I have tried to use the Genealogics Royal genealogy calculator to trace different relationships; very often, it is unreliable because the calculations either never show up or they take 5-10 minutes to load.
With that in mind, I have some genealogy questions.
1) Is Diana related to Martha Washington, through her marriage to Daniel Parke-Custis?
No, but she was related to George Washington. Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of the Washingtons, isn't far from Althorp and both the Spencers and the Washingtons descended from Robert Kitson, who lived in the late 15th/early 16th centuries.
As well as Robert E. Lee? (This is regarding her Southern US side)
Diana's American ancestors weren't related to Robert E. Lee. But as with George Washington they are distantly related through common English ancestors.
The Queen is more closely related to both Washington and Lee, through the Queen Mother whose ancestor Mary (Warner) Smith of Virginia was the sister of Mildred (Warner) Washington (George's grandmother) and the niece of Sarah (Warner) Townley (3x great-grandmother of Robert E. Lee). This relationship was noted by the American press when the Queen Mother became Queen Consort in 1936.
I also want to know if Diana is related to the following people or royal houses:
2) Lucrezia Borgia (there are websites which say she is, but I’ve done extensive research to try to find an ancestry chart that ties these two women together—I found only one chart, although it was very complicated and numbered. Yet, it still did not give me an exact answer—the descendant in question never has a number in the chart; plus, the line is ascending in order—I always believe, because Diana was an aristocrat, that she could have multiple ancestry lines/ties to all of the Catholic royals of now and yesteryear). The chart also showed Lucrezia is related to D through a brother she had. But, is she related to D through Ercole d’Este (her son)?
Lucrezia Borgia was related to Diana but only by marriage. Her second husband Alfonso d'Aragona Duke of Bisceglia and her third husband Alfonso d'Este Duke of Ferrara were both first cousins of Diana's ancestor Charlotte of Naples wife of Guy Count of Laval.
3) Mary Kittamaquund, the Native American married to Giles Brent? Or any of her children?
Giles Brent was a descendant of Edward III, so yes Diana was distantly related to him. But the Queen is more closely related through Giles's great-grandfather Sir Fulke Greville who was also an ancestor of the Queen Mother.
4) This is an extensive question that may seem complicated. I read that Italian royal pretenders (specifically, the Dukes of Mantua—through Margaret Paleologa who married a Gonzaga) may have Byzantine descent; as well as the Russian royals (through Catherine The Great, although I could be wrong). Is Margaret related to D?
Yes, Margaret was a first cousin (on her mother's side) of Francoise d'Alencon wife of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, and grandmother of King Henry IV of France. Henry's daughter Henrietta Maria married King Charles I and was the mother of Diana's ancestors Charles II and James II.
Margaret is also related more distantly to Queen Elizabeth. All the European royal families descend from the Byzantine Emperors. For example, Queen Philippa wife of Edward III was the 4x great-granddaughter of Theodore I Komnenos Laskaris, Emperor in Nicaea from 1204-1222.
As well as Constantin XI, the last Byzantine emperor to D too? Although, I believe either Margaret or Constantin could be related to the Romanovs, which in turn could mean they are related to D or Prince Philip (off the strength of his Byzantine and Russian ancestry). But I don’t know if any of this is true.
Yes, all of Europe's royal families including Diana are distantly related to Constantine XI, the last Byzantine Emperor. The Byzantine royal family intermarried with other European royal families.
5) Is Diana related to any of the heads and/or pretenders of the Duchy of Anhalt/Ascania? I know that the Queen is not related to the Anhalt side at all.
The Queen descends from the Anhalts many times over. For example, her ancestor Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (wife of Frederick Prince of Wales, and mother of George III), was the daughter of Magdalene of Anhalt-Zerbst and the granddaughter of Karl Wilhelm Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst. The Queen is also a descendant of the Anhalt-Dessau line. Prince Philip is a descendant of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, who was born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst.
Diana is also a descendant of the Anhalts but much further back.
6) Is Diana related to the famous Rothschild family?
Some of the Rothschilds have married into other European noble/aristocratic families so she's probably related to some by marriage. For example, Hannah de Rothschild (1851-1890) married Archibald Primrose 9th Earl of Rosebery (1847-1929) who was distantly related to Diana through their common ancestor Archibald Campbell 9th Earl of Argyll (1629-1685). Lord Rosebery was more closely related to the Queen Mother through their common ancestor Abel Smith (c1717-1788).
7) This is more of a general question: How has it been proven that D is related to every single European royal house that the Queen is not?
Well, since the Queen is in fact related to every single European royal house, the question is moot. But in some cases Diana was more closely related than the Queen, or a direct descendant of royals who are only related to the Queen as cousins. For example, Diana was a direct descendant of Charles I, Charles II, James II, Henry IV of France, Federigo IV of Naples, and the Medicis.
As well as D being related to most of the British peers/lords/aristocracy?
Yes, her family tree literally groans with British dukes, earls, marquesses, and barons. For example, her great-grandparents include the 6th Earl Spencer, the daughter of the 1st Baron Revelstoke, the 3rd Duke of Abercorn, the daughter of the 4th Earl of Lucan, and the 3rd Baron Fermoy.
While the Queen Mother was also the daughter of an earl, the majority of her ancestors belonged to the untitled landed gentry.
8) Because the Queen is related to mostly non-practicing Catholic royals herself, are there many royals Diana is related to that the Queen isn’t? Catholic or any other religion?
As I stated earlier, the Queen is related to every other European royal family. She is of course more closely related to the Protestant royal families but she is also related to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic royal families. But in some cases Diana was more closely related.
9) This is my last question: Is Diana related to Stephanie Beauharnais (who was adopted by Napoleon I) and/or Stéphanie’s “rival”, Josephine Tascher-Pagerie? I know Josephine was from Martinique; this fact is especially important because, as a black man, it would be a very unique fact that Diana could possibly have African or Caribbean bloodlines. And especially because I am Bermudian-American and love British royal genealogy. This also goes hand in hand with the fact that Diana (I personally feel) was slightly “Bajan” (as far as having Barbados ancestry).
No, Diana wasn't related to Stephanie de Beauharnais. One of Josephine's great-grandfathers, Anthony Brown, was English, apparently, but his exact origins aren't known (despite what some genealogy sites claim). But if it turns out he was born into an aristocratic family, he probably was related in some way to Diana (and perhaps to the Queen Mother too).
Diana did have ancestors who lived in Barbados and Jamaica but they were wealthy plantation owners originally from England with no African or native bloodlines.
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