Courtney Cox Related To William The Conquerer | Who Do You Think You Are

[@vinnyvasquez]

Courtney Cox and Danny Dyer need to do a sitcom together where they plan to take the throne

[@susannamarker2582]

Would she understand him ?

[@gregbramwell7666]

Alex Armstrong too

[@maudeboggins9834]

Cindy Crawford is related to Charlemagne.

[@aftersexhighfives]

I need this!

[@paigegee5921]

Yes!!! I'm so here for that!!! Lol

[@b-playzyt9929]

This means she is also related to the Viking Rollo, as he was the 3x great grandfather of William the Conqueror

[@Bersztipflag]

Rollon le Marchant, Yes! Gånge-Rolf...

[@MultiKswift]

I just recently learned that I was descended from William the Conqueror and the Viking Rollo. I was way more excited to learn I was descended from Rollo than I was to find out that I was descended from William.

[@Bersztipflag]

@@MultiKswift Perhaps you suddenly felt as if you were 2 metres long (european measure) ?

[@binkyxz3]

Another great honor, she is related to Robert E. Lee and Colonial War hero "Light-horse Harry" Lee.

[@areiaaphrodite]

Rollo is my ancestor as well, through William the Conqueror and Edward Longshanks

[@milksips3876]

Courtney Cox looks stunning here, she also so interested, her calm narrative makes me feel she’d do a great documentary series. She was so gracious. The chap showing her was brilliant!

[@dazlad926]

It's actually not that bad of plastic surgery. Some horrendous stuff out there for sure.

[@sweiland75]

@@dazlad926 At least she knew when to stop.

[@pmccoy8924]

She is 60. She looks absolutely incredible here.

[@loyalrammy]

This is the dream of every genealogist, being directly related to someone famous or/and important. Almost all of us get blocked in the 1500’s because history rarely records the little people before this century.

[@grahamskilling2147]

Practically everyone is related to royalty and famous people if there are enough generations involved ….not just Danny and Courtney and its no great shakes

[@loyalrammy]

@@grahamskilling2147 That’s theoretical and probably true, but it’s fun finding any new ancestors to add to one’s family tree, but there is some spice added when the ancestor is famous or significant in history.

[@areiaaphrodite]

​@graham skilling It matters to OP and others, so just respect it and move on

[@grahamskilling2147]

@@areiaaphrodite Thanks sister ** times removed

[@RandomStranger246]

More than 60% of people with European ancestry are related to royalty within 30 generations back. King John is my 26th g-grandfather. I painstakingly traced my ancestry to the 1600s and then it started to get very easy.... because they were substantial land holders going back to King John and money meant there were records of them. Now I'm just a lowly peasant.

[@tndrunning3328]

Imagine telling William the Conqueror on the eve of the Battle of Hastings that he really needs to win because the best American sitcom just wouldn’t be the same without his x26 granddaughter

[@markharmon7598]

I do genealogy my direct descendant was William the Conquerors 1st cousin he fought at the Battle of Hastings. He was awarded Nottingham. My descendant changed his name to Herve then sudtone which eventually changed to Sutton who also married into the Despencencer family. My family is in the Doomsday book which was commissioned by William the Conquerer. I have my family tree traced back to 1032 France where William the Conquerer lived . My descendant and William the Conquerer had the same grandmother just different mothers. My line is DNA verified.

[@tndrunning3328]

@@markharmon7598 Yeah I don’t doubt that. I live in the south of England as did generations of my family going back hundreds of years so it’s quite likely old William was my relative too. The apples don’t fall far from the tree

[@AmandaFromWisconsin]

Imagine telling Robert the Bruce that his descendant is Hilary Duff.

[@markharmon7598]

@@tndrunning3328 my descendant married into the Dudley family from the Dudley Castle lore. They are also in the Doomsday Book.

[@janiehill4557]

So would you and Courtney share DNA ?? This is all so fascinating.

[@theDanwall87]

Courtney cox is related to Danny dyer!!! 😆

[@beebee9815]

I laughed until I realised that I'm related to them both! 😩

[@lilmonkey9919]

That's right 🤣

[@danmacalpinbruce2555]

Yes looks like i am also

[@Simonmc78]

Rosanna Davison also

[@golightly123456]

My first thought when I saw this vid 😂

[@keithcaldwell7673]

Poor thing means she's related to Danny dyer as well

[@jewellui]

Wow, I wish I could trace my family tree. Europeans are lucky to have such good records.

