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See my previous posts. Maybe I'm underestimating the number of descendants. If that's the case, then it's by thousands, not even hundreds of thousands, let alone millions. It includes the female line as well. The mistresses of the kings were noblewomen. The children they bore were not in line to the throne, but they were given titles and led privileged lives. They married into nobility since they were half-royal. All their descendants are documented as well. I remember reading that Princess Diana was a direct descendant of Charles II through one of his illegitimate children.
Now, of course there are likely to be a lot more unproven illegitimate descendants. For example, the children a king might have had with his maids. That is of course impossible to prove. The father of that child could've also been the palace gardener or one of the ministers.
Last edited by Marissa23; 02-22-2014 at 03:21 PM..
Reason: spelling
I'm not trying to tell genealogists anything and I concede that my analysis might be faulty. Yes, in regions of Europe isolated from wars, revolts, famines, and plagues, and where records were kept for centuries, it is possible to trace one's ancestry a few centuries. However, that doesn't apply to most of Europe where a lot of records were lost in countless wars and revolutions.
Still, even if you were to trace your ancestors to the 1500s, it is unlikely that you'll find royalty if your close ancestors in the 19th century were peasants or factory workers. I only looked at trees of royalty and also looked at the number of people in line to the British throne and the number of royal descendants in other countries. At best they number at about low-to-mid five figures.
Journals and tales of family history aren't obviously records. However, they can be a starting point. I know a lot of people who don't even know the names of their ancestors born in 1850.
I'm sorry, but you're just wrong. I do a lot of descendency genealogy. A couple of my projects are New England immigrants (both of whom who do have royal ancestry, by the way). A reason I love to do that kind of genealogy is, it's fascinating to see the waxing and waning of family fortunes through the generations. One of them has 37,000+ and the other 29,000+ identified decendants. And that's just from the immigrant to the US.
You keep focusing on the people in line of succession to the British throne. That's just not a large percentage of the "royal" descendants.
I'm not just focusing on the people in line of succession to the British throne. Like I wrote previously, I'm also including descendants of other European royal houses from 1700. They can't possibly number more than 40k since most of them intermarried and have been marrying nobility and commoners only for about the past 150 years.
I'm not just focusing on the people in line of succession to the British throne. Like I wrote previously, I'm also including descendants of other European royal houses from 1700. They can't possibly number more than 40k since most of them intermarried and have been marrying nobility and commoners only for about the past 150 years.
That's just a scam, never heard of it occurring in genealogy research. Considering the autosomal DNA test costs $99 and the yDNA and mtDNA tests cost even more, I think it's highly unlikely someone would spend the money to have the tests done just to scam people.
I understand PA2, but I can only speak to my own experience. Contested wills are not out of the norm, although normally for the wealthy. Since we owned a house in Boston at the time, I think someone perusing databases may have found us... who knows? Perhaps they were actual cousins now living in Russia. Still... the mendacity & gall to write my elderly relatives & demand we share our 'American riches' due to some sort of distant heritage is abhorrent. The fact that they assumed we lived amongst the wealthiest is laughable, but their preconceived notions about Americans took precedence. Did they want to know us, search out names, pictures, milestones? Nope. You want wealth? Bloody work for it, I say, no matter which continent you reside. I'm still suspicious of putting out personal info... some distant kin can still lay claim to one's property if they claim a verbal agreement. Look at the nutter with a fake claim on a napkin, supposedly penned by Howard Hughes, who tied up the courts for years. So, not saying written wills & docs aren't in place... just saying any kin can contest dividing up the inheritance, if they so choose, with claims false or not.
I understand PA2, but I can only speak to my own experience. Contested wills are not out of the norm, although normally for the wealthy. Since we owned a house in Boston at the time, I think someone perusing databases may have found us... who knows? Perhaps they were actual cousins now living in Russia. Still... the mendacity & gall to write my elderly relatives & demand we share our 'American riches' due to some sort of distant heritage is abhorrent. The fact that they assumed we lived amongst the wealthiest is laughable, but their preconceived notions about Americans took precedence. Did they want to know us, search out names, pictures, milestones? Nope. You want wealth? Bloody work for it, I say, no matter which continent you reside. I'm still suspicious of putting out personal info... some distant kin can still lay claim to one's property if they claim a verbal agreement. Look at the nutter with a fake claim on a napkin, supposedly penned by Howard Hughes, who tied up the courts for years. So, not saying written wills & docs aren't in place... just saying any kin can contest dividing up the inheritance, if they so choose, with claims false or not.
I think it is unlikely someone would use a genetic service to try to horn in on an inheritance. I do know my attorney SIL has used Ancestry.com to try to identify real heirs to estates.
With a valid will, it would be hard for any distant relative to lay claim to an estate left to named heirs.
Your problem is that you are probably underestimating the number of descendants of royal families. There will be many relatives who are not in line to inherit the throne.
Next, many of us in the US who have nineteenth century ancestors who were farmers or laborers can trace some of our ancestral lines back into the 1500s and earlier. I'll admit that in my personal tree I have not confirmed the information personally, but the references from which I have obtained the information do appear to be well documented.
Unless an ancestor has deliberately tried to hide his identity or abandoned his family, just about anyone in the US should be able to find someone born in 1850. In my own tree, my most recent brick walls were born in 1804 (two of them) and 1821 (one). In my husband's tree, a maternal great grandmother is elusive, but I think that was deliberate on her part, since she is apparently a bigamist. I know who her parents are, but I cannot find when and where she died.
At some point the illigitimate sons and daughters of royalty, and there were many, drop off the chart and their descendents might well show up as farmers and laborors. And even if legitimate, only the oldest son inherited property, so many legitimate offspring drifted to other places and their descendents could just be farmers. The idea of royal descent doesn't imply they lived like it for long.
I have two possible maternal great grandfathers, and family stories suggesting number two. The first one died first. Why did they both have to be named 'Smith'?????
Sounds like you might have more relatives that you know.
I'm not just focusing on the people in line of succession to the British throne. Like I wrote previously, I'm also including descendants of other European royal houses from 1700. They can't possibly number more than 40k since most of them intermarried and have been marrying nobility and commoners only for about the past 150 years.
Who exactly do you think founded America? They were given land grants not because they were commoners!
Don't know if there is any royal blood on either side though there might be.
I do know that my dad's side the Hilperts and Knipfings as well as a a few other families
were about the only survivors of the plague in Himmelstadt back in the 1300s.
We do have a coat of arms and are entitled I was told to use von in our name but it doesn't seem to have been used very much.Grandpa's cousin Generaloberst Carl Hilpert commander of Army Group Kurland during WW2 never used it.
The toy soldier makers Andreas and Johann Georg Hilpert are 16th cousins.
Since some of my relatives were artisans I've wondered if we might be kin to Hans Holbein or Albert Druer. I'd love to seethe family history book my Nuremberg cousins have and see how far back we go.
There might be some royal connection somewhere but most likely to local german princes ,,though the british monarchy does have german blood. Even if some how it did turn out Queen Elizabeth was a cousin through the hanover side of her family(King George 1) sure doesn't mean I'll get anything that's for sure.
Kings in ancient times have fathered countless children and they in turn had lots of children of their own .. plus, back then, people had more children than they do now.
There's probably plenty of people today descended from William the Conqueror or Qing Shi Huang although we may not have decisive proof of lineage.
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I know who her parents are, but I cannot find when and where she died.
