DNA link to Prince William's Indian ancestry

[cosmicone]

Source: 4News London

Tests on saliva samples taken from the Duke of Cambridge's relatives have shown an unbroken lineage between him and a woman believed to be at least half Indian.

Eliza Kewark was housekeeper to his fifth great grandfather Theodore Forbes (1788-1820), a Scottish merchant who worked for the East India Company in Surat, a busy port north of Bombay.

The discovery means that Prince William and his brother Harry both have a clear genetic link to Indian ancestry.
Unassailable roots

Scientists from BritainsDNA, who carried out the tests, say that Eliza Kewark had an incredibly rare form of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) passed down through her female line.

Read more: http://www.channel4.com/news/prince-william-indian-dna-analysis-roots-science

[hlthe2b]

1. Forgive me if I have doubts that this applies to Prince Harry...

A picture is worth a brazillion words...



ON EDIT, I see they are talking Diana's side, so yes, of course, it does

[Shrike47]

3. Mother's side here, hithe2b. You do agree Diana's Harry's mother, right?

[hlthe2b]

4. Oops... yes, of course. I didn't read closely enough...

[CatWoman]

5. actually

Harry greatly resembles his paternal grandfather

[toby jo]

7. I see the Scots in him. I dated a Scottish/Native American for awhile,

Harry looks just like him.

[LuckyLib]

6. Brits consider it a "given" that Hewitt is Harry's father.

But then they have a long history of genetic surprises in the royal family.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Not really - he gets the red hair from his mother's family

Her brother:

[JI7]

22. hair from his mother's side and his face is totally like Philips

[davidwparker]

14. You go, Lady Di ... posthumously n/t

[RILib]

15. Diana's affair with Hewitt was after Harry's birth. Don't let that stop you gossiping, however.

[hlthe2b]

18. Only two people know when their affair begain with certainty (and one, sadly, is no longer with us)

But, don't let that stop you from making assumptions and rude retorts.

[carolinayellowdog]

2. DNA brought me a big surprise of this nature-- no native American admixture, but South Asian

the ancestors that thought we were "part Indian" had the right words but wrong idea

[JI7]

20. do you have british ancestry ?

[LeftInTX]

8. Prince William is also part Greek on his father's side - I think it's 1/8th

His grandfather, Prince Phillip is 1/2 Greek.

I see the Greek features in Prince Andrew and his daughters.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. The 'Greek' royal family were mainly German, a bit of Danish, Russian, the occasional American

and Romanians, Swedes and Georgians. There's only one actual Greek mentioned in their history, from when they were installed in 1863 (starting with a Danish prince).

http://www.christinesroyalty.net/royalfamilies/greece/history.html

The branch that Philip comes from is before one of them married an actual Greek. There are certainly no 'Greek features' in him at all.

[BuddhaGirl]

12. Actually, Phillip doesn't have any Greek blood

He is of German and Danish ancestry...his Danish ancestor was made king of Greece in the mid 1840's.

[sarge43]

13. Prince Philip's great grandparents

Christian IX, king of Denmark
Louisa, daughter of William, landsgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Constantine Nikolavich, grand duke of Russia
Alexandra, dau. of Joseph, duke of Saxe-Altenburg
Alexander, Prince of Hesse
Julia, dau. of John Maurice, count of Hauke
Louis IV, grand duke of Hesse
Alice, dau. of Queen Victoria

His grandfather, Prince William of Denmark, was chosen king of Greece in 1863, took the name George

[Hekate]

9. Fascinating. It also means that 5X great grandpa legitimated the offspring of his housekeeper

Which was a very important thing to do in that time. He must have provided well for them, or at least seen to it that the girls married well.

It's more than our own Thomas Jefferson did, and as much as I revere the man for his ideas, it was wrong to not at least free his mistress and children from bondage.

Royalty always has a few genetic surprises here and there, but I always thought Prince Harry looked very much like his uncle, Diana's brother.

[RILib]

16. so annoying to see

those smears about Jefferson, when it's never been proved if it was him, his brother, or his nephews.

[JustAnotherGen]

19. Why is it a smear

To have black descendents?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

17. we have a fascination for the British Royal Family don't we?

I love Queen Elizabeth - she has a great sense of humor.

[JI7]

21. if it was the old days William could claim India as his own once he

becomes king

[markiv]

23. does this mean the Queen will train her H-1b replacement?

wow - things are tough all over