henry III married Eleanor of Provence and had nine children, including Edward I (Longshanks), who conquered Wales and Scotland. Edward I married Eleanor of Castile and had 16 children, including Edward II, who was deposed and murdered by his wife Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer. Edward II married Isabella of France and had four children, including Edward III, who claimed the throne of France and started the Hundred Years’ War.
Edward III married Philippa of Hainault and had 13 children, including John of Gaunt, who was the founder of the House of Lancaster. John of Gaunt married Blanche of Lancaster and had seven children, including Henry IV, who usurped the throne from his cousin Richard II. Henry IV married Mary de Bohun and had six children, including Henry V, who won the Battle of Agincourt against the French.
Henry V married Catherine of Valois and had one son, Henry VI, who was deposed twice by his cousin Edward IV from the House of York. Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou and had one son, Edward of Westminster, who was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury by Edward IV’s forces. Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville and had 10 children, including Edward V, who was declared illegitimate by his uncle Richard III and disappeared in the Tower of London along with his brother Richard.
Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field by Henry Tudor from the House of Lancaster, who claimed the throne as Henry VII. Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV, and united the two rival houses. They had four children who survived infancy: Arthur, Margaret, Henry VIII and Mary.
Henry VIII married six times and had three legitimate children: Mary I (Bloody Mary), Elizabeth I (the Virgin Queen) and Edward VI. Edward VI died young without heirs, Mary I died childless after a brief marriage to Philip II of Spain, and Elizabeth I never married or had children. The throne passed to James VI of Scotland, who was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII through his daughter Margaret.
James VI became James I of England and Ireland after Elizabeth’s death. He married Anne of Denmark and had seven children who survived infancy: Henry Frederick (who died before his father), Elizabeth (who married Frederick V of Bohemia), Charles I (who was executed by Oliver Cromwell), Robert (who died young), Mary (who married William II of Orange), Sophia (who married Ernest Augustus of Hanover) and Charles II (who restored the monarchy after Cromwell’s death).
Charles II had no legitimate children with his wife Catherine of Braganza but many illegitimate ones with various mistresses. One of them was James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, who led a rebellion against his uncle James II but was defeated and beheaded. James II was a Catholic king who faced opposition from his Protestant subjects. He had two daughters with his first wife Anne Hyde: Mary II (who married her cousin William III) and Anne (who married Prince George of Denmark). He also had a son with his second wife Mary of Modena: James Francis Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender), who tried to reclaim the throne but failed.
William III and Mary II ruled jointly until Mary’s death, then William ruled alone until his death. They had no children, so the throne passed to Mary’s sister Anne. Anne had 17 pregnancies but only one son who survived infancy: William, Duke of Gloucester, who died at the age of 11. After Anne’s death, the throne passed to her second cousin George I of Hanover, who was the son of Sophia and Ernest Augustus.
George I married Sophia Dorothea of Celle but divorced her after she had an affair. He had two children with her: George II and Sophia Dorothea (who married Frederick William I of Prussia). George II married Caroline of Ansbach and had eight children, including Frederick, Prince of Wales (who died before his father), George III (who lost the American colonies), William, Duke of Cumberland (who was known as the Butcher of Culloden), and Mary (who married Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel).
George III married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and had 15 children, including George IV (who married Caroline of Brunswick but hated her), Frederick, Duke of York (who was involved in a scandal with his mistress Mary Anne Clarke), William IV (who had 10 illegitimate children with his mistress Dorothea Jordan but none with his wife Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen), Charlotte (who died in childbirth after marrying Leopold I of Belgium), Edward, Duke of Kent (who was the father of Queen Victoria), and Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (who was the last British monarch to rule over Hanover).
Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and had nine children, including Edward VII (who married Alexandra of Denmark and had six children), Alice (who married Louis IV of Hesse and was the grandmother of Alexandra Feodorovna, the last empress of Russia), Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (who was the only British prince to become a foreign sovereign), Arthur, Duke of Connaught (who was the governor general of Canada), Leopold, Duke of Albany (who died from haemophilia), Beatrice (who married Henry of Battenberg and was the mother of Victoria Eugenie, the queen consort of Spain), and Helena (who married Christian of Schleswig-Holstein).
Edward VII married Alexandra of Denmark and had six children, including George V (who changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor during World War I), Louise (who married Alexander Duff, Duke of Fife), Victoria (who never married), Maud (who became the queen consort of Norway), Alexander John (who died shortly after birth), and Albert Victor (who died from influenza before he could marry Mary of Teck).
George V married Mary of Teck and had six children, including Edward VIII (who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson), George VI (who became king after his brother’s abdication and led the country through World War II), Mary (who married Henry Lascelles, Earl of Harewood), Henry, Duke of Gloucester (who was the governor general of Australia), George, Duke of Kent (who died in a plane crash during World War II), and John (who died from epilepsy at the age of 13).
George VI married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and had two daughters: Elizabeth II (the current monarch) and Margaret (who married Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon). Elizabeth II married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, who is a descendant of William the Conqueror through his mother Alice of Battenberg. They have four children: Charles, Prince of Wales (who married Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker Bowles), Anne, Princess Royal (who married Mark Phillips and Timothy Laurence), Andrew, Duke of York (who married Sarah Ferguson), and Edward, Earl of Wessex (who married Sophie Rhys-Jones).
How distant is the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and William the Conqueror?
According to Geni.com, Queen Elizabeth II is a 22nd great-granddaughter of William the Conqueror. This means that there are 23 generations between them. To put this in perspective, if each generation is assumed to be 25 years apart, then there are about 575 years between them. However, this is only one possible line of descent. There are many other ways that Queen Elizabeth II could be related to William the Conqueror through different branches of her family tree. In fact, some genealogists have estimated that millions of people living today are descendants of William the Conqueror.
Why is it important to know the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and William the Conqueror?
The relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and William the Conqueror is not only a matter of curiosity but also a reflection of history. It shows how the British monarchy has evolved over time and how it has been influenced by various dyn
