You never know when you might stumble across a royal ancestor.
Whether you accidentally come across a royal connection or purposely seek one out in your research, discovering regal ancestry can be a real thrill. Suddenly, your ordinary family is transformed into descendants of the world’s most powerful rulers. History takes on a new dimension when you can say, “Princess Diana was my distant cousin!”
Royal Roots Research - Surprisingly, royal roots aren’t as rare as you might think. More than 60 percent of Americans are descended from royalty. But suspecting you have royal roots and proving it through genealogical research are two totally different things. If you want to honestly boast of your blue blood, coming up with the proof may not be easy.
You will have to trace back through many generations to get to your royal connection, and the farther back you go, the more challenging it is to find documentation. You may see fewer records to back up your claims if your connection is through a female line or illegitimate heirs. Also, forged or inaccurate published genealogies may add to your trouble if you unknowingly follow their false leads and information.
But, as genealogists, we thrive on challenges, right? Royal roots research is full of them, but even if you never discover or prove your kinship to kings and queens, you’ll learn more about your commoner ancestors and the times in which they lived. Follow these steps to the crown (or lack of one) in your family tree. 1. Start with what you already know. "Royal research is no different an approach than one would typically take when researching one’s ancestry,” says professional genealogist Timothy Boettger, who specializes in European nobility. “You start with what you know and work back systematically, generation by generation, documenting carefully as you go. If there is a link, it will be found in due course.”
You may be tempted to work from a suspected royal ancestor forward to make the connection to your family, but that’s not the best way to go, experts say.
The good news here is that genealogical record-keeping and royalty are inextricably intertwined. You might even say that genealogy began with royalty, for whom a family tree was not just a hobby but the foundation of their claim to the throne. So once you work backward to royal kin, you can follow that line for many generations.
While you shouldn’t believe everything you hear, don’t completely dismiss those family stories about royal connections. They may contain a few grains of truth, which can help start your search in the right direction. That’s what von Studnitz did, with astounding results. Not only did he prove his royal roots, but he also discovered that his great-grandmother’s uncle was the scientist who discovered the “Neanderthal Man” in 1856 and that his third great-grandmother’s brother was the doctor who founded homeopathy. “It boils down to using family stories as a starting point only,” he says, “and making sure you can document as many details as possible to verify what is the truth.”
2. Look for telltale clues. Use your ancestors’ geographic and class origins as clues. Most Americans with royal roots have New England Yankee, Pennsylvania Quaker, or Tidewater planter forebears. The immigrants who brought their blue blood with them to the New World were most likely Puritans settling in New England, Quakers (often Welsh) in Pennsylvania, Scots in mid-Atlantic states (some to Virginia), and Anglican “cavaliers” to Tidewater Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina. If you have a sizable number (50 to 100) of immigrant ancestors in one or more of these areas, you “can expect to find a royally descended forebear,” Roberts says.
Other good indicators are gentry-level occupations such as wealthy farmer or merchant, governor, minister, or military officer. Thompson advises finding out as much as possible about the emigrant, his wife, children, occupation, religious beliefs, and anything else that might help to place him in a proper family.
Once you’ve spotlighted a potential connection, you can begin checking to see if he or she has royal forebears.
3. Research your possible connection to royalty. What do you know about this ancestor (or ancestors) that you suspect has royal family ties? Determine what sources (books, films, microfiche, indexes, etc.) are available at libraries for that surname.
Family histories and surname books: More recent histories are best because new facts and documentation have been added.
County or place histories are geographically oriented and deal with a parish, manor house, or county and with prominent local families.
Documented visitations: Records of church-related parish matters (fees, attendance and deaths)
Periodicals containing local history and genealogy
Related surname family histories
Royal genealogies
Heraldry books: These books contain genealogies and coats of arms granted to individuals in a family
4. Beware of scams and incorrect/conflicting data. We all know the internet is a terrific resource for genealogists, but it also spreads false family history information as quickly as celebrity gossip. Whenever you find a site containing royal and noble genealogies, consider their “facts” as clues only and verify them yourself. See what kind of documentation these sites offer; the more records and authentic sources they cite, the more reliable the data probably is. Learn to do good, solid research.
Print sources are no different. These may contain inaccurate, conflicting, or even purposely falsified genealogical information. “Many royal and noble ancestries have been produced over the centuries that are often more the results of wishful thinking than scientific research and documentary evidence,” says genealogist Boettger. “It seems to be a phenomenon common to every age and civilization.” In the 15th and 16th centuries, for example, families of social standing were expected to have ancestries dating back to ancient or Biblical figures or even legendary heroes, so many families hired genealogists to “find” (or invent) such connections. “Thus, numerous fanciful family origins were created,” Boettger says.
5. Learn the lingo. If you want to be a royal researcher who’s in the know, master a few key terms that will come up often. First, “royalty” only applies to the rulers (kings, queens, princes, princesses) and their immediate families. “Nobles” are families of high and hereditary rank, often descendants of kings’ younger sons, but not always related by blood to royalty.
Once you begin digging into royal genealogies, you may encounter certain Latin or French abbreviations:
sp or S.p.: sine prole (Latin) or sans posterite (French); without issue
d.S.p.: decessit sine prole (Latin) or décedé/décedée sans postérité (French); died without issue
O.S.p.: obiit sine prole (Latin); died without issue
V.p.: vita patris (Latin); during the life of the father
d.V.p.: died before his (or her) father
O.V.p.: obiit vita patris; died before his (or her) father
V.m.: vita matris (Latin); during the life of the mother (usually implies that the mother was an heiress of some sort)
O.V.m.: obiit vita matris (Latin); died before his (or her) mother
S.p.l.: sans postérité légitime (French); without legitimate issue (Note that s.p. usually implies “without any issue either legitimate or illegitimate,” whereas s.p.l. usually implies “without legitimate issue but with illegitimate issue.”)
S.p.m.: sine prole masculina (Latin); without any sons (usually implies “with daughters”)
For a more in-depth list of noble, princely, royal, and imperial titles, check out the website page A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal and Imperial Titles, https://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm 6. Join forces with royal roots researchers everywhere. You’re not alone in your quest for the crown in your family tree. Millions of others worldwide seek the same thrill and face the same challenges. Enlist their help, and you may discover the key to your ancestors or break through the brick wall standing in your path.
Now that you know the pitfalls and pleasures of royal genealogy, nothing stands between you and the discovery of your family’s majesty. Along the way, you’ll no doubt find that many of your “commoner” kin were pretty uncommon, too—and that might just be the crowning touch in your quest for royal roots.
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