Stick a tiara on Hilary Duff, America's closest celebrity relative to Queen Elizabeth II, according to a genealogical study.
In
fact, millions of Americans of English descent can claim a distant -
very, very distant - relationship to the queen, but Duff, a Disney
princess best known for playing Lizzie McGuire, tops a list of 20 Yank
stars who are umpteenth cousins many times removed, according to the
study released today by genealogy website findmypast.com.
Also
among the top 20 are Brooke Shields, Maggie and Jake Gyllenhall,
Michael Douglas, Ellen DeGeneres, Beyonce, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie
and Alec Baldwin.
Duff recently gave birth to her first child, has
just signed up to return to TV with a new half-hour comedy series, and
now can claim to be the "most royal" of American celebs.
According
to Josh Taylor, a genealogist who helped document the connections for
findmypast.com, Duff is the queen's 18th cousin. Both trace their
ancestry back to Edward III, a king with many children, who died in
1377. The rest on the list share descent with the queen from either
English or French kings.
Some historians believe that most modern
Brits descend from Edward III, which would in turn mean that many
Americans of English descent also share a distant kinship with him and
with the queen. The website has produced a new Facebook app, "Are You Related to the Queen?", so people can explore their roots.
USA Today