How Queen Camilla and King Charles are related and why royals married their cousins
Did you know that Kate Middleton was related to the late Princess Diana?If we read through the pages of history, we’ll find it wasn’t uncommon for members of the royal family to marry their relatives, but it’s something that isn’t followed in the modern world. However, it doesn’t mean the royals who coupled up in the past century are not somewhat related beyond marriage – which brings us to King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Royals marrying their cousins wasn’t frowned upon through the ages. Traditionally, it was seen as a way to strengthen political alliances or merging families with other royal bloodlines.
For example, Queen Victoria wed her first cousin Prince Albert, and they shared the same grandfather. Their coupling was actually encouraged by their uncle!
Fast-forwarding to present day and the modern monarchy – how are King Charles and Queen Camilla related, and does she have royal blood?
How are King Charles and Queen Camilla related?
King Charles and Queen Camilla are distantly related, being ninth cousins once removed.
They share ancestors back to the 17th century. Their connection lies through Camilla’s great-grandmother Alice Keppel. She was a long-term mistress of Charles’ great-great-grandfather King Edward VII, who was Queen Victoria’s son.
This also means Camilla was distantly related to the late Princess Diana as well. The former Princess of Wales’ connection lies through two of her great-grandmothers Adelaide Seymour and Rosalind Bingham. Her great-grandmothers gave birth to two illegitimate children of King Charles II, Henry Fitzroy and Charles Lennox.
Read more: Unwritten rules’ the royal family follow for the Buckingham Palace balcony
Has Queen Camilla got royal blood?
Yes, Queen Camilla does have royal blood. Born in 1947, the royal’s descendants include those within the Stuart bloodline who ruled England between 1603 and 1714.
But she has another link, too. Through her maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel William Coutts Keppel, born in 1832. Lieutenant Keppel was the 7th Earl of Albermarle, and through Charles Lennox, was sixth in the direct line of ascent from King Charles II.
Camilla also has a different royal connection, not through blood. Through her mother’s side, Rosalind Shand, her three-times great-grandfather, Thomas Cubbit, built the east front of Buckingham Palace. This includes the famous palace balcony where she waved to crowds after being crowned queen consort alongside her husband in May 2023.
Other couples distantly related within the royal family
King Charles and Queen Camilla are not the only modern royals who are related.
Princess Diana and King Charles were related through the illegitimate children of King Charles II as stated above, but in other ways too. Diana was connected to Mary, Queen of Scots, making them related as distant cousins via several lines. They both descended from a daughter of King Henry VII, called Margaret. She married James IV of Scotland, and via Mary, who married Charles Brandon.
Queen Victoria’s uncle – who encouraged her to marry her first cousin – married his own first cousin Caroline. King George IV was the son of King George III, the younger brother of Princess Augusta Frederica and Caroline was Frederica’s daughter.
Her son, King Edward VII also followed suit, marrying his third cousin Alexandra of Denmark in 1863. They shared great-great grandparents King George II.
It stayed within the family, as his son, King George V (Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather), married his second cousin Mary of Teck, and they shared great-grandparent King George III as well.
Read more: King Charles and Queen Camilla’s ‘unconventional’ love story from first meet to low-key wedding
Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI was 13th cousin to his wife, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – also known as the Queen Mother.
Moving into more modern times, the late Queen Elizabeth II was related to her husband Prince Philip as well. They were third cousins as their great-great-grandmother was Queen Victoria. For Elizabeth, her connection was through King Edward VII, Victoria’s son, and Philip’s via Princess Alice, Victoria’s daughter. However, they were related through another line as well – King Christian IX of Denmark. It made them second cousins once removed on top of being third cousins!
Looking to the future of the throne, Prince William and Kate Middleton are also distantly related. The Princess of Wales is the 14th cousin of William’s late mother, making her husband her 15th cousin, once removed.
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