Celebrities Who Have Ancestry Connections With Queen Camilla

For centuries, folks have pondered the age-old quandary: "Where did I come from?" While there are numerous ways to tackle this question, many of us turn to genealogy — the study of family histories — to learn about our ancestors. Genealogy uses oral history and written records to identify your forebears and uncover details about their lives. It's a powerful way to connect with the past and see your ancestors reflected in who you are today. 

When it comes to genealogy, the British royals have always been a hot topic. According to Ancestry.com, experts have documented some 1,200 years and 37 generations of royal ancestry. In 2005, the renowned family added a new member when Prince Charles (now King Charles III) married his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles (now Queen Camilla). Naturally, genealogists were eager to learn more about Camilla's family history. 

Camilla was born in London, England on July 17, 1947, but her ancestry connects her to a surprising place. In researching her family tree, experts discovered that Camilla is related to French pioneers who settled in Québec, Canada, during the 1600s. Four centuries later, around 20 million people have descended from this small group of French Canadians — including the Queen Consort herself. But Camilla isn't the only luminary in her family tree. In fact, she's distantly related to several musicians, politicians, and even a legendary author. Keep scrolling to see who else hails from Camilla's bloodline. 

Queen Camilla is well known for her ties to the British royal family, but she also has a connection to the Queen of Pop. That's right: Camilla is distantly related to Madonna. Both women are descendants of Zacharie Cloutier, a French colonist who settled near modern-day Québec City in 1634. Back then, Québec was a tiny settlement in the colony of New France. Cloutier and his family were among the first immigrants who journeyed to the region — in other words, they were the original French Canadians.  

Not only did Cloutier help establish New France, but he also grew a massive genealogical tree. The settler and his wife, Xainte (or Sainte) Dupont, had several children who grew up and started their own families. As the local population grew, Cloutier's bloodline proliferated. By the 1800 census, Cloutier's family tree included around 10,500 relatives. Today, the Frenchman has scores of descendants, including Camilla and Madonna. The Queen and the Material Girl both descend from Cloutier through their maternal ancestral lines. According to Hello!, the women are ninth cousins.

Ancestry.com confirmed this illustrious family connection in 2008. "The fact that Camilla and Madonna are related, however distantly, highlights the truly unpredictable and entertaining nature of family history research," said a spokesperson for the genealogy site (via the Sydney Morning Herald). 

Queen Camilla's family tree has produced a bushel of stars, including the legendary singer Céline Dion. Both women can trace their ancestral roots to a prominent French pioneer named Jean Guyon, who settled in New France in 1634. According to the French-Canadian Genealogist, Guyon is Dion's 9th great-grandfather and Camilla's 10th great-grandfather. Hence, Dion and Camilla are tenth cousins, once removed. 

Genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner confirmed this ancestral connection to the Irish Examiner in 2006. "Camilla and Céline descend from Jean Guyon," he stated. Guyon and his wife, Mathurine Robin, raised several children who carried on the bloodline. Today, many French Canadians have ancestral connections to Guyon and his family. "Both Jean and Zacharie [Cloutier] died in Chateau-Richer, Québec," Reitwiesner explained. "Because of their unusual French-Canadian ancestry, they are all blood relations."

Dion was born in Québec on March 30, 1968. The pop sensation descended from Guyon through her paternal lineage. As the French Canadian Genealogist reported, Dion's family carried the last name Guyon before changing it to Dion several generations ago. And she's not the only musical legend in her family tree: Dion is distantly related to fellow pop icon Madonna. According to MyHeritage, the singers are 8th cousins via their common ancestor, Élisabeth-Ursule Cloutier.

Actor Angelina Jolie is known for her diverse brood, which includes three biological children and three international adoptees. Jolie's six children may be the center of attention, but her ancestry also tells a fascinating story. The "Salt" actor was born in Los Angeles on June 4, 1975, but she can trace her lineage to the Great White North. Like Queen Camilla, Jolie is descended from French-Canadian Pioneer Zacharie Cloutier. The Daily Mail noted that Camilla and Jolie are 9th cousins.

So, what does this mean in terms of shared DNA? Not as much as you might think. As 9th cousins, the women are very distantly related — you'd have to count back nine generations to find a common relative in their family tree. 23andMe notes that distant cousins like Camilla and Jolie only share about 0.05% of their DNA. And Camilla isn't the only familiar face in Jolie's family tree: the movie star also counts politician Hillary Clinton as a distant relative. 

Not only is Jolie descended from French-Canadian settlers, but her bloodline is also a product of a major immigration campaign. Starting in 1663, the French Government exported around 800 French women to the colony of New France, where they were paid to marry and start families. The plan succeeded, and a population boom ensued. These bachelorettes became known as Filles du Roi ("Daughters of the King" in English). Like many people with ancestral ties to Québec, Jolie can trace her lineage to this group of women.

If you're not already blown away by Queen Camilla's star-studded ancestry, hold on to your cowboy hat as we reveal this next tidbit: Camilla is related to country music icon Shania Twain. Their distant familial connection comes through Camilla's ancestor, Zacharie Cloutier. Twain, whose real name is Eileen Regina Edwards, was born and raised in Ontario, Canada, and she's related to Cloutier through her maternal lineage.

