11 celebrities you didn't know were royal descendants

It seems pretty fitting that Beyoncé - regularly referred to as Queen Bey - is related to a real-life queen. The Texas Hold 'Em singer is Queen Elizabeth II's 25th cousin once removed, connected by their shared ancestor, Henry II, who ruled in the 12th century. The singer is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with royalty either – she shared a heartfelt meeting with the Duchess of Sussex at the premiere of Disney's The Lion King in 2019, telling Meghan, "We love you guys".

The "Queen of Pop" is more than just music royalty – she’s actually related to Queen Camilla. Madonna and the Queen are ninth cousins once removed, and are both descendants of Zacharie Cloutier, a 17th century French-Canadian who was a founding figure in the Quebec colony. A master carpenter who was a "bourgeois seigneur" – a person of considerable wealth – Zacharie and his wife Xainte Dupont have thousands of descendants today, and we're still hoping for a Madonna and Camilla meet-up.

He may have only played a king in The Return, but it turns out actor Ralph Fiennes is actually the eighth cousin of King Charles himself. The Harry Potter actor and The King are both descendants of King James II of Scotland, who succeeded to the Scottish throne at six-years-old during the 1400s. Ralph told People magazine about the time Charles visited the set of the James Bond film Spectre, revealing that his distant relative was "very charming" and "warm".

Another one of Queen Camilla's star-studded relatives is Celine Dion. The My Heart Will Go On singer and the Queen are both related to Jean Guyon, a Frenchman who also settled in Quebec, making the pair 10th cousins once removed. She's also another relative of Zacharie Cloutier, which also makes her ninth cousins once removed with Madonna – this family tree has no shortage of star power!

During an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? in 2011, Johnny Depp discovered that he's actually related to Queen Elizabeth II. A genealogist traced Johnny's lineage back over 500 years, and discovered the pair share a common ancestor, King Edward III, who reigned during the Medieval period. This makes the Pirates of the Caribbean actor and the late Queen 20th cousins, and though they’ve never formally met, the pair briefly made contact on the set of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow in the '90s, Sir Michael Gambon told The Telegraph. The Queen came riding past with Harry Herbert, the 17th Earl of Pembroke, with Johnny reportedly asking afterwards, "Was that the Queen?"

Former daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres never got the chance to sit down with the Princess of Wales – which would've been a fabulous chat, considering the pair are related. Kate and the famous funnywoman are 15th cousins, sharing a common ancestor in Sir Thomas Fairfax, an army officer during the English Civil War, and his wife Anges Gascoigne. Ellen found this fact out shortly before the Prince and Princess of Wales' 2011 wedding, jokingly telling Extra TV's Terri Seymour that she had a "beautiful outfit picked out" for the pair's lavish nuptials.

The Princess of Wales is also cousins with another famous celebrity – sixth cousins with film director Guy Ritchie, to be exact. The pair share a common ancestor in David Martineau, a surgeon in the 18th century who was part of a well-known Unitarian family from Norwich. Kate and Guy are also friends in real life, with the Snatch director scoring an invite to her wedding to Prince William in 2011 – sorry, Ellen!

He’s more than just the heir to the Iron Throne – Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington is related to real-life royalty. Kit’s paternal eight-times-great-grandfather was King Charles II of England, meaning he shares an ancestor, King Charles I (Charles II's grandfather), with the current King Charles III – if you can keep up with all those Charleses, that makes Kit and the King roughly 9th or 10th cousins.

Benedict Cumberbatch may have just been acting as King Richard III in The Hollow Crown, but turns out he’s actually related to him. Benedict is the second cousin 16 times removed of Richard, the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and the last monarch to die in Battle. Cumberbatch's family connection earned him an invite to read a poem at the monarch's reburial ceremony at Leicester Cathedral in 2015. The Sherlock actor is reportedly also connected to other royals like Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Jane Grey; he met the former queen when she presented him with a CBE in 2015, an experience he described to the BBC as "extraordinary" and "nerve-wracking".

Did you know singer Hilary Duff is reportedly the American celebrity most closely related to Queen Elizabeth II? The pair share an ancestor in King Edward III – the same as Johnny Depp – while Hilary is also descended from Robert the Bruce, who was the King of Scotland in the early 14th century. This makes the former Lizzie McGuire star and the late Queen 18th cousins, as well as distantly related to the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.

Descended from a Swedish noble family, brother-sister acting duo Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal are 19th cousins of the late Queen Elizabeth II through their shared ancestor, King Edward III of England. If you're keeping up (it's quite the family web), that also makes Jake and Maggie related to Johnny Depp and Hilary Duff. Talk about a family tree packed full of both acting royalty and actual royalty!