Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton revealed to be distant cousins as family trees show
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton revealed to be distant cousins as family trees show they share same set of royal ancestors
- Trump, through his mother, and Clinton, through her father are related
- Pair of presidential front-runners share 18th great-grandparents
- Ancestor John of Gaunt was son of King Edward III at beginning of what became War of Roses secession debacle
By CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 17:51 EST, 25 August 2015 | UPDATED: 20:09 EST, 25 August 2015
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.
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Ancestry site MyHeritage has discovered that the Democratic and Republican front-runners in the race for the White House, Hillary Clinton (left) and Donald Trump (Right) are distantly related through a royal ancestor
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Both Clinton and Trump claim lineage to John of Gaunt, (pictured) the 14th century 1st Duke of Lancaster and son of England's King Edward III
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.
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Clinton is related to John of Gaunt and his mistress-turned-wife Katherine Swynford through her father's side while Trump is related to the royal through his mother Mary Anne MacLeod
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.
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