Celebrities, they're just like us – except that if you watch a lot of Who Do You Think You Are?, it seems that an awful lot of them are related to royalty.
But it turns out that if you're willing to do some digging into family trees, quite a lot of people are connected to the ruling monarchs of Britain's past.
According to Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, "practically everyone alive with British ancestry will have a connection" with Edward III, due to the sheer number of the king's legitimate and illegitimate descendants.
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However, some connections are more surprising (and much closer) than others...
Celebrities who are related to British royalty
Beyonce
A surprising number of celebrities are related to Queen Elizabeth II, including Beyonce. She's distantly related to the late queen, as they were 25th cousins once removed.
Danny Dyer
Often dubbed as the 'best ever' episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, Rivals actor Danny Dyer discovered that he was descended from King Edward III of England. Thomas Cromwell is also his 15 times great-grandfather. In another TV show, Dyer later found out that he was related to the French king Louis IX, who lived from 1214 to 1270.
Courteney Cox
American actor Courteney Cox discovered that her 18 times great-grandfather was Thomas de Berkeley, who held King Edward II captive in Berkley Castle after his regime collapsed. The king was later murdered in the castle, with her relatives being put on trial as the most likely suspects.
Her 20 times great-grandfather is King Edward I, which links her to King Henry I and ultimately King William the Conqueror.
Boris Johnson
In Who Do You Think You Are?, Boris Johnson found out his royal connection was stronger than most. His paternal grandmother was a descendant of Prince Paul Von Wurttemberg. The German price was a direct descendant of King George II – making Johnson distantly related to the British Royal Family, as well as all the royal houses of Europe.
Angelina Jolie
Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie is Queen Elizabeth II's 26th cousin, with the royal relationship coming from Jolie's mother Marcheline Bertrand. The Bertrands are also connected to the French King Phillip II.
Benedict Cumberbatch
The British actor has not only played King Richard III in the BBC's The Hollow Crown TV series – but he's distantly related to him, too.
Kevin Schurer, a genealogist at the University of Leicester, has linked the two and has claimed that Cumberbatch is the king's second cousin 16 times removed. "He also has more indirect links to both Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Jane Grey through other ancestors in his tree,” Schurer said when speaking to The Guardian.
Cumberbatch also read a poem at the reburial of the king at Leicester Cathedral – after the body of Richard III was famously discovered underneath a carpark.
Tilda Swinton
Actor Tilda Swinton has more royal connections than most: her father was a former head of the Queen's Household Division, was classmates with Lady Diana Spencer, and played King Edward II's wife Isabella of France in the 1991 film Edward II.
But she's also related to the Scottish king Robert the Bruce, as she's 19 generations removed from him. His legacy is freeing Scotland from English rule, winning the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
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Hugh Grant
While he's often considered rom-com royalty, it's been reported that actor Hugh Grant is actually related to King Henry VII. And because of the connection, he's also related to the current Royal Family and the ninth cousin removed of Queen Elizabeth II. He's also related to the Stuart King James IV of Scotland, who is credited with unifying Scotland under royal control.
His relations across the pond are also pretty impressive, as he's distantly related to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
Hilary Duff
American singer and actor Hilary Duff is distant related to Queen Elizabeth II and is her 18th cousin. The late queen and Duff are descended from King Edward III – and therefore Danny Dyer. Duff is also a descendant of Catherine Carey, who is thought to be the illegitimate child of King Henry VIII (England's deadliest monarch) and Mary Boleyn.
Clare Balding
On Who Do You Think You Are, Clare Balding discovered that her grandmother can trace her family line all the way back to King Henry VII (the first Tudor king), who died in 1509, so she has royal blood – but exactly what relation that makes her to the late queen we are not sure.
Discover more UK history
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Main image: Courtney Cox @ Getty