Documents chronicling the lives of Europeans living in India between 1698 and 1947 have been released by The India Office Records, revealing surprising and altogether unlikely celebrity family links.
Guy Ritchie attended the Royal Wedding in 2011 as a friend of the groom, but it turns out he should have been seated on the bride’s side. The film director is the Duchess of Cambridge’s sixth cousin, once removed.
Another royal link lies between actor Johnny Depp and the Queen. According to Nick Barratt, genealogist on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?, both have family ties dating back to Edward III, who died in 1377.
Check out these surprising celeb relatives.
Guy Ritchie is the Duchess of Cambridge’s sixth cousin, once removed. Photos: Getty Images
Actor Johnny Depp is the 20th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and both are descendants of Edward III. Photos: Getty Images
Camilla Parker Bowles and Madonna are both descended from French-Canadians Madeleine Ernard and her carpenter husband Zacharie Cloutier (1617-1708). Photos: Getty Images
Benny Hill’s grandparents, Henry Hawthorn Hill and Sophia Summersbee Hill, were actress Holly Vallance’s great-great-grandparents. Photos: Getty Images
Justin Bieber and Celine Dion are tenth cousins, three times removed, sharing nine times great-grandparents Jacques Vezina and wife Marie Boisdon, who were from France but died in Quebec, Canada, in 1687. Photos: Getty Images
Glenn Close’s great-aunt Mary Eloise Moore is Brooke Shields’ great-great-grandmother, making them second cousins once removed. Photos: Getty Images
Brad Pitt shares Barack Obama’s ten-time great-grandfather, Edwin Hickman, a Virginian who died in 1769. Photos: Getty Images
British Prime Minister David Cameron and comedian Al Murray are sixth cousins, through their five-times great-grandfather, William Makepeace Thackeray, the 19th-century poet and Vanity Fair novelist, who died in 1863. Photos: Getty Images
Laila Morse, aka Big Mo in EastEnders, is sister of Hollywood star Gary Oldman. Photos: Getty Images
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