Presidential candidate Donald Trump may criticize rival Hillary Clinton regularly, but the Republican and Democratic front-runners are actually distant relatives.
Both the real estate tycoon and former Secretary of State are the direct descendants of 14th century 1st Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt and his third wife Katherine Swynford, according to the ancestry site MyHeritage.com.
Clinton claims the lineage to her 18th great-grandparents through the Rodham family of her father’s side while Trump is related to her through his mother Mary Anne Macleod, who was born in Scotland.
The common relative means that the Democrat and Republican are 19th cousins.
John of Gaunt, a royal in the 14th century, was the son of King Edward III and featured in the Shakespearean play Richard II, named after his nephew.
Swynford was at first Gaunt’s mistress, but they later married and their offspring were legitimized.
Gaunt’s children by Swynford include Trump’s 17th great-grandfather John Beaufort and Clinton’s 17th great-grandmother Joan Beaufort, according to MyHeritage.
The Duke of Lancaster’s son by his first wife Blanche, would later go on to become Henry IV.
Various other descendants of Gaunt would claim his lineage to Edward III during the War of the Roses, a conflict that makes today’s political scandals seem laughably tame in comparison.
The war ultimately ended when Henry VII, a member of the House of Lancaster, defeated Richard III in battle and became the first Tudor king.
It is doubtful that Trump and Clinton knew of their distant relation, though the former senator did attend the businessman’s wedding to third wife Melania in 2005.
Researchers have previously looked up Clinton’s connections to other famous names when she was running for office.
In 2008 it was revealed that she was a distant cousin to Celine Deon, Madonna and Alanis Morissette.
Though Trump and Clinton’s ties are only visible centuries back, Clinton and actress Angelina Jolie are ninth cousins twice removed, according to the The New England Historic Genealogical Society.
In addition to Trump’s Scottish side, his known ancestors include grandfather Friedrich Drumpf, a German immigrant in the late 1800s who owned a restaurant in Seattle and later participated in the Yukon gold rush.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3210778/Donald-Trump-Hillary-Clinton-revealed-distant-cousins-family-trees-share-set-royal-ancestors.html#ixzz4JfAPj8iB
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Inbreeding and a tree that dont branch .. makes sense why this country and this world are going to shit ..inbreeding brings on retardation ..and folks we are watching what happens when retards are running the show
sorry but its genetics , and im not trying to be a pr#@k about the retard word , i understand that there are people not being of sound mind,,, but dam.. do we have to put them in office?
We hear this before every election, and it’s true.
ALL politicians, and rich/famous people in general are descendants of the Plantagenet Kings. If you want to wipe out a bloodline, that’s the one to shoot for.
Wikipedia dates their origin in tenth century England, but they actually go back to ancient Egypt. (but the name “Plantagenet” is from England)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Plantagenet
Hey, imagine that? What are the chances? Even Barry and Cheney were said to be distant cousins. Gee, either it’s really a small world or the elite definitely control the bloodlines of succession. I think the latter.