A detailed look at Elizabeth II's ancestry and ethnic origins.

As a youtuber with a history and demographics channel among others, I have long been fascinated by royal ancestry which combined my two interests into one. After having watched a video by the youtuber Useful Charts on what Elizabeth II’s ethnic percentages would be if she took a DNA test, the idea fascinated me. However I was disappointed by the fact that he only calculated the last 10 generations and this unintentionally sparked the beginning of the longest project of my life. I decided to go on Wikipedia and look up all of Elizabeth II’s ancestors that I could find. After 2 years, I finished and came up with a full list of every ancestor I could find on Wikipedia along with their estimated ethnic percentage. Although the research was not 100% accurate, I had enough data to make the margin of error negligible and it is at most 1%. I was amazingly able to trace back 51 generations of her ancestry to Richomeres, a little known Frankish general serving in the Roman army from the late 4th century. And from there, the journey began. And now to the results.

It is no surprise that most of her heritage is Germanic but is it true that the royal family is truly German? I calculated that her ethnic ancestry would be approximately 42% English and 38.5% German. Although that is not a large difference, it still makes her more English than German but it is clear that one side of her family is mostly German and the other side is mostly English. In her case, it is her father’s side of the family, the royal bloodline, which is mostly German and hence the idea of the royals being German. However, her mother was mostly English and this explains why her German percentage is under 40%. So how did this happen? 

Her father, George VI, was approximately 77% German but interestingly was one eighth Hungarian. He got this from his great grandmother, Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde, a Hungarian countess who married Duke Alexander of Württemberg, who unsurprisingly, was mostly German. Their son, Francis, Duke of Teck was half Hungarian and nearly 40% German but he married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, who was approximately 83.25% German, being a granddaughter of George III. Their eldest child, Mary of Teck thus was approximately 61.25% German, a quarter Hungarian and had a bit of other ancestry. She married George V, who was nearly completely German, at approximately 93%. Thus George VI was about three quarters German, an eighth Hungarian and had a smattering of other ethnic percentages.

But what about her mother’s side? Elizabeth got her English ancestry from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who was approximately 84% English. Her father, Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne though not fully English, was fully British, being approximately 82% English, 17.25% Scottish and 0.75% Irish. His mother, Frances Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne was fully English, tracing her ancestry back to her grandfather, a priest named Roger Hodgson. Meanwhile, his father Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, was approximately 64% English, 34.5% Scottish and 1.5% Irish, with his mother Charlotte Lyon-Bowes, Lady Glamis being fully English. Her husband, Thomas Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis was approximately 69% Scottish, given that his mother was Scottish and his father, Thomas Bowes-Lyon, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was just over half English, just over a third Scottish and a sixteenth Irish. Thomas’ mother, Mary Bowes Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne was fully English while her husband, John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was 3 quarters Scottish, an eighth English and an eighth Irish. His grandmother Elizabeth Lyon, Countess of Strathmore was half English and half Irish with her father, Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield being English and her mother Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield being Irish.

To return to John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne; his grandfather, John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was fully Scottish and his earliest ancestor on Wikipedia was his father, Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, who lived in the late 17th century. 

Elizabeth II’s maternal grandmother, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne was approximately 86% English, 12.5% French and 1.5% Dutch. Her mother, Louisa Cavendish-Bentinck was fully English, with her parents being Edwyn Burnaby, a 19th century courtier and his wife Anne Caroline Salisbury. Her father, Charles Cavendish-Bentinck, was an Anglican priest who was a quarter French. This comes from his mother, Lady Charles Bentinck, who was half-French, being the daughter of a French actress, Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland and her husband, Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, the older brother of the famous duke of Wellington. Richard was fully English. Lady Charles was married to Lord Charles Bentinck, who was a sixteenth Dutch. His great great grandfather, William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, was chamberlain to the Dutch Stadtholder who later became William III of England. However, he and all his children married English women.

Thus, I examined the full family heritage of Elizabeth II’s mother, explaining why she was approximately 84% English, 8.5% Scottish (from John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne), 6.25% French (from Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland), 0.75% Dutch (from William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland) and 0.5% Irish (from Elizabeth Chesterfield, Countess of Chesterfield)

But that is the non-royal side, now it is time to look at her royal ancestry. Unlike Elizabeth II’s mother, whose earliest ancestor on Wikipedia was John Spencer, an English nobleman born in 1455, Elizabeth’s father’s royal ancestry can be traced back over 16 centuries and includes many royal European lines. 

