New ITV Documentary - Does your family tree connect back to British royalty?

[brigidmac]

I wouldn't want to be descended from royalty
Tho was interested that Richard thirds relatives descendants of his sister could be traced thru DNA

I'm not sure if previous comments were implying that current royalty may not be able to trace their own lineage very far back in English history
Would be great if one of the present royals took a DNA test
What rumours and truths would that reveal.?

Will DNA be included in this documentary ?

[Treetotal]

I would rather be connected to someone like William Wilberforce who was born in my home town, or someone from a modest background who made a difference to world. The Royals don't interest me. I I admire Rosa Parks, I had never heard of he until I saw a film about her. A famous explorer would be a good one too.
Carol

[Ruskie]

I wouldn’t mind if I was descended from royalty.

As long as I can find out a bit about them I don’t care who my ancestors were.

[Rena]

I wouldn't want to be descended from royalty
Tho was interested that Richard thirds relatives descendants of his sister could be traced thru DNA

I'm not sure if previous comments were implying that current royalty may not be able to trace their own lineage very far back in English history
Would be great if one of the present royals took a DNA test
What rumours and truths would that reveal.?

Will DNA be included in this documentary ?

I don't know if the Queen has had a DNA test, but Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,(gt nephew of Tzarina Alexandria) took a DNA test to compare with the DNA of skeletons found in Russia, which proved they were the skeletons of the Russian royal family.  When a woman appeared and said she was Princes Anastasia who had escaped being murdered; Philips's DNA didn't match hers.

As for any branch of my tree being connected to royalty, I have no idea as I haven't done any dna testing but I do know that one of my farming ancestors in Huntingdonshire left a "Lyon Horse" to his oldest son, but whether it was a Bowes-Lyon filly I don't know 

[Albufera32]

I wouldn't want to be descended from royalty
Tho was interested that Richard thirds relatives descendants of his sister could be traced thru DNA

I'm not sure if previous comments were implying that current royalty may not be able to trace their own lineage very far back in English history
Would be great if one of the present royals took a DNA test
What rumours and truths would that reveal.?

Will DNA be included in this documentary ?

I can't comment on what other's meant by their comments, but my point was that the often quoted line that Richard III was the last English King of England, which is based on the premise that Henry VI was Welsh through his Tudor descent (even though his claim to the throne was from the Plantagent Beaufort line), the Stewarts were Scottish (even though James I and VI's claim to the English throne can from his Tudor descent) and the Hanoverians were German (even though their claim to the UK throne depended on their descent from the Stewart line) is, put bluntly utter drivel. If the Tudors were Welsh, the Stewarts Scottish and the Hanoverians German, then by the same token the Plantagenet line were Norman and Angevin French, and even the Anglo-Saxons came from what would now be Germany.

 The descent of the UK Royal Family is about the best documented genealogical line you are ever likely to find. Which is precisely why, from a purely genealogical viewpoint, that is, wanting to trace your ancestry as far back as you can with real confidence, establishing a so called Gateway ancestor into the Royal Family is pure gold.

[a chesters]

In theory, OH can trace her line back to Henry II.

The problem that I have, in doing the tracing, is just how accurate are the records on which those how have "proved" the line, actually are

I have that line as a separate tree, not connected to the one I am fairly sure of.

[brigidmac]

I hope ErinCasting will feedback to producers that there is a desire to have programs about descendants of the good  ,brave ,clever ... ordinary folk .
The interest raised by this topic shows that a lot of us will probably watch the program whatever we think of royalty

Albu ..yes I thought your point was great .
Renu ..I'd forgotten about prince Phillip s DNA ...
As Albu said the royal paper trail is great ...tho doesn't allow for unknown illegitimacies which could turn some claims to thrown on their heads
Does anyone remember the program which traced "rightful King of England" to an ordinary bloke in Australia .can't remember which king they said couldn't have been conceived by his father because he was away at battle

[Sloe Gin]

I wouldn’t mind if I was descended from royalty.
As long as I can find out a bit about them I don’t care who my ancestors were.

Me too.  I'm always amused by the inverted snobbery that emerges whenever this subject comes up.

The descent of the UK Royal Family is about the best documented genealogical line you are ever likely to find. Which is precisely why, from a purely genealogical viewpoint, that is, wanting to trace your ancestry as far back as you can with real confidence, establishing a so called Gateway ancestor into the Royal Family is pure gold.

Indeed.  Illegitimacies aside, but that applies to any genealogical line.

[Rosezi]

I must say I enjoy finding royalty and nobility in my tree. I discovered that diplomat and poet  Sir Henry Wotton is my 12th great grandfather through my ancestors from Kent. He married Jane Throckmorton whose sister Elizabeth married sir Walter Raleigh. The whole Throckmorton line is chocker block with lords, ladies and knights. Plus when you have royalty/nobility connections you come across so much more documentation and fascinating history. But equally fascinating also are my "ordinary" ancestors who were heroes in their own right through hardship and bravery.  Not connected to any royalty, on my dad's side I recently discovered that the Canadian prime minster Justin Trudeau is my 5th cousin through our Sinclair connections in Caithness!