Harry & Meghan: “He’s a Twit & She’s a Twat”
A Cousin by Blood Says an Unkind Thing About the Exiled Royals The Duke & Duchess of Sussex
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex is my 20th cousin, via the Spencer family.
The English kept incredible birth records during the past millennium. I was able to trace my paternal great-grandmother’s family back to the 13th Century, to just before the time when they diverged from the Spencer family, which shares a common ancestor.
Winston Spencer Churchill, the famous wartime Prime Minister (the less said about his second ministry, the better) is my 17th cousin.
In 1982, I visited Althorp, Princess Diana of Wales’ ancestral family home, with my mother and brother. (My mother being half-Irish and the other half split between Scotch-Irish and French-Canadian doesn’t figure into this, except she was a bigger royalist than anyone else in the family.)
We had to leave early, as Prince Charles and Diana were due to arrive. We were amongst the last to leave, and we met the owner of Althorp, John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer.
At the time, I had not done my geneology.
Little did I know I was meeting my 18th cousin!
The Earl was an extremely gracious man who was very kind to my mother. We were the last visitors to leave and we even heard the helicopter bearing his daughter and son-and-law approach as we drove away.
When my mother, racked by fourth stage Alzheimer’s disease and suffering from a grievous head injury from a fall, was on what proved to be her deathbed in the hospital, I whispered to her that when she got better, I would take her back to Althorp.
I reminded her of the small deer that we saw running by, far away, on the island in the pond where Princess Diana lays for eternity and she smiled and was comforted.
Noblesse Oblige
I has read about noblesse oblige while studying political science at Boston University, where Howard Zinn was my academic adviser. But I truly understood the meaning of noblesse oblige after meeting the Earl.
I also felt I understood where Princess Diana got her great sense of duty from. There was no reason for the Earl to be so kind and gracious to a group of Yanks who had paid to have a look-see of his estate.
Princess Diana’s children, the future King — Prince William — and Harry, the Duke of Sussex, are my 20th cousins.
Now I don’t know but I’ve been told, everyone in the United Kingdom with English blood circa 1999 was descended from King Henry II. That makes me think that, when it comes to the number of common ancestors shared by myself and Diana , who is of my generation — I place it anywhere from 5 million to 50 million.
The fact is, Harry is my cousin, and his children by Meaghan, the Duchess of York, are my cousins to.
Being someone’s cousin gives you a certain license, so here goes, cousin to cousin:
Harry, you are a twit and your wife is a twat.
Try to channel the aristocratic spirit of your grandfather and mother in the future.
