Royal DNA Test - What is the Genetic Heritage of the Monarchs of Europe? 1/2
About this episode
This episode explores the genetic heritage of European monarchs and the historical implications of their marriages.
What’s more British than the British royal family? More Spanish than the Spanish Monarchs? More Norse than the King of Norway? Well, a lot of things actually. In fact, nearly all of the 10 remaining hereditary monarchs of Europe have more German DNA than they do local. For centuries, royals almost exclusively married other, foreign royals. They rarely mixed their blue blood with people native to the Kingdoms they ruled over. What’s more, when dynasties died out (often from excessive inbreeding) foreign royal houses put their own seconds sons on the throne, establishing new, entirely alien dynasties. Modern royal families try to brand themselves as throughly native and in touch with the common people. And if they ever spit into a test tube and sent it off for a DNA test, they would probably never publish the results. But, by looking back at their family trees, we can get a pretty good idea of their heritage. So let’s find out just when and how the Swedish got so French, the Dutch got Argentinian, and everyone got so German! Royal family of Belgium Royal family of Denmark Princely family of Liechtenstein Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg Princely family of Monaco Royal family of…
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