Given that she hails from Canada, it's not far-fetched that Twain would have French Canadian ancestry — but that's only half the story. In 1996, the singer courted controversy over her purported First Nations heritage. According to the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, Twain claimed to be half-Ojibwe through her father, Jerry Twain. However, it was later revealed that Jerry was her adoptive father and, therefore, not a biological relative. Some media outlets slammed the country star for misrepresenting herself as Native, but Twain defended her ties to the Ojibwe community.

In a public statement, the singer explained: "I don't know how much Indian blood I actually have in me, but as the adopted daughter of my father Jerry, I became legally registered as 50 percent North American Indian. Being raised by a full-blooded Indian and being a part of his family and their culture from such a young age is all I've ever known. That heritage is in my heart and my soul, and I'm proud of it" (via the Orlando Sentinel). 

What do Queen Camilla and pop icon Justin Bieber have in common? Probably not a lot — but thanks to the work of genealogists, we know they have at least one commonality. The regal and the "Sorry" crooner are related to 17th-century Québécois. Bieber was born in Ontario, Canada, on March 1, 1994, and is French Canadian on his mother's side. Bieber can trace his maternal lineage to several early French Canadians, including Jean Guyon. This connection means that Bieber and Camilla are distant relatives.

But Camilla isn't the only star on Bieber's ancestry tree. According to Ancestry.com, the "Ghost" singer has several famous relatives, including fellow Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne. The musicians are 12th cousins, directly descended from the same pair of ancestors. Bieber is also distantly related to pop star Celine Dion and actor Ryan Gosling.

How does Bieber feel about his celebrity kin? Pretty good, by the looks of it. In 2019, the pop star shared his genealogy tree on Instagram and wrote, "I also just found out that I'm related to both Ryan Gosling and Avril Lavigne this is the best day of my life.. it seems super legit it's on ancestry.com" Sign us up for that family reunion!

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter may be the Queen of R&B, but she's not the only crown-wearer in her family tree. According to the genealogical website Geni, Queen Camilla's 10th great-grandfather, Jean Guyon, is Beyoncé's distant relative. Beyoncé's French Canadian ancestry is not surprising. In fact, her famous moniker has French and African origins — and it also happens to be her mother's maiden name.

Beyoncé's French Canadian ancestors arrived in the American South during the 18th century. Her great-great-grandmother was a formerly enslaved woman named Josephine Lesse. In 2021, the pop diva confirmed her heritage to Vogue. "I researched my ancestry recently and learned that I come from a slave owner who fell in love with and married a slave," she wrote. "I had to process that revelation over time. I questioned what it meant and tried to put it into perspective." 

Beyoncé's ancestry is just one example of how colonialism and slavery have molded the demographics of North America. As Pew Research reported in 2015, around 40 million Black Americans descend from enslaved Africans. Since the lives of enslaved people generally weren't documented, many Black Americans have had much of their family histories erased. "Slavery was not that many generations ago, so my family still tells stories about our enslaved ancestors," Professor Jazlyn Mooney told USC Today in 2023. "But these are just stories and that is what most African Americans have left. We don't have any records or numbers. There's no tangible data."

Blonde hair isn't the only commonality between Queen Camilla and American pop star Meghan Trainor. According to the genealogical website Geni, Trainor's 11th great-grandfather is Camilla's ancestor, Zacharie Cloutier. Trainor was born on December 22, 1993, in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The Grammy winner is French-Canadian through her maternal lineage.

In 2021, Trainor and her husband, Daryl Sabara, filmed a video with Ancestry.com in which the pair explored their family histories. The genealogical site revealed that Trainor has some Polish ancestry. In addition to her French Canadian relatives, Trainor's family tree includes a cattle trader, a shoemaker, and a great-great-grandfather who kept a pet ostrich.

By now, you might be wondering how the Cloutier gene pool produced so many celebrities. Is it the work of a higher power? A genetic anomaly? In actuality, the answer is simple — and a lot less mystical than you might think. Family trees can grow to enormous proportions. Your lineage begins with your two parents, but that number quickly accelerates as you count back through the generations. Backtrack 13 generations, and you'll find that you have more than 4,000 10th great-grandparents! In Cloutier's case, his family tree contains approximately 5 or 6 million descendants. With a family tree that size, there's bound to be a few celebrities in the mix.

Queen Camilla can check "politician" off her genealogical BINGO card thanks to the fact that she's distantly related to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. According to the genealogy site Geneanet, Trudeau descended from Camilla's ancestor, Zacharie Cloutier, through his paternal lineage. This connection makes Trudeau and Camilla 10th cousins. 

Trudeau was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on December 25, 1971. The Perche-Quebec genealogy site notes that his heritage is primarily Scottish and French-Canadian. He also hails from a family of dignitaries: Trudeau's father, Pierre Trudeau, served as Canada's Prime Minister from 1968 to '79 and 1980 to '84. Additionally, his 4th-great-grandmother was the daughter of an esteemed British general.

