Celebrities With Royal Connections
From Elle and Dakota Fanning to Ellen Degeneres, we celebrate some of celebdom's most woefully tenuous ties to the royal family.
Rex FeaturesElle and Dakota Fanning
No wonder Elle is playing Princess Aurora in Maleficent! According to Ancestry.com, the sisters have regal blood running through their veins - they are direct descendants of King Edward III, who ruled England from 1327-1377. What's more, they are also distant cousins of the Duchess of Cambridge (Elle is Kate's 21st cousin to be exact), thanks to them sharing King Edward I (who inspired the film Braveheart) as an ancestor.
PAEllen DeGeneres
“How is Ellen DeGeneres even remotely linked to the royals in any way, shape or form,” I hear you cry? Well let me tell you, oh ye of little faith. The New England Genealogical Society actually discovered that the US talk show host is distant (15th, to be exact) cousins with Kate Middleton.
PA PhotosHelena Bonham Carter
And speaking of family; even closer to Kate than her 15th cousin Ellen DeGeneres is Brit actress Helena, who, according to HELLO! Magazine, actually shares the same great-great-great-grandfather with the Duchess.
Rex FeaturesJohnny Depp
And from Helena to BFF Johnny Depp. Indeed, the piratey one is appaz related to none other than the Queen herself. Genealogist Nick Barratt, a researcher for hit BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? , believes that Depp, who was born in rural Kentucky, is actually 20th cousins with Queen Elizabeth.
Rex FeaturesDonna Air
Former Byker Grove actress Donna could soon be well in with the royal fam as she's dating none other than Kate's lil bro, cakemaker James Middleton.
PA PhotosSpencer Matthews
Not only reality TV royalty, Made In Chelsea's resident douchebag Spencer Matthews also had a brief dalliance with a super tenuous royal connection last year, when his older brother was thought to be dating Kate's sister, Pippa Middleton.
WennCheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole earned her royal stripes when she revealed that Kate Middleton dressed up as her for her hen party. The revelation was made in Chezza's autobiography Cheryl: My Story, where the singer recalled meeting Kate and Wills at the Queen's Jubilee Concert in 2012. Cheryl writes: "The party in Buckingham Palace afterwards was incredible. Just when I was thinking the day couldn't get any more incredible, Prince William and Kate came over for a chat. "'Did you know you've got a bit of competition' Wills said with a cheeky look in his eye. 'From who?' Wills looked at Kate and they both started laughing before Kate confessed that she dressed up as me on her hen night, in a body suit and split trousers and sang Fight For This Love." She continues: "She even learned the dance routine and was step perfect by all accounts, as her sister Pippa and brother James also came over and told me all about it. "'Well, I'm very flattered!' I said. I could just imagine her and it was so surreal."
... That happened.
Rex FeaturesMollie King
ERM... You know you're a bit royal when you have to deny being in a relationship with one. On that note, enter Mollie King who put rumours to rest in 2012 that she was dating Prince Harry (aka the dream). Taking to Twitter, The Saturday said: "Guys I'm getting lots of tweets about Prince Harry but as i said last wk, i'm not dating him & we're not in a relationship. We're just friends".
PA PhotosCaroline Flack
And speaking of dating Prince Harry... Harry-fan Flack was also rumoured to have gotten close with the flame-haired royal back in the day.
PA PhotosThe Beckhams
Need you even ask how these two are basically royal? They were at the royal wedding. Which means they are BFFs with Prince William and Kate. Gah! Bet these guys go to dinner as a foursome and everything. #jel
PA PhotosReese Witherspoon
Pah! This one is entirely unfounded ignores the premise of this entire feature but when reports first emerged of Kate Middleton and Reese Witherspoon having struck up a friendship we cried tears of LOL. The two are known to have met at a charity event in Los Angeles not long after the royal wedding and according to reports; the two exchanged contact details and were emailing each other. But the best bit about this undeniably far-fetched story is probably the comments from an unnamed source, which was quoted as saying at the time: "They're both high-profile women and newlyweds, so they instantly bonded... Two of Kate's favourite movies are Walk The Line and Legally Blonde." Sure.
PA PhotosEllie Goulding
Ellie Goulding was given the royal seal of approval in 2011 when she was chosen by the royal couple to sing at their wedding.
Rex FeaturesCharlize Theron
Spotted chatting with Prince Harry at a polo event in Berkshire in 2011, we've always hoped beyond hope that there was more to this pairing than friendship as they'd be our favourite celebrity couple, EVER.
PA PhotosJoss Stone
Alongside the Beckhams, Devonshire lass Joss Stone also managed to score an invitation to the couple's big day in 2011.
Rex FeaturesMadonna
She directed a movie (W.E.) about the British royal family and so by default this makes Madonna pretty royal.
GettyEddie Redmayne & Tom Hiddleston
Eddie and Tom share their alma mater Eton with Prince William. While Tom was in the year above Wills, Eddie was in the same year and the two used to play rugby together, making Eddie slightly more royal than Tom.
PA PhotosHelen Mirren
Have you seen The Queen?
Rex FeaturesAllison Williams
Want to know the real Kate and Wills? See the couple behind closed doors here.
