The TV was so bad last night (have I said this before?), that I was just flicking through the channels when I found this show "So You Think You're Royal?", which of course was right up my street. A bit of genealogy, a bit of mystery, and of course the massive anti-climax when the people concerned realise that they're descended from mere peasantry after all. Such a disappointment for them, but of course they're on telly, so they have to appear to take it with good grace.
In this particular show, there were 2 cousins who thought they were descended from King Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwyn. Nell had 2 children by the King apparently, from whom are descended the Beauclair Dukes Of St.Albans. The family in this case had the unusual surname Sowerbutt and a Grandfather with a penchant for telling tall tales (proven by the fact that he managed to have 2 families on the go at the same time, without discovery).
Since the genealogical evidence was sketchy to say the least, some peerage expert suggested tracking down relatives to see if they had also heard the story of proposed royal descent, since the more of them who had been told the story, the more likely it would be that it was true. So off went the genealogist and tracked down 150 relatives (impressive researching). Sadly, apart from the 2 individuals in question, nobody else had ever heard the story, thereby proving that their Grandfather was a complete fibber.
I on the other hand, am obviously of Royal descent! Do I have proof? No, but my Grandmother's parents were Irish, so obviously I must have royal blood. At one time virtually everyone in Ireland had royal connections, and with surnames like Kane and Hagen (King Kane and King Hagen were sub-kings responsible for bearing the crown of the O'Neill High-King at his coronation) in the family, how can I fail not to be truly regal! I rest my case, no genealogy is required, and given that I've delved tentatively into the Irish records before, I would say little or no chance of finding any!
