A DNA test accompanied by an analysis has brought into prominence that Prince William is the first member of the British royal family to have Indian ancestry. Furthermore, a genetic link has been revealed between the Duke of Cambridge and a half-Indian woman, a very distant relative from his mother’s side. Initially described as Armenian, DNA analysis has resolved that a relative of William’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Eliza Kewark, was at least half-Indian as well lived in India’s western region.

The link was substantiated by Scottish scientists, who discovered that Kewark’s descendants carried a rare strand of DNA, known as mitochondrial DNA, that can only be passed on by a mother.  Until now,  almost every single person who has been found to carry this strand originates from India. While 14 strands of the DNA have been recorded, 13 of which came from India, having others coming from a native of Nepal.

Genetics expert Jim Wilson of the University of Edinburgh was in charge of the research who explained that even though the DNA is found in William and his brother Harry, the princes are not able to pass this strand on to their children. It has not been disclosed as to which member of the family supplied saliva samples used in the test. It was known that Eliza Kewar was married to Scotsman Theodore Forbes, who left Eliza and sent their daughter, Katherine, to live in England at age six. Letters sent from Kewark to Forbes recommend that Forbes left her due to fact of her race. In his will, he rejected to recognize the existence that she was the biological mother of his child, rather referring to her as the purported mother as well as his housekeeper.

Interestingly, Historian Alistair Moffatt discovered that Theodore Forbes went to India to make his fortune in the booming Indian tea industry. While staying in India he was known to have employed a housekeeper with whom he had three children one of these children was a distant relative of Princess Diana. The Duke of Cambridge’s Indian heritage could be used to uplift the British’s monarchy’s popularity in India in actuality was formerly part of the British Empire during the 19th century.

Image Source: Prince William have Indian ancestry

(AW:Samrat Biswas)