The Mail Online’s genealogical investigation revealed that the couple, whose engagement is expected any day now, are actually distant cousins. Although Markle was born and raised in America, her family on her father’s side hails from the mother land – her great, great grandmother, Martha Sykes, was born in Yorkshire, according to new documentary, When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Romance.
According to their family tree, both Markle and Prince Harry are descendants of the High Sheriff of County Durham Ralph Bowes (note that we’re going waaay back – as in, to the late 1500s). Prince Harry is a distant relative of Bowe’s great-grandson, Sir George Bowes; Markle is in the same gene pool as one Christopher Hussey, another member of the Bowes brood who moved to the US in 1632.
So there you have it: Markle and Prince Harry are (very, very) distant cousins. But when you go back that far, isn’t almost everyone?
This article previously appeared on marie claire.