The most obvious is the English royal family where she is part of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha/Windsor which has reigned since Queen Victoria. However Victoria married into this family, being originally part of the House of Hanover which had ruled Great Britain and later the United Kingdom since George I of Great Britain. George was the closest living Protestant relative to the previous Stuart queen Anne, the first monarch of Great Britain. George was the great grandson of James I, the first king of the House of Stuart through his mother, Sophia of Hanover, and her mother, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia. James meanwhile succeeded from the heirless House of Tudor, which he was related to through his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, whose grandmother, Margaret Tudor, was the daughter of Henry VII of England, the first king of the House of Tudor. Henry was related to the House of Plantagenet through his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who was the great-great granddaughter of Edward III of England. Henry II of England was the first king of the House of Plantagenet, his mother Empress Matilda marrying into that family, being originally part of the House of Normandy. She was a granddaughter of William the Conqueror, the first king of England of that house, whose grandfather’s sister, Emma of Normandy, was the wife of Æthelred the Unready of the House of Wessex as well as Cnut of the House of Knýtlinga. However, Elizabeth II is not descended from the latter house but is descended from Æthelred the Unready, whose great great grandfather, Alfred the Great, was the first king of the Anglo-Saxons. Alfred’s grandfather, Ecgberht, King of Wessex, became its king in 802 and his oldest ancestor on Wikipedia is his father, Ealhmund of Kent. Thus, Elizabeth II’s is descended from an unbroken royal line since the Norman conquest but also has had ancestors ruling England since its founding in 886. 

However, Elizabeth is not related to the House of Wessex through William, since William was not directly related to anyone in that house. Instead, her connection comes through Edmund Ironside’s granddaughter, Saint Margaret of Scotland, who married Malcolm III of Scotland, thus tying her to the Scottish royal family as well. Malcolm’s father, Duncan I of Scotland was the first Scottish king of the house of Dunkeld, founded by his father Crínán of Dunkeld. Meanwhile, through his mother, Bethóc, the daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland, he was related to the House of Alpin. Malcolm’s great grandfather, Donald II of Scotland, was its first king, with his grandfather, Kenneth MacAlpin, being the first king of the Picts in 843. His oldest ancestor on Wikipedia is his father, Alpín mac Echdach.

Malcolm III’s great great granddaughter, Isobel of Huntingdon, married Robert de Brus, 4th Lord of Annandale and their great great grandson, Robert the Bruce, became king of Scotland in 1306. His daughter, Marjorie Bruce, married Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and their son, Robert II of Scotland, became the first king of the House of Stuart, with his great great great great great great grandson, James VI, inheriting the throne of England as James I.

Thus, Elizabeth II is descended from both the Scottish and English royal families as well as the Houses of Wessex and the House of Normandy through James VI and I.

However, she is not only related to British royal families but others as well. Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert, Prince Consort, was the 25th direct male descendant of Theodoric I of Wettin, a Saxon nobleman in the 10th century who founded the House of Wettin which would rule over Saxony from 1423-1554. 

Meanwhile, Albert’s son, Edward VII, married Alexandra of Denmark, making Elizabeth related to the Danish royal family, given that Alexandra was Christian IX of Denmark’s daughter. Christian, ironically, had no Danish blood, being mostly German like his British counterpart. This was due to his father, Friedrich Wilhelm, being duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg in northern Germany. His great great great great great great grandfather, Christian III of Denmark, was also mostly German and had no Danish blood either. He was the grandson of Christian I of Denmark, who became king after the heirless Chritsopher of Bavaria died. However, Christian IX was also related to more recent Danish monarchs through his mother Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel and her mother Princess Louise of Denmark, the daughter of Frederick V of Denmark. Frederick V’s great great great great great grandfather was Christian III of Denmark meaning that Christian III was Christian IX’s ancestor through both his mother and father.

As for Christian I, his mother, Helvig of Schauenberg, was the daughter of Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick, the daughter of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His great great great grandmother was Helena of Denmark, daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark, who was the earliest Danish king Elizabeth is descended from, having reigned starting in 1154.

Albert, Prince Consort was also the 9th direct male descendant of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, whose great great great great grandmother was Euphemia of Sweden, through his mother, Sophie of Mecklenburg. Euphemia was the granddaughter of Magnus III of Sweden, making Elizabeth II related to the Swedish royal family as well, however the House of Bjelbo, not the current House of Bernadotte. Magnus III’s mother, Ingeborg Eriksdotter of Sweden was the daughter of Eric X of Sweden. Eric X’s grandfather, Eric IX, was the founder of the House of Eric but Elizabeth is also descended from the founder of Sweden itself, Eric the Victorious. His granddaughter Astrid Olofsdotter of Sweden, married Olaf II of Norway. One of their descendants was Elisabeth of Carinthia, Queen of the Romans who married Albert I of Germany, the duke of Austria. His great great great great grandson, Philip I of Castile, along with being king of Castile and Leon, was also the father of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. Through his mother, Joanna of Castile, he was the grandson of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Ferdinand I, in turn, was the distant ancestor of Mary of Teck, who married George V.

