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According to ancestry.com, and yes it has my relatives going back that far, I am a descendant of Richard III. Wonder how many others are here.


Perhaps almost everyone: " Some experts estimate that 80 percent of England's present population descends from Edward III." [1] There was an Economist article posted to HN several months back that explained the general principle better but I couldn't immediately find it.

[1] http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13662242/ns/technology_and_science...


Similar with French Canadians, since they are all descendants of a small group of immigrants, a lot of them claim to be related to Celine Dion.


One of the things missing from the BBC report there was that this was a mitochondrial DNA test. While many may (on paper) be a descendant of Richard III, illegitimacy is common and matrilineal heritage is the best bet.


It was a little annoying that from the description was clear that it was mitochondrial-DNA, but they didn't write "mitochondrial" even once.




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