With her record-breaking success and unparalleled fan base, you won’t have to go far to hear Taylor Swift described as the Queen of Pop.
But today her royal ancestry was laid bare for the first time, as it was revealed the global superstar is in fact a descendant of French King Louis XIV.
Swift, 34, is the eighth cousin – 11 times removed – of Louis, the monarch behind the iconic Palace of Versailles, according to the global family history platform MyHeritage.
While they may seem the most unlikely of relatives at first glance, the heritage site notes that Swift is no stranger to her ancestor’s life of luxury, having filmed the music video for her hit Blank Space in an opulent building bearing similarities to that of Versailles.
The startling revelation comes as France prepares to welcome the singer for a series of six concerts as part of her record-breaking Eras tour, scheduled to take place in Paris (May 9-12) and Lyon (June 2-3).
The roots of their connection stretch back to aristocratic England in the 14th century, where common ancestors Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, and his wife Katherine Stafford laid the foundation for a regal lineage.
On Swift’s side, in the 17th century, her paternal English ancestors left for the American colonies and settled in Massachusetts, before arriving in Pennsylvania a few generations later.
As for Louis XIV, the connection is traced through an English lady who wed a count of Béarn in the 15th century, located in Southwestern France.
Their great-granddaughter ascended to become Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and her granddaughter, none other than Marie de’ Medici, served as the paternal grandmother to the French King Louis XIV.
Director of Research at MyHeritage, Roi Mandel, told MailOnline: ‘On the occasion of Taylor Swift’s concert tour in Paris, our team at MyHeritage decided to dive into [Taylor’s] family history to check if she has French roots hidden somewhere in the family past.
‘We were amazed to find out that not only are there roots – they are royal roots, and she is nothing less than a distant cousin of King Louis XIV!
‘The Queen of Pop is a relative of the Sun King. It’s a really poetic revelation.’
Louis XIV is perhaps best known for building the Palace of Versailles.
He also founded the French Royal Academy of Dance, the predecessor of the Academy of the National Opera of Paris, which today trains the dancers of the Paris Opera.
The King was believed to have loved dancing at the lavish parties he threw, as well as listening to and practising music.
He even studied guitar with the best musicians of his time – a talent shared with his famous cousin.
Mr Mandel added: ‘Taylor Swift is one of the most fascinating people in popular culture, undoubtedly one of the most influential of the current generation. The fact that she became the leading pop star in the world proves that she has a strong foundation, a strong family background. It can only happen when you have your roots planted deep in the ground.
he fact that she became the leading pop star in the world proves that she has a strong foundation, a strong family background. It can only happen when you have your roots planted deep in the ground.
There is definitely an intention to continue discovering more fascinating things about her.’
The star’s representatives have been contacted for comment.
And Swift is by no means the only famous name who has a similarly gilded ancestor.
Even before she married into the Royal Family, Meghan Markle could lay claim to more than one celebrated ancestor, although she likely wasn’t aware of the connections.
In 2017, researchers discovered that she is related to both wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and William Shakespeare.
According to MyHeritage, she is the sixth cousin five times removed of Churchill and is the fifth cousin 13 times removed of Shakespeare.
The Duchess of Sussex and Churchill are both descendants of Sarah and Zachariah Howe.
Zachariah was born in Essex in 1640 and moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, in search of a new life.
There he met his wife, Sarah, née Gilbert, who was the daughter of Matthew Gilbert, a man born in Somerset who later became the deputy governor of New Haven Colony.
Meghan is a distant descendant of their son, John, while Sir Winston is descended from their daughter, Sarah Curtis.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla is related to Harrington through John Tufton, the 2nd Earl of Thanet.
The Earl was an ardent Royalist who took part in the indecisive Battle of Edgehill in 1642, after Charles had declared war on Parliamentarian ‘rebels’.
The King ultimately lost the Civil War and was executed for High Treason in 1649.
The Battle of Edgehill was one of the first of the Civil War, which broke out over Charles’s belief in the divine right of kings and his quarrels with Parliament.
The conflict, which was fought near Edge Hill in Warwickshire, was bloody and chaotic, with both the Royalist and Parliamentary side losing a similar number of men.
It prevented either side from gaining a quick victory in the war and ultimately meant that the fighting would go on for four years.
The Earl of Thanet, who Camilla is related to on her mother’s side, was later forced to surrender to the parliamentarian army and his home, Wiston House in West Sussex, was occupied.
The Earl was then able to escape to France, leaving his wife and children in England.
He returned in 1644 and was fined by Parliament, prompting him to sell his looted home.
After the Restoration in 1660, when the deposed monarch’s son, King Charles II, was installed, the Earl’s place of residence was listed as Lord’s Place, in Lewes.
While attempting to avoid paying tax on it, he described it as a ‘ruinous and useless house for the most part fallen downe and lying waste.’
The aristocrat died in 1664.
Harrington famously played the character Jon Snow in the long-running Game of Thrones series.