[@Bellg]

Not all europeans tho. Only the nobility have lines that stretch back that far. Most other Europeans would not be able to trace their line back all the way to 1000AD or earlier. Perhaps the 17th century or the time of Napoleon is where most european people's recorded line end.

[@ds1868]

@@Bellg you just need a gateway ancestor. Many millions of people are descended from the Plantagenet dynasty and ultimately William I. Nearly all western European people are descended from Charlemagne. I am descended from Edward I and his second wife Margaret of France. It's no big deal.

[@Bellg]

@@ds1868 Yes I know. I never said it was.

[@Joker-yw9hl]

I'm European (British) and there are no real records for my ancestors because they were dirt poor farmers, peasants and servants. I've taken a DNA test with 23andme and by far most of my ancestry is Irish. I share the same paternal line with Niall of the Nine Hostages (an Old Irish King and all-round horrible bloke), as do about 3 million other people, but I also have some Slavic blood from my grandfather who emigrated here after the war and married a Welsh woman (but the DNA test seemed to indicate the Welsh line also traces back to Ireland). So while I am apparently related to the Cheddar Man (as are so many millions of people), by and large I don't share many common ancestors with Brits let alone Europeans (at least not recent ancestry). Europeans related to the likes of English Nobility or Charlemagne etc do not include me!

[@jewellui]

Well I’m not expecting 10+ generations for all Europeans, I’m Chinese originally but born in the UK, I don’t think I can really get details great great grandparents so I’m always envious watching this programme haha. Just general record keeping in a lot of countries was not as common or as well preserved also DNA testing has less data.

[@alwantamalus3709]

Actually Cox is a french word/name, Caux (Pays de Caux) Land of Caux is in Normandy and Caux means Wheat lands in french

[@marykopydlowski4654]

Courtney is so lucky to find her roots in 1006 conquer Edward. Amazing. My mom's family was from England. Dad's grandmother was from Dublin Ireland. They came due to potatoes blight. This grandfather paid over a dozen workers to come to America with his family. He took his friends away from Ireland so they won't starve

[@aldozilli1293]

If your descendent was from Dublin they wouldn't have been starving from potato blight that affected the West of Ireland.

[@Parker_Douglas]

I’m quite sure it impacted the whole island .

[@jemmajames6719]

There’s a chance that if you can trace your roots back to the UK, you have a chance of being related to Royalty,if you have Scottish ancestry then you will be related to Robert the Bruce. You will be related to Charlemagne, and males will have a high chance of being able to have DNA results showing them to be related to Genghis Khan. Don’t forget as you go back in history the population diminishes drastically.

[@wandertree]

I am a direct descendent of the Viking kings in the 800s who were William the Conquerors ancestors as well. I'm not directly descended from WtC though, but my ancestor was his brother or cousin and came over to England with him from France. Her lot became kings - mine were knights and landowners who eventually made their way to America in the 1600s. Pretty cool!

[@jedheart8059]

That interesting. Not sure how you exactly got that far into the tree. I have my Swedish patriarch to 1700. But he seems to have a Finnish surname which is famous in Sweden. However, my great grandfather, born in Territory of Minnesota, took his oath to become a US Citizen after North and South Dakota became States, his name is Albian King Paris, first names. My Swedish great grandfather married my Mayflower Descendant great grandmother. So, I have an extended family of genealogists who tracked everything. I wanted to verify things I heard since I was a child. So, I track what I can and let others do their fair share. It's all interesting. A woman Sweden read my tree and gave me some edits. One family surname was on the wrong lineage. She read the Swedish records in Sweden and gave me the corrected names to add. So, I know it's not easy to get beyond the tax records of lungs before our American Revolution. Poor people were listed as if property if they were worth anything at all to the tax collectors.

[@davedavids57]

Given that someone who is your 26 great grandfather (like William the conqueror would be) would have on average 120 million living relatives today. That's not that impressive. Given that number doubles every generation and the time your talking about is 200 years prior to William. Which is conservatively 6 generations at least. That means that viking king has 720 million living ancestors today (probably more).

