This is a very less know secret that the future king, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are distant cousins.

At first, even we did not believe but it’s true that William and Kate are 12th cousins.



It was like a skeleton so large that even the vast royal closet struggled to contain it. Not only that but the common ancestor who links the two lovers is long forgotten. The man who links Prince and Duchess Kate happens to be Thomas Leighton. He was an Elizabethan soldier, diplomat and for 40 years, the cut-throat Governor of Guernsey. He is Prince William’s 12th generation great-grandparent, and Duchess Kate’s 11th, making them 12th cousins.

A brutal ancestor: He disregarded civil liberties and kept the people down by main force. This hard-nosed figure was a gentleman who came as a timely snub to those critics of Kate who dismiss her antecedents as being working-class.

Also read: Know everything about Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton’s relationship.



So hated was Leighton, that on his death in 1610, the official report on his demise was defaced by angry Guernsey residents. And uniquely for such an important figure in the Elizabethan court, his wife was the Queen’s cousin. No portrait of him survives. All were either destroyed or lost.

Explanation: This chart will help you understand all this in a better way

Leighton has been a hugely successful soldier, serving with distinction in France and Ireland. He lustily enjoyed the quelling of a revolt in northern England in 1569. Some said he enjoyed the sight and smell of blood just a little too much.



To reward him, or perhaps just to get this thug out of her way, Queen Elizabeth gave him Guernsey to govern in 1570 and so his reign of terror began. The root of the problem was his misappropriation of funds, his tyranny, his taste for imprisonment without trial, and his press-ganging of Guernsey men to go to sea against their will to fight pirates.

As the years passed, he made his son a Lieutenant of the island, too. Surrounded by allies, Leighton felt emboldened to seize four French ships tied up in St Peter Port – even though Guernsey was supposed to be neutral.

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The embarrassment suffering: The Royal Court in London, embarrassed by this act of brigand, declared the seizure invalid. Leighton airily ignored their judgment. ‘In 1587 Leighton sailed to England to recommend Sir Walter Raleigh on defence.

It is from Elizabeth Leighton’s side that Duchess Kate descends, while Prince William’s ancestor is her sister Anne. Curiously, there is not a single titled person on Duchess Kate’s side of the family tree. Yet on Prince William’s side, he can count the earls of Rochester and a few baronets among his ancestors before his forbears marry into the Spencer family. In fact, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate’s family slid decidedly down-market for a few generations before picking itself up and becoming respectable again.

Also read: Kate reveals how her mum Carole is a tower of strength whenever William is away.



On the other hand, not everyone would wish to be associated with an ancestor who cared so little for the sanctity of life. The short official record of Sir Thomas, who is after all the blood tie between our future king and queen. ‘Leighton is recalled in Guernsey with rancour. In the United Kingdom, he is barely remembered at all.

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