In 2019, Ancestry.com delivered a bombshell about Trudeau's family tree. The genealogy site reported that the Prime Minister is distantly related to his political foe, Yves-Francois Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois party. According to research, the politicians share a common ancestor who lived 350 years ago. "It's always interesting to find a relationship between two people who are closely linked by their work," an Ancestry.com representative told CTV News Montreal. "Even more so when they are rivals, whether in business or politics." Given their long history of political sparring, we don't foresee a family reunion happening anytime soon.

Queen Camilla's family tree has sprouted numerous musicians, including Canadian pop legend Alanis Morissette. The Queen and the "Ironic" singer share at least two ancestors: Zacharie Cloutier and Jean Guyon. Morissette was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on June 1, 1974, and her French-Canadian roots run through her paternal lineage. On her maternal side, the singer harbors Jewish Hungarian ancestry. 

Digging deeper into Morissette's heritage, PBS's "Finding Your Roots" discovered that the singer's 4th great-grandfather, James McConnell, was a bit of a local legend during his day. In 1815, McConnell reportedly tried to ride his boat over the top of Chaudière Falls in Ontario. Unfortunately, things went awry when the boat overturned, killing three of his companions. McConnell was the lone survivor of the incident, and his story was immortalized in a song.

Upon learning this genealogical nugget, Morissette said she identified with her ancestor's bravery and his adventurous spirit. "So much intense stuff happened," the singer-songwriter mused. "I just think about their resilience and their ability to keep going in the face of tragedies."

You rarely, if ever, hear Queen Camilla and Jack Kerouac mentioned in the same sentence. After all, one is the Queen of England, and the other is an American novelist who died five decades ago. But one thing unites this unlikely pair: they're both related to French Canadian pioneer Zacharie Cloutier. Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1922. He was a native French speaker with French Canadian ancestry on both sides of the gene pool. According to Geneanet, Kerouac descends from Cloutier through his mother's lineage.

Throughout his life, Kerouac was obsessed with a rumor linking his family to a supposed 17th-century French nobleman named Alexandre de Kervoach. The "On the Road" author famously spent years trying to confirm his familial connection to Kervoach, a quest that took him all the way to France and into the depths of countless archives. However, despite his best efforts, Kerouac died in 1969 without finding a trace of his alleged ancestor.

Today, Keraouc's heritage is well-documented thanks to a group of relatives who founded the Kerouac Family Association in 1986. Their research revealed that "Kervoach" was likely not an aristocrat at all. The mystery ancestor was most likely a commoner named Urbain-François Le Bihan, who adopted the name "Alexandre de Kervoach" as an alias. Why did he use a fake moniker? The Kerouac Family Association explained: "According to the prevailing 18th-century fashion among bourgeois, our ancestor wanted to look like a nobleman." 

Moving further into the branches of Queen Camilla's family tree, you'll find yet another famous political figure: Hillary Clinton. Like Camilla, Clinton can trace her ancestry to French Canadian settler Jean Guyon. Genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner noted that Guyon is Clinton's 9th great-grandfather on her maternal side. As such, Clinton and Camilla are distant cousins. It may seem like an unlikely kinship, but genealogist Christopher Child pointed out that many French Canadians share distant ancestors. "It is common to find people of French Canadian descent to be related to large numbers of other French Canadians, including these notables," Child told Reuters in 2008.

In 2015, Clinton made an embarrassing slip-up regarding her lineage, proving that she might need to brush up on her own family history. During a roundtable discussion in Iowa, Clinton incorrectly stated that her grandparents were immigrants. "All my grandparents, you know, came over here and you know my grandfather went to work in lace mill in Scranton, Pennsylvania and worked there until he retired at 65," the former presidential candidate declared (via PolitiFact). "He started there when he was a teenager and just kept going." When Buzzfeed pointed out that all but one of Clinton's grandparents were born in the United States, her team quickly walked the statement back. A Clinton spokesperson later clarified: "Her grandparents always spoke about the immigrant experience and, as a result she has always thought of them as immigrants."

Unlike the other celebrities on our list, Camilla and Charles are not related through Franco-Canadian ancestry; their familial link is much closer to home. As Ancestry.com reported, the regals share a common ancestor named Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle. Cavendish was born in 1630 in Nottinghamshire, England. During his life, Cavendish fought in the English Civil War and became prominent in national politics. When the nobleman died in 1691, his bloodline continued through his daughter, Lady Margaret Cavendish. Charles descended from Margaret through his maternal lineage.

Camilla was born into an aristocratic family, but she also carries a tiny amount of noble blood. The Queen consort descends from Catherine Cavendish, the youngest daughter of Charles' ancestor, Henry Cavendish. Thanks to this familial link, Camilla and Charles are distant relatives — 9th cousins, once removed, to be exact.

It may seem odd to think of royals marrying their cousins, but Charles isn't the only royal to tie the knot with a distant family member. In fact, his parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, were second cousins, once removed. Likewise, Charles' son, Prince William, and his wife, Princess Catherine, are 11th cousins, once removed. And it's not just modern royals who tend to marry their kin. Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901, was happily wedded to her first cousin.