See how "Europe"s grandmother" connected British, Swedish and Norwegian royal families
By Meaghan Wray
It turns out
that royal families around the world share a lot more than an incredible sense
of style and devotion to their countries – some actually share bloodlines, too,
and there’s a new interactive
Scandinavian ancestry
tree by Expedia
to prove it. By putting to work almost 200 years of royal history, the new
service clearly shows the connections between many European royals across the
continent. Interestingly enough, many of the English-Swedish royal links date
back further than that, and all history points to a woman who was called
“Europe’s grandmother.”
Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and their daughter, Princess Estelle, attended Victoria"s birthday celebrations. Photo: © MICHAEL CAMPANELLA/WireImage
Queen
Victoria
, or
“Europe’s grandmother,” married off her children into different European royal
houses, and by the beginning of the 20
th century they were occupying
the majority of thrones across the continent. This explains the fun connections
between the families, like
Prince Charles being cousins with Crown
Princess Victoria
and Princess
Madeleine of Sweden
,
or
King Herald V of Norway’s relation
to second cousin
Queen
Elizabeth II
. The
latter are patrons of the Anglo-Norse Society, a collective which helps educate
their countries on each other’s way of life. Because of his connection to King
Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Herald is interestingly the first foreign
monarch in succession to the British throne.
Prince Charles and Camilla visited the Sandringham Flower Show. Photo: © Samir Hussein/WireImage
But it’s not
just England that boasts familial connections with Sweden –Denmark can also
call members of the Swedish royal family relatives. The current King of Sweden,
Carl Gustaf, is cousins with the Queen of Denmark,
Margrethe II. The two have the same grandfather, former
Swedish King
Gustaf VI Adolf. While
this exciting new family tree mainly shows bloodlines of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian
royal families, there’s certainly some information to be found regarding
England’s royal past, as well as the histories of other Nordic countries.
The
interconnected nature of Europe’s royal families – including the
most popular among them, Crown Princess Victoria – has made for some wonderful friendships
and allegiances. But impressive royal relations don’t end there. While
Celine Dion has always been considered Canadian
royalty, it turns out she’s related to actual royalty, too. The Quebec native
and fellow musical superstar
Madonna are both believed to be distant
cousins of
Camilla,
Duchess of Cornwall
,
descending from an esteemed 17
th century French-Canadian couple.
Family trees don’t get much better than this!
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