Historian: Kate Middleton, Jane Austen Are Related

By Kelly Fisher Posted Jun 29th 2011 10:30AM

If Kate Middleton's romance with Prince William seems like a modern fairy tale, you're definitely on the right track. New information has just been released connecting Middleton to romance writer Jane Austen in what's shaping up to be a stellar family tree.

According to Ancestry.com (via PEOPLE), Middleton and Austen ((b. 1775) are eleventh cousins, six times removed. The pair are connected through Henry Percy (b. 1392), who was the second Earl of Northumberland.

So basically Middleton and the 'Emma' writer are really, really, really distant relatives. But, as Brits know all too well, a bloodline is a bloodline.

"Finding this connection between the Duchess of Cambridge and Jane Austen is very exciting since, in many ways, Catherine is the modern Jane Austen heroine: a middle-class girl marrying the future King of England," lead Ancestry.com historian Anastasia Harman said.

In case you forgot, Middleton was just a commoner before she married her own Prince Charming back in April.

"Jane Austen may have written about happily-ever-after, but it seems Catherine has found a nonfiction hero to spend her life with -- far past the epilogue," Harman said.

And to bring everything full circle, the news of Middleton and Austen's family ties comes on the 200th anniversary of Austen's 'Sense and Sensibility.' Poetic, no?

However, the romantic writer isn't Middleton's only acclaimed relative. Back in February, TV host Ellen DeGeneres received news that she, too, is related to the new Duchess of Cambridge.

"You are distant cousins ... but cousins still the same," a letter from the New England Genealogical Society told DeGeneres, claiming the future royal and talk show host are 15th cousins, related by a man named Sir Thomas Fairfax and his wife, Agnes Gascoigne.

But, even though they're cousins, DeGeneres was unfortunately left off the wedding guest list.

Tags: Kate Middleton

Comments

(9)

Wednesday 29 June

By Haley

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It is spelled Jane Austen not Austin

By Jesse Friedman

Please learn how to spell Jane "Austen".

By Ernie D.

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That is a disappointment that Ellen DeGeneres was not invited.

Who really cares about that boring wedding anyway?

By Joseph Leslie

Why does she always wear hats that make her look like she is trying to balance a plate on her head?

By cgw

ok, I have to ask...how the hell do they keep these things on their heads?

By Ken

And my Family tree relates me to the Bolin sisters (and consequently King Henry the 8th) and King Charlamaigne (sp?). So what does that entitle me to? NOTHING! I am not in line for a title. Not in line for a throne. When you are 18th cousins 16 times removed you should just live your life. Or make your own history.

Thursday 30 June

By kj

kate, you r the luckiest bycth in the world!enough...

By Gordo7

What a huge waste of digital space!

Tuesday 05 July

By molvinita

We're all related to Noah (the one who made an arch back in history) Therefore we're all in some way related o the GREAT king David (of bible times) and since we're all Adam and Eve's great...grankids, some of us are jesus' cousins, aunts and uncles, but you dont see us in the news, so WHY IS KATE THERE??

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