[@kmdn1]

Hey I have almost the exact same lineage you described and then noticed your KZbin name is onceuponalake... Any chance your ancestors that came over to the Americas in the 1600’s were Hannah or Margaret Lake?

[@AndySaenz]

Valerie Bertinelli is also related to King Edward I! A lot of celebrities have a royal ancestor, that’s amazing!

[@Willem2761]

This William the Conquerer is my ancestor also so I gues i m related to her

[@areiaaphrodite]

And presidents too. A lot of them are descendants of Rollo through King John the Bad of England

[@pchilds80]

You probably do aswell

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

That's showbiz! Got have the right credentials to get a gig. Brooke Shields related to King Louise of France. If your not in the upper eschalons of society it is because you haven't got the bloodlines. 36 Presidents of The United States are related to Robert The Bruce of Scotland. The list goes on.

[@davedavids57]

That's because if you go back 20 generations on average that person would have 2 million living ancestors. That will double every generation. So 21 generations that is 4 million, so 26 generation would be 120 million ancestors. This is increased by the fact that the richer people back then had more children who were more likely to live. The vast majority of people with British ancestry will be related to Kind Edward 1. Have a read of "Strangers are just relatives you haven't met yet" - Nature magazine.

[@michaeldamiani3436]

Courtney's past is even more interesting as he 29th Great grandfather was a character named Rollo, a Viking who was granted the province of Normandy by the French king Louis at the time. To protect the French coast from other Vikings.

[@MrGksarathy]

She's also technically related to the Kings of Wessex because Wiliam the Conqueror only invaded because he was Edward the Confessor's nephew.

[@roberthughes9856]

Further back still, William is the ninth great Grandson of Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor.

[@lisanevins3605]

He comes up in my family tree

[@MarkHewitt]

Going forward from Henry I, you have Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda who should have been England's first Queen , but was denied by her uncle, Stephen. Then you had Matilda's son, Henry II. Another famous king whose Angevin Empire was massive. Famous for the death of Thomas A Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral. Then you had Henry II's youngest son, King John, a weak king of Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame. Lost most of his father's empire to the French. Followed by John's son Henry III who was the father of Edward I.

[@martinpettersson4828]

The handwriting is just incredible beautiful

[@matthewbailey7421]

All hail, Courtney the Conqueror!!!

[@seanraines5871]

She conquered my heart years ago

[@hendersonbrown684]

I love this show. You are getting history and biography all in one.

[@MaryBradley-s3s]

This a spin off from the British version.

[@papalazarou7880]

Amazing! Love Courtney she’s a legend and well happy for her. This is a great channel as well!

[@Celticcross688]

I am related to all Kings of the UK >Francs, Dutch, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Irish O'Neils Scottish Bruce, Stewarts, English Dukes of Bedford, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard. Thomas Rogers Mayflower Compact, Presidents Jackson, Grover Cleverland, President Lincoln, John Adams, Ronald Reagan, Poets and Artists.

[@miasspirtconnections3140]

Courtney Cox my favourite on friends and now a long lost realitive 💜

[@steveriggan8944]

Mine too. My mother is a descendant of Thomas Ligon going back to the Berkeleys and Edward I as well. We knew about our Ligon ancestry many years ago but a lot of Americans are not in touch with this kind of history unfortunately.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

She has an aura of nobility about her too. Great reactions to the discoveries.👍

[@jenniferwright]

Everyone in the UK is related to William the Conqueror if you go far enough back, this includes Danny Dyer the actor.

[@darahill928]

Yes you are correct

[@paccel2285]

Yeah, and isn't every monarch after William the Conqueror a descendant of his? It might be interesting if anyone could establish a direct patrilineal link, or a matrilineal link to a granddaughter,since his legitimate male line ended centuries ago with his own grandson. Otherwise, the interesting facts come from more recent ancestry -- which branch of the royal family, how many generations till your ancestral line breaks from the royal one.

[@davedavids57]

Yes william would have about 120 million 26th times great grand children.

[@scott2452]

That’s assuming always marrying someone who isn’t related…nobility is rather famous for marrying among themselves

[@seancrowe3353]

I don't get it. William was the only person in England having children? Doesn't make sense

[@XL-5117]

Everyone is related to William the Conqueror or another King or Queen, it’s a 10 degrees of separation thing and a lot of Americans came from the UK.