Now then, we can see Elizabeth II also has connections to the House of Habsburg and Trastámara which ruled Castile. The latter house was founded by Isabella I’s great great grandfather, Henry II of Castile as an illegitimate branch of the previous Castilian House of Burgundy, founded by his ancestor, Alfonso VII of León and Castile. Alfonso was the son of Urraca of León of the Jiménez dynasty, which took power in Castile under her grandfather Ferdinand I of León. His mother was Muniadona of Castile, the great great granddaughter of the first count of Castile, Gonzalo Fernández of Castile who took power in 909.

While Isabella I of Castile descended from the Castilian royal family, she also descended from the Portuguese royal family through her mother, Isabella of Portugal, who was the granddaughter of John I of Portugal. John was a descendant of Henry, Count of Portugal, who founded the Portuguese House of Burgundy in 1096.

Although William ended up being the conqueror, Harald Hardrada, the king of Norway, might have ended up as Harald the conqueror had he not died invading England. Nevertheless, he ended up being an ancestor of the British royal family. His descendant, Haakon V of Norway had a daughter Ingeborg Håkonsdatter of Norway, who was the mother of Euphemia of Sweden, the same one who is an ancestor of Albert, Prince Consort.

Another family that Elizabeth II is connected to was the House of Hohenzollern that ruled Prussia. She is descended from its founder, Albert, Duke of Prussia, who is another ancestor of Mary of Teck. This also makes her related to the House of Jagiellon that once ruled over Poland, given that Albert was the grandson of Casimir IV Jagiellon through his mother Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Casimir, in turn, was the son of Władysław II Jagiełło, the founder of the Jagiellon dynasty who inherited the Polish throne after marrying Jadwiga of Poland. However Władysław II himself was Lithuanian, being the great grandson of Butvydas, whose older brother Butigeidis was the first member of the House of Gediminids of Lithuania. Meanwhile, Jadwiga of Poland was the granddaughter of Charles I of Hungary, through her father, Louis I of Hungary, who in turn was the grandson of Władysław Łokietek, king of Poland. His great great grandfather was Bolesław III Wrymouth who also ruled Poland and whose great great grandfather, Bolesław I te Brave was its first king. Meanwhile, his great great grandfather, Siemowit was the first duke of the Polans and founded the House of Piast in the late 9th century.

Elizabeth II is also descended from the former Hungarian royal family, being a descendant of Béla IV of Hungary who was the ancestor of Sigismund I the Old in Poland. Sigismund was the ancestor of George III through his mother Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Béla IV was also the last of a line of kings of Hungary who Elizabeth II is descended from, starting with Béla I of Hungary. His great great great grandfather was Árpád, the founder of the House of Árpád, although his oldest confirmed ancestor was Álmos, who became grand prince of the Hungarians around 850.

Finally, the last major royal dynasty that Elizabeth II is descended from is the French House of Valois. As a descendant of Henry VII of England, she is therefore descended from his father Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond whose mother was Catherine of Valois. Catherine was the daughter of Charles VI of France whose great grandfather Philip VI of France’s accession to the throne not only began the Valois dynasty but also started the Hundred Years’ War that would sever ties between England and France. Philip VI was the grandson of Philip III of France who was of the House of Capet, founded by his ancestor Hugh Capet centuries earlier. Through his grandmother, Beatrice of Vermandois, Hugh was the great great great great great grandson of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor who in turn was the son of Pepin the Short, the first Carolingian king of the Franks. Through his great grandmother, Pepin in turn was the descendant of the Carolingian dynasty, specifically Chlothar I, son of Clovis I, the first king of the Franks. He in turn, was the great great great grandson of Richomeres, Elizabeth II’s oldest known ancestor. 

And thus, this article comes to a wrap going through Elizabeth II’s noble, predominantly English ancestry on her mother’s side and her very extensive royal ancestry on her father’s side. For the sake of my own sanity, as well as not to bore you, I obviously did not cover every royal house her ancestors were once part of, only focusing on those of the major countries that still exist today such as Portugal, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Hungary or those that formed the great countries we know such as England and Scotland (UK), Castile (Spain) and Prussia (Germany). I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new, it was a very fascinating project to work on. Please support my work by subscribing to my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG-1RPPT4s5ShXKjZbwN6qg/videos and to check out my full in depth breakdown of Elizabeth II’s ancestry, check out my playlist on it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-qe4hAbfiSVo1MkujIzZWfM38B4tItMo