Many genealogists are inspired to start their family tree research specifically because they hope to find confirmation that they are related to royalty. I’m not certain that this wish comes true for everyone. What is true is that Hilary Duff is related to Queen Elizabeth II.
It must be exciting to discover that you are related, however distantly, to someone who is royal. In the United States, we don’t have a “royal family”. Instead, the closest thing we have are celebrities. There are some commonalities between the two groups. Both have plenty of money. Both attract attention where ever they go. Both tend to marry someone else who is within their group (although some will, on occasion, marry a “commoner”).
Perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising to learn that there are some American celebrities who are related to Queen Elizabeth II. A genealogist named Josh Taylor helped to document the genealogical connections between several American celebrities and Queen Elizabeth II. At the top of the list, was Hilary Duff.
Hilary Duff may be best known for her role as Lizzie McGuire in a Disney television series called “Lizzie McGuire” that ran from 2001 to 2004. She wasn’t a “Disney Princess”, but even so, Hilary Duff can officially claim that she is the “most royal” of all American celebrities.
According to genealogist Josh Taylor, who helped document the connections between celebrities and Queen Elizabeth II for FindMyPast, Hilary Duff is the Queen’s 18th cousin. They share a common ancestor – Edward III. He was a King of England from 1327, (when he was fifteen years old), until his death in 1377 (at the age of 65).
There are other American celebrities who also made the list compiled for FindMyPast, and who are also distantly related to Queen Elizabeth II. Some of them include: Brooke Shields, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Douglas, Ellen DeGeneres, Beyonce, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Alec Baldwin.
Hillary Duff is the only celebrity in the list that is connected to Queen Elizabeth II through King Edward III. The rest are related either from English or French Kings.
Want to find out if you are related to royalty? There’s an app for that! It is called “Are You Related To The Queen?” . It is a Facebook app that you can get access to after you click “like” on the FindMyPast US Facebook page. Perhaps you are the “most royal” of all of your Facebook friends!
Image by Kalumba2009 on Flickr