[@JimmyJ-zf6it]

I know exactly how exciting this is. I just completed genealogy on two sides of my family and found where I am related to a Mayflower pilgrim and William The conqueror is also my 25th great grandfather

[@leolare]

My Mother is English but my Father was born in 'Braunau am Inn' in Austria. I'm not to sure it would be a good idea to look at my family history!!!

[@maitreyakanitkar8742]

Lol take a look though, your ancestors might have been good friends with the man himself

[@rockerjim8045]

Was your grandfather the customs official by any chance? PS if so i’ve visited his grave

[@nadw]

Erm, not to rain on the parade, but if you go back 26 generations, your family tree will be so widespread with so many branches that you will be able to find a connection to at least one important person in history at that time. At the 26th generation, you will have 268,435, 456 direct ancestors - in Medieval Europe in 1100, that means you will technically be related to almost everyone.

[@svennielsen633]

This is where you have to do mathematics. 2 uplifted in 26 is 33.554.432. So, next to William there are 33 million equally old ancestors. Or to put it in a different way: less than one drop of your blood is inherited from him!

[@rridderbusch518]

Math is one thing, but genetics is another. Our individual ancestors around 7 to 8 generations back "fall off" of our genes, so Courtney Cox has zero William the Conquerer in her at all.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

Sven it doesn't work like that. Ancestry doesn't compound like interest. It actually declines over time from direct lines.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

@@rridderbusch518 I heard it was 14 generation's.The jury is still out on that one.

[@richardmannion2779]

i think the key is having british ancestry that includes any aristocrat. From there mathematically i think there is a high probability of finding a branch that goes back to William the Conquerer. Going back that many generations leads to numbers of potential 26th great grandfathers that are unbelievably high 2 to the power of 27 is 134 million). Clearly millions of duplicates in there; but easy to see how getting any geneological connection to the british aristocracy is going to give a lot of potential shots at William the Conquerer being your ancestor.

[@f104G]

Everyone of British and French ancestry is related to William I, it's just that not everyone can find the link that demonstrates it.

[@Simonmc78]

Not directly descended.

[@vacheriedevacherie1959]

No, not at all. My ancestors were never conquered by the English, French 💯, plus some native once this side of the ocean.

[@f104G]

@@vacheriedevacherie1959 I think you'd be surprised. Europeans only have to go back 800 years or so for our ancestors to be common to us all.

[@vacheriedevacherie1959]

@@f104G I traced my ancestors all the way to 11th century, not one trace of English blood.

[@f104G]

@@vacheriedevacherie1959 What, every line back from each one of your grandparents, all the way to the 11th century?

[@FloatingOnAZephyr]

A significant number of people commenting on this are also descended from William the Conqueror. 26 generations creates a HUGE number of offspring. If any of your ancestors has any link to any of the 26 generations of this family, you join this tree. Literally tens or even hundreds of millions of people. Genealogists know this, but it makes for a good show. Let’s say each generation of WtC’s family has 2 children (which is extremely conservative before the last 50 years or so), that’s 2^26 people, or 67,108,864 offspring today. If they averaged 4 children, it’s 4,503,599,627,370,496 offspring today, or 560,000 times as many people as live on earth. How is this possible? Because so many of the offspring will have met each other and cancelled out along the way. 26 generations is a lot of people.

[@victoriahouse9969]

My Great Great uncle was 25th Generation down from King Edward 1st.

[@BritishHistory]

Great book - ‘A Brief History of Everyone who ever lived’ by Adam Rutherford demonstrates that this really isn’t such a big deal. Very interesting and I’d recommend to anyone interested in their family history.

[@fishyc150]

We all know we are related to everyone (and every living organism ever) it's that theirs can be traced makes it special.

[@sah8923]

@@fishyc150 also, in this case, Cox is directly descended from many royals.. this is different to just being somehow related, I would say

[@MrGksarathy]

@@sah8923 Even then, a lot of people with English ancestry probably are related to royalty in some way or another because just by sheer numbers alone, there aren't enough people to be unrelated to them. When you go back far enough, there are a lot of people related to royalty.

