Hello, everyone and welcome back to Mystery Scoop!
Celebrity ancestry is the topic we're going to explore today.
While you may know a lot about your favourite celebrities, you may be unaware of their illustrious
distant relatives.
Many of today's celebrities have relationships to other famous people in history, while some
have ties with monarchies.
We thought it might be fascinating and entertaining to explore the connection between some of
these names.
Let's have a look!
Helena Bonham Carter & Violet Bonham Carter
Helena's father, Raymond Bonham Carter, was a British banker and a member of the well-known
Bonham Carter family.
Helena's maternal grandparents were Hélène Fould-Springer, a painter, and Eduardo Propper
de Callejón, a diplomat.
Violet Bonham Carter, her paternal grandmother, was a well-known feminist and politician whose
father, Herbert Henry Asquith, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916.
Rashida Jones & Edward I
Rashida Jones, an American actress, claims lineage from a line of European and American
royalty on her father's side.
Betty Washington Lewis and Edward I are Rashida's paternal ancestors.
Betty Washington Lewis was an American colonist and George Washington's sister.
While, Edward I ruled England as King from 1272 until his death in 1307.
Tilda Swinton & Robert The Bruce
Tilda Swinton is a British actress who comes from one of Scotland's oldest families.
One of her ancestors was King of Scots Robert I, often known as Robert the Bruce, who reigned
from 1306 until 1329.
Robert the Bruce, fought against England in the First War of Scottish Independence and
is regarded as a national hero in Scotland.
Christopher Plummer & Sir John Abbott
Christopher Plummer was a Canadian actor who won multiple honours, including an Oscar,
over his 70-year career.
His family tree has some interesting branches.
On his mother's side, Christopher Plummer, was the great-grandson of Sir John Joseph
Caldwell Abbott, Canada's third Prime Minister from 1891 to 1892.
On his father's side, Christopher's great-uncle was Frederick Barnard Fetherstonhaugh, a patent
lawyer and agent.
Harry Lloyd & Charles Dickens
Harry Lloyd, who plays Viserys Targaryen in the popular TV series 'Game of Thrones', is
related to novelist Charles Dickens.
The actor is related to the popular english author through his mother, Marion Dickens,
who is the daughter of Captain Peter Gerald Charles Dickens, great-grandson of Charles
Dickens.
Harry Lloyd's mother is also related to Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, a barrister, the most
successful of all of Charles Dickens's children.
Cary Elwes & John Elwes
Cary Elwes is a British actor who's best known for his roles as Westley in "The Princess
Bride" and Robin Hood in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights".
He is a direct descendant of John Elwes who served as a member of parliament for Berkshire
from 1772 to 1784.
Best remembered as a miser, John Elwes is said to have inspired one of Charles Dickens'
most famous characters, Ebenezer Scrooge, from the novella "A Christmas Carol" 1843.
Kit Harington & Robert Catesby
Actor Kit Harington got to play his ancestor, Robert Catesby, in the historical drama TV
miniseries 'Gunpowder'.
Harington's mother, Deborah Catesby, was a direct descendant of Robert Catesby.
Robert was a participant in the infamous and ultimately unsuccessful "Gunpowder Plot" to
assassinate King James I. Interestingly, in the other hand, Kit Harington's father Sir
David Harington was a descendant of King James I.
Anderson Cooper & Cornelius Vanderbilt
Anderson Cooper, a political commentator and broadcast journalist, was born into the famous
Vanderbilt family.
His father was the popular screenwriter and actor Wyatt Emory Cooper, while his mother,
Gloria Vanderbilt, was a famous fashion designer and heiress.
Anderson's maternal grandfather Reginald, known to many as an avid equestrian, belonged
to the prominent Vanderbilt family.
Reginald's great-grandfather Cornelius, was the founder of the Vanderbilt shipping and
railroad fortune.
Rose Leslie & Charles II of England
Actress Rose Leslie, best known for her role as Ygritte in the HBO series "Game of Thrones,"
grew up in her family's 16th-century Lickleyhead Castle, which is owned by Clan Leslie.
Her ancestors include King Charles II, during whose reign women were granted the right to
work professionally as actresses.
Until then, female roles were solely played by men.
Rose Leslie might credit her ancestor for indirectly assisting her career as an actress.
Tom Hanks & Abraham Lincoln
In case you didn't know this yet, Tom Hanks, an actor who's considered to be Hollywood
royalty, is related to one of the greatest American presidents, Abraham Lincoln.
Hanks is related to Lincoln through the president's mother, Nancy, making him the third cousin
four times removed of the former president.
Tom Hanks narrated "Killing Lincoln", the 2011 TV movie about the president's assassination.
That is all for today guys, and thank you for watching!