6 famous descendants of Robert the Bruce

Perhaps the Duchess of Sussex was always destined to become a royal? Her biographer, Andrew Morton, researched Meghan Markle’s ancestry for his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess and claims he found a distant family relationship between her and Robert the Bruce. Through 25 generations on Meghan’s grandmother’s side, her ancestor, Roger Shaw, connects her to the King. That means the two newest members of the Royal Family, Archie and Lilibet, are also related to Robert the Bruce.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Genevieve.

In the early 1900s, genealogists discovered a link between US President Theodore Roosevelt and Robert the Bruce. His mother’s lineage connects Roosevelt to Robert II of Scotland and Walter, high steward of Scotland, right back to Robert the Bruce. The findings were published in Charles H. Brownings Americans of Royal Descent and backed up by researchers from the California Genealogical Society at the time. You can read more about it in this article from a 1910 issue of the Boston Post.

TV news personality, military leader and governor of Edinburgh Castle, Major General Alastair Bruce of Crionaich is a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce. On being sworn in as Edinburgh Castle’s governor, Bruce commented; “Being a descendant of Robert the Bruce, and as a Scot, you can imagine, there is a lot of weight that comes with carrying the Bruce title. However, walking past the Robert the Bruce and William Wallace statues gives me an immense feeling, you can imagine what this fortress means to the people of Scotland.”

Image: Wikimedia Commons/British Army.