[@terri.schenk]

I’m going to find that book. Thank you. I’ve just started studying my genealogy for the first time and discovered that I have exactly the same people in my lineage. I thought it was a big scam at first but it’s starting to sink in.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

@@MrGksarathy Not true. Many people are not of Royal descent. Surnames are a give away. Ever heard of King Smith?

[@charlessoutherton8946]

who'd of thought it someone from the hit TV show "friends" is a direct relation of royalty wow, amazing what history can do to your family heritage. but of all people William the conquerer is a relative. if only time machines were possible

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

Time machines are possible. I have one. It tells the time.⏰😄

[@leokorn1629]

I like this man, perfect english gentleman. It is great to see she is royal and related to Danny Dyer.

[@Just2BeWithHer]

100%

[@Mad5am]

Thousands of people are.

[@leokorn1629]

@@Mad5am I bet you are right. Unfortunately i only have found farmers in my heritage tree.

[@leokorn1629]

@@amandabroad6139 2 very different types of human beings. congrats

[@raydawson2767]

She’s descended from royalty,if she doesn’t have a royal title,she just a descendant.

[@LBGirl1988]

I am descended from all of these individuals as well through the Courtney family as well as others. How did we get to the USA? Fascinating!

[@alstar70]

Nearly every person with British ancestors will be related to William the conqueror - its not that big of a deal.

[@barbarabavier675]

According to Season 4,Episode 6, Valerie Bertinelli is also related to William the Conqueror, through Edward IV and Edward I. So Valerie Bertinelli and Courteney Cox are related! Talk about six degrees of separation, lol! But get this: Valerie’s bloodline apparently goes farther; in fact, all the way through Adam and Eve to God! Although that’s speculative because it could have been the powers that be trying to connect kings to The Divine.

[@purrdiggle1470]

Her and around a billion other people. British royals have never had any qualms about marrying and mating with non-nobles, especially the ones who were not next in line for the throne.

[@JohnSmith-bx8zb]

We know she is related to Danny Dyer, does Cortney or did the keep that from her???? Can just see her pulling pints at the Queen Vic, truly that would be a Royal Performance!!!!

[@jdeboer8678]

Would that not make her a descendant of Rollo the Viking?

[@markmorris7123]

Probably. I think

[@justonecornetto80]

Yes. Rollo was William's great great great grandfather.

[@antoinemozart243]

It's not proven !

[@thoso1973]

When Cortney watches Vikings, she can say 'Hey, that's my 29th-ish great grandfather there with the big beard, trying to take Paris."

[@keiths81ca]

Yes

[@stephfoxwell4620]

In Britain we are all related to William the Conqueror.

[@maxmoore3472]

I'm not surprised, to find out she is a descendant, from William the conqueror. She has a presence on screen .

[@tommydowling9]

She is so beautiful. Never understood why she wasn't the "hot one" on friends. Perfection.

[@lookwhatsup546]

My 19th great grandparents were Humphrey de Bohun (4th Earl of Hereford & 3rd Earl of Essex. High Lord Constable of England) and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (King Edward I and Queen Eleanor youngest daughter. ) My 18th GG parents were Hugh Courtnay 10th Earl of Devon and Margarent de Bohun (granddaughter to KIng Edward I)

[@Ned88Man]

If you are descended from Edward I you are descended from William, not sure why they had to research that..

[@laurenohare3836]

Well, *they* - the historians - would have known the connection, but Courteney wouldn't have. It's spelled out step by step for her, and the audience's, benefit.

[@portsmouth1781]

Yeah they tried to do a "great reveal" twice but only worked for the mentally feable.

[@katrin896]

William's father, Rollo the Ruler, the first Earl of Normandy, is my 31st great-grandfather. This is a powerful line.

[@Calucifer13]

mine too

[@areiaaphrodite]

William's father wasn't Rollo. Rollo would be a much further ancestor of William's since Rollo's Christian name was Richard. William's father was Robert I, Duke of Normandy (or Robert the Magnificent). Robert's father was Richard II, Duke of Normandy. The original Rollo (portrayed on "Vikings" is Rollo/Richard, Count of Rouen. He's also my ancestor as well

[@katrin896]

@@areiaaphrodite my mistake, I was mistaking William the Conquerer for Rollo's son William Longsword. William the Conquerer was Rollo's great-great-great grandson.

[@areiaaphrodite]

@@katrin896 no problem, happy to help!

