Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp’s family tree has some serious royal twists. While filming Who Do You Think You Are? in 2011, genealogists discovered that Depp and Queen Elizabeth II share a common ancestor: King Edward III, who ruled during the medieval period.
This makes the Pirates of the Caribbean star the late Queen’s 20th cousin — and the two reportedly met briefly on the set of Sleepy Hollow in the 1990s.
Ellen DeGeneres
The Princess of Wales and Ellen DeGeneres share an unexpected family link. The two are 15th cousins, connected through Sir Thomas Fairfax, an army officer during the English Civil War, and his wife, Ange Gascoigne.
Ellen discovered the connection back in 2011, before Kate’s wedding to Prince William, though she sadly didn’t land an invite. “Everyone thinks I’m joking, but I’m not,” she told The Daily Mail. “If we’re related, we should start hanging out together.”
Guy Ritchie
Kate also shares royal DNA with director Guy Ritchie, who is her sixth cousin through their ancestor David Martineau, an 18th-century surgeon from Norwich. The two are friendly, and Ritchie was among the guests at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.
Benedict Cumberbatch
In The Hollow Crown, Benedict Cumberbatch played King Richard III — and it turns out the casting was spot-on. The actor is the second cousin 16 times removed of Richard III, the last English monarch to die in battle.
In 2015, Cumberbatch was invited to read a poem at the king’s reburial at Leicester Cathedral. “It’s an extraordinary thing to witness,” he said afterward. “History through death brought back to life in order to be placed back to death again.”
Reports also suggest that Benedict is distantly related to Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Jane Grey.
Kit Harington

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has royal ties of his own. His paternal eight-times-great-grandfather was King Charles II of England, making Kit and King Charles III distant cousins — roughly ninth or tenth cousins, depending on the lineage.
Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff, forever beloved as Lizzie McGuire, also has blue blood in her background. She and Queen Elizabeth II were 18th cousins, both descended from King Edward III and Scotland’s King Robert the Bruce. She’s also a distant relative of Johnny Depp — truly Hollywood royalty.
Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Gyllenhaals round out the list of regal connections. The actor siblings are 19th cousins to the late Queen Elizabeth II through their shared ancestor, King Edward III.
Descended from a Swedish noble family, Jake and Maggie also happen to be distant cousins of Hilary Duff and Johnny Depp — proof that in Hollywood, it really is one royal family tree.