Famous Celebrities You Didn’t Know Had Royal Roots

Genealogy has quietly shifted from a niche pastime into a mainstream fascination, with millions of people digging through records and DNA results to uncover hidden connections. The appeal goes beyond simply learning about ancestors—it’s about finding unexpected ties that reshape how we see ourselves and the people we admire. When celebrities join this journey, the intrigue doubles, turning private discoveries into public talking points.

Some revelations are lighthearted, tracing lines back to farmers, immigrants, or soldiers who played small but meaningful roles in history. Others, however, reveal surprising links to thrones and palaces. While TV shows and ancestry databases have made it easier to connect the dots, the sense of shock and delight remains the same—especially when it involves figures we thought we already knew well.

In music, a handful of famous names stand out for having royal blood woven into their family trees. These aren’t just distant connections that barely hold weight; they highlight a fascinating overlap between artistry and aristocracy. In this article, we’ll look at three musicians whose family roots lead to royalty, showing that sometimes the stage and the crown aren’t as far apart as we might imagine.

Rose Leslie

Much of the spotlight has shone on Kit Harington’s royal lineage, but his wife, Rose Leslie, has an equally fascinating ancestry. Leslie, known for her role as Ygritte in Game of Thrones, descends from King Charles II through her mother’s side. What makes this particularly compelling is that parts of her family history overlap with the very stories that inspired George R.R. Martin’s fictional world.

Her connection runs through her great-grandfather Simon Fraser, the 13th Lord Lovat, who was descended from Charles II. But it’s not just about a distant royal tie—her ancestors’ roles in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms place her heritage right in the middle of turbulent times that reshaped Britain. These conflicts, with their betrayals and power struggles, directly echo the saga Leslie would later act out on screen.

The Leslie and Lovat clans frequently shifted allegiances, at times fighting for the monarchy, other times against it. One infamous ancestor, the 11th Lord Lovat—nicknamed “The Fox”—even made history as the last man in Britain to be executed by beheading. For Leslie, the blend of nobility, rebellion, and drama in her family tree almost reads like a script written for her career.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch has portrayed a range of historical figures, but in 2016, he took on a role that was far closer to home. Playing King Richard III in the BBC’s The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses, he learned mid-production that he was a distant relative of the very monarch he was portraying. The discovery added an almost surreal authenticity to his performance.

His link comes through Richard’s mother, Cecily Neville, making Cumberbatch a third cousin, 16 times removed. Though distant, it still places him firmly within the royal bloodline. The revelation was confirmed by genealogists, and the timing couldn’t have been more fitting—he was literally dressed as Richard III when he received the news.

This connection deepened in 2015 when Cumberbatch recited a poem at Richard III’s reburial in Leicester Cathedral. Just two years earlier, archaeologists had uncovered the king’s remains beneath a parking lot, a find that captivated the world. For Cumberbatch, the moment bridged his work as an actor with his own personal history.

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton’s commanding screen presence has often been described as regal, but her ancestry reveals that her noble bearing is no accident. Born into an old Scottish family, Swinton’s roots stretch back centuries and are interwoven with royal bloodlines. Her education at boarding school alongside Lady Diana Spencer only hinted at the connections her family actually carried.

Her father, a major general and former head of the queen’s Household Division, tied the family closely to the monarchy. Yet it is the male line of the Swinton clan that offers the most striking heritage. Their genealogy reaches back before the Norman Conquest, linking Tilda directly to the great dynasties of Scotland.

Among her ancestors are James I and James II, who ruled in the 15th century, and three kings named Robert. Perhaps most notably, Swinton shares a bloodline with Robert the Bruce, the warrior king who led Scotland to independence from England. That heritage gives her career an almost mythic resonance, blending her ethereal performances with the weight of centuries-old nobility.

Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson may be best known as Edward Cullen and, more recently, Batman, but his bloodline suggests ties to a very different kind of legacy. Genealogists have confirmed that Pattinson is a distant cousin of Princes William and Harry, through a family line stretching back to the 16th century. His royal connections, though unexpected, place him within England’s storied aristocratic network.

The link comes through the Pickerings of Yorkshire, tying Pattinson to King Charles III’s side of the family tree. While he once joked about studying drama with Prince William, the truth is not far off—he is, in fact, distantly related to the heirs of the English throne. For fans, it’s a surprising fact that makes his stardom seem all the more fated.

Adding a layer of intrigue, genealogists also trace his family ties to Vlad the Impaler, the notorious 15th-century figure believed to have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. That makes Pattinson not only related to royalty but also to a historical figure associated with vampiric lore. For someone who first rose to fame as a vampire, the connection feels almost too perfect.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s life has often been surrounded by myth and symbolism, with the number 13 playing a starring role in her career narrative. But in 2024, researchers at MyHeritage uncovered a connection that may outshine her lucky number: Swift is distantly related to King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King himself.

The link begins with Michael de la Pole, a 14th-century Earl of Suffolk. His descendants eventually migrated to Massachusetts before settling in Swift’s home state of Pennsylvania. Along the way, the family tree intertwined with European nobility, connecting Swift to one of France’s most iconic monarchs.

Her lineage traces through de la Pole’s granddaughter Margaret, who married into French nobility and helped form the bloodline that produced Marie de’ Medici, grandmother of Louis XIV. Though separated by centuries, Swift and the Sun King both left their mark on culture—Louis through the Palace of Versailles and the founding of the Paris Opera, and Swift through her record-breaking albums and global tours.