[@davedavids57]

You can't really go back that far. If you go back 31 generations on average that ancestors will have 2 billion direct descendants (although many of them will probably be people who are related to him in many different ways - so probably less than 2 billion physical people). So it would be pretty impossible to live in the British Island or France and not be related to him. At 20 generations it's normally around 2 million descendants and it doubles every time after that.

[@ProgMannen]

If shes related to william you can take it even further back to Rollo of France (gånge-rolf). Who was a viking chief that got Normandie from the Frankian king...

[@davedavids57]

Statistically about 2 billion people in Northern Europe could as well (although there aren't 2 billion people -so some people will be related multiple different ways)

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England was the grandson of Rollo, the most legendary Viking warrior, who married the granddaughter of none other than Emperor Charlemagne, King of the Franks & that of the Holy Roman Empire, this makes her a very, very, very distant cousins with some of the royals of Europe,

[@stephenpodeschi6052]

If she is related to William then she is related to Rollo Duke of Normandy then back through the Vikings & who knows ?

[@helenknight2796]

Does this mean she’s related to Queen Elizabeth II? Like distant cousins? In friends she loved the Queen. So cool she’s of royal blood.

[@annamo9354]

Well, I can't boast any royalty in my ancestral line, but on my father's side if you go 6 generations back we are related to a family named "Mozert" or "Mozart" from Augsburg...so there...

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

Mozart was born in Salzburg in Austria,not Germany.

[@annamo9354]

@@gandolfthorstefn1780 *sigh* Leopold Mozart, Wolfgangs father, was born in Augsburg on Nov. 14th 1719, and he's had an uncle named Franz Mozart who was a master mason and lived in Augsburg all his life...

[@carolstringfellow3888]

Great to know you cousin. I too descend from The Conquerer 🤴🏽🤴🏽

[@terri.schenk]

I’ve just started looking into my genealogy for the first time. I’m stunned to find what I’m seeing and at first didn’t think it was real. If I’m counting properly because I have no idea what I’m doing, Edward l is my 29 times grandfather, Henry lll, Henry l is my 34 times grandfather, and William the Conqueror is my 35 times grandfather.

[@BookZealots]

I'm currently reading a book about these people/time period in The Plantagenets by Dan Jones. So to come across this and know what was happening, historically, is fascinating.

[@kmdn1]

How did you like the book? I have Plantagenets ancestors as well and they were apparently really wild

[@LindaGuy-yg6ju]

Me to. Not only the name Cox but all my ancesters from both sides of my family.

[@AndySaenz924]

What I don’t understand is: does she inherit anything from her distant royal ancestor? Any property? Any wealth?

[@MaryBradley-s3s]

No

[@vassabatielos4740]

She also has 33,554,431 other relatives on that genealogical line

[@difcymru]

Me to, he's my 29x great grandfather

[@sayakchakraborty4206]

Going back 26 generations, mathematically, she has 67108864 grandparents. William I the Conqueror is only 1/67108864.

[@robharris8844U]

Yes, you who say "whoopeee!!!!- I'm related to William the Conquer!" Need to remember he was actually William the Bast ard! He changed it when he took over England. Because it was affecting his image and he claimed to know who his father was.😉

[@markorollo.]

Ive so far only got back to my Great Great Grandparents, born in the 1860s, id love to be able to go as far back as Courtney did.

[@kellyschutte2252]

I’m a minor genealogy buff…..one thing that always amazes me we are practically all related!

[@johnandrews8155]

Whats more interesting, is that the De Berkeley, originated from North Africa, during Roman times and were part of the Maurii/Numidian calvery.

[@Aspett0]

3:20 Yep, Guillaume le Conquérant is indeed the reason why England has been France's dominion since 1066.

[@davidrahnis7341]

That's it. I've seen enough. Courtney should be our leader.

[@RolanTheBrave]

William the Conquerer would have a lot of descendants. He was born approx 1000 years ago (1028AD). Conservatively that's 40+ generations. 2 to the power of 40 is more than 1 trillion. I should think that would mean a large proportion of the western world's population is related to him, several times over (a trillion doesn't go into 8 billion, so the family branches would have crossed back and forth many times over the millennia). A lot of the generation would also have many more than 2 offspring, so the number is probably several trillion. Mind blowing really.

[@christinaking1551]

Joan of Acre is Courtney 19th GG mother which Joan of Acre is my 21st GG Aunt. So, King Edward 1st is Courtney's 20th GG Father and he is my 22nd GG Father.

[@danielarevalo7013]

It's charming how they create these genealogies. While entertaining, no one would take these stories seriously."

[@LatinMusicFansUK]

I'm also a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. Does this mean I'm related to Courteney?

[@peteramaranth85]

Yes

[@keiths81ca]

Yes

[@karlaj.4056]

How can You know that he is your ancestor?

[@LatinMusicFansUK]

@@karlaj.4056 My aunt has traced our family tree all the way back to William the Conqueror. 💕

[@carltanner9065]

@@karlaj.4056 Very easy. Lots of research, sweat and tears. And, not too considerable an amount of money, at times!!!

[@deniseguy5089]

Amazing family tree. As a British history buff i am so jealous

[@nancyhuffman5802]

My husband's family is descended from Rollo! His grandfather had their genealogy done while he was alive.

[@inesnaglic472]

So, those pretty eyes runs in the family for hundreds of years

[@E-A.]

Could she be any happier?

[@moshehim1000]

Isn't Edward I the guy who conquered Wales, nearly conquered Scotland - he sure did his best - and also expelled all the Jews of England after his predecessors bled them dry of any and all money - and therefore all usefulness in their eyes? Really a great king to be descended from.

[@iankirkpatrick1037]

Nearly conquered Scotland, ? He did

[@Bella-fz9fy]

The Normans dominated England and then moved on to the neighbours!

[@ilkkll5210]

He certainly wasn't a great king for Wales . On the positive side we've now got a load of castles.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

@@ilkkll5210 Great for tourism those Castles.🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰

[@ilkkll5210]

@@gandolfthorstefn1780 very true but Welsh tourist board are useless. Look at the story of Merlin old Welsh tales. Not one consideration on playing on it.

[@Noone-pu4gp]

There is literally millions who are related to William the Conqueror!

[@Readiculous21]

I am descended from William I at least twice..... so fun to discover new lines.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

A bit of consanguinity there old boy 🧐

[@tomr200199]

Yeah and so are at least 5 million other people on Earth descended from Willie the Conq. I think they should limit these shows to more recent relatives or not bother.

[@Matt-cz6ti]

Oh everyone's descended from William the Conqueror. And everyone's also descended from Whitgar the peasant farmer. Everyone with European ancestry alive today is likely descended from everyone alive in Europe 1000 years ago who has living descendants. It's not a big deal

[@colinharbinson8284]

I don't think they are.

[@susanjackett9268]

@@liamloxley1222 true , approx 25% of Brits and Yanks descend from Conk

[@clontstable1]

Many thousands of us are directly related to Edward I, William the Conqueror etc..very very common.

[@brandonmiller2450]

Wow. It appears that Courtney and I share the same 20th great grandfather! Amazing

[@davedavids57]

At 20th generation there are about 2 million ancestors.

[@margaretliebsch5494]

I just realized when I saw the name Mortimer, I freaked out regarding Danny Dyer! Wild!!!

[@Iceland874]

100% of West Europeans descend from Charlemagne and most of those from William the Conqueror. Both my parents descend from him. That’s so many generations that it’s not that rare or exciting.

[@CharityS-Minnesota]

I am descended from William the conqueror as well. Pretty cool.

[@rachelbirchall4630]

Related to a lot of British people including actor Danny Dyer & news reporter Frank Gardner.

[@steveriggan8944]

Correct! Courtney and I both share ancestor Thomas Ligon who goes back to the Berkeleys and on to Edward I,etc. Danny Dyer is also a connection to me as the Tollemache family are relatives of another ancestor of mine, William Farrar, who went to Virginia in 1618. Princess Diana was descended from the English Lygon/Ligon family so shares ancestry with us as well.

[@bucksdiaryfan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought William the Conqueror's family tree ended abruptly about a hundred years after his death, similar to Lincoln's. That is why the switch to the House of Plantagenet.

[@areiaaphrodite]

Edward I "Longshanks" is my direct ancestor as well, making Charlemagne, William the Conqueror and Rollo my ancestors as well

[@stuartsinclair6269]

I am too, my bloodline of William the Conqueror who’s second name was a Sinclair or St Clair at the time….

[@christinewoolley6903]

ive done my family tree and turns out my 29x great grandfather is William the conqueror, looks like were all related to him in some way or another.

[@AndySaenz]

Monica would say she wins! I wish the other 5 actors from FRIENDS would also trace their ancestry like this! It would be fascinating to watch. I think Lisa Kudrow did it, she’s got relatives that were killed during the Holocaust.

[@cdonorab]

Three of the other five can. Matt LeBlanc is related to Scottish royalty, Matthew Perry is related to Courtenay Cox threw the titled Baldwin line that is related to royalty and Jennifer Anniston is also related to the English royal family. Possible that David and Lisa can as well, just haven't found it yet.

[@MahinderSG1952]

So she is Royalty!

[@Oceanlinerenthusiast]

Kinda she’s descended from royalty but She’s not exactly royalty in the sense that she’s going to end up one day ruling the country every royal family has a Dynasty after Queen Elizabeth the first died because she didn’t have any children it ended the Tudor Dynasty our current royal family is the Windsor Dynasty if members stop bearing children by the time the last member dies there will be a new Dynasty that’s how it works in every royal family so chances of her claiming the throne any time soon it’s highly unlikely

[@euphoriafire5203]

Wow I’m related to Courtney Cox !!! We are both descendants of William the Conqueror

[@timdavis7845]

I'm also related to King Edward I (he's my 23 great-grandpa) and William the Conqueror (my 27th great-grandpa). His Majesty, King Charles III, is my 15th cousin, once removed. 👑 I guess that makes Courtney Cox my distant cousin as well.

[@annekalunn8339]

Same

[@AndySaenz924]

In the thumbnail, you can really see the resemblance between Courteney Cox and William the Conqueror! That’s unbelievable that they were able to trace her ancestry that far back!

[@pamsatira1753]

Valerie Bertinelli also decended from Edward I

[@kmdn1]

I share some of the same amcestors. Joan of Acres, she mentioned but going bsck in a different direction to some of the King Henry's snd a Queen Matilda

[@phildurling7185]

I believe that Williams line goes back further to one of the old Viking Kings.

[@georgeharrison5362]

Yes, King Rollo who was a viking king..he invaded Normandy from where William the bustard took power.

[@ProgMannen]

Rollo of france was never a king. He was probalby a chief from denmark or sweden. During his time there were several kings in denmark and sweden. Rollo became a Duke as a token for protecting Paris from invading viking raids. And was given the land that now is called Normandie.

[@susanjackett9268]

Fabulous , the one thing that's true regarding unearthing such a dynasty is one does take note regarding history. Courtney and I share Willy Conk's mum , Herleva .

[@gillianmilne8364]

Apparently, my ancestor, was William the Conqueror's right hand man in battle.

[@mcgee227]

William's first cousin is my 26th great grandfather.

[@janetstonerook4552]

Courtney and I share a common ancestor, Joann of Acre, Daughter of Edward the First.

[@terri.schenk]

I’ve just begun searching my genealogy and found Edward l etc, but I am also related to Joann of Acre. I’d never heard of her before. At first I thought it may be a typo and they meant Joan of Arc, 😉 who is my hero.

[@janetstonerook4552]

@@terri.schenk My lineage too. Edward I took his family with him to the Holy Land when he was in the Crusades. Joan was born while they were residing there in Acre.

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

What part did you get of the share?🦵🦶👂✋🖐️💪🧠💀

[@marshagoodwin1314]

At the 1:12 mark, it lists Hugh Despenser Junior....this is also Princess Diana's ancestry :)

[@andrewd7586]

Big whoop! If we can all go back far enough, we’re ALL bloody related!🤪😂 My family lineage also goes back to William The Conqueror, well Bertram 1 de Verdun. I’m in Australia & 3 of my late uncles bore the name Verdun as second names in honour of Bertram.

[@lennycook206]

You're likely related to Mrs Mangle mush

[@grahamskilling2147]

@@lennycook206 aren’t we all, brother!

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

I'm related to Ned Kelly.📮Such is life.

[@andrewd7586]

@@gandolfthorstefn1780 My late mother was a Kelly, & yes apparently we’re related too!🤪🤪👍🏻