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Uncovering Royal Ties: Could Diana, Princess of Wales Be My 12th Cousin Once Removed?

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 33 – August 12 – 18, 2024

Favorite Discovery

 

Diana, Princess of Wales

While there are a number of “favorite discoveries” that I have encountered during my journey into my family history and into genealogy as a whole, I decided to focus on several famous collateral relatives. In addition, because my first occupation was teacher, I’ll add a bit of history.


I do want to add here that FamilySearch.org uses a worldwide community tree. This approach to genealogy allows collaboration with others to build the tree. While one needs to fact check the sources that may pertain to your particular family, it is a great starting point for those at the beginning of their search for ancestors. They do have many options that may enable you to discover the information that you need as a starting point.


If you use familysearch.org you may have noticed that under the Activities tab, there is a drop-down menu, one of the choices is Famous Relatives. There are six different categories to peruse, Olympic Athletes, Leaders, Inventors and Scientists, Entertainers and Artists Trailblazers, and Athletes. As I looked a bit closer it seems that I have twenty-nine matches under the Leaders categories, and the Entertainers and Artists category has twenty-six.

Diana, Princess of Wales came to my attention under the Leaders tab. Upon further investigation it appears, according to FamilySearch.org, that Diana was my 12th cousin once removed through my maternal family line. Cool!!


Memorial medallion of Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of King Charles III, the current king of the United Kingdom, formerly Prince Charles, and was the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry. Born Diana Frances Spencer, she became Lady Diana Spencer after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. She married Charles on July 29, 1981, and after a largely unhappy union under constant scrutiny from the media, they divorced in 1996. Diana died on August 31, 1997; from injuries she sustained in a car crash in Paris. She is remembered as the “People’s Princess” because of her widespread popularity and global humanitarian efforts.


Although I absorbed this information “with a grain of salt,” considering sources that were used to extrapolate this relationship, I hunkered down and worked on source data and correlation. This exercise in genealogy would prove to be a workout for my brain!


Here is my line of descendance with notes and relationships that led may lead me to Diana, Princess of Wales as my 12th cousin once removed:


Sir John Savage ---- 1542-1597, not verified.

Mary Elizabeth Savage Browne ---- 1556-1632, not verified.

Sir Percy Brown ----- 1602-1675, not verified.

Nathaniel Brown ----- 1624-1658, not verified.

Hannah Browne ----- at the current time no Hannah Browne, daughter of Nathaniel Brown, has been found in my research that fits into the parameters of parentage, locations, and dates. This negative source information may cause the information regarding ancestors to change. Not verified.

“Sarah” Hannah Lane (Brace)----- 1678-1760, verified.

(John) Daniel Brace, Sr. ----- 1708-1762, my 6th great-grandfather, verified.

Stephen Brace ----- 1740-1762, my 5th great-grandfather, verified.

Joseph Brace ----- 1758-1808, my 4th great-grandfather, verified.

Hulda Brace (Lord) ----- 1778-1835, my 3rd great-grandmother, verified.

David C. Lord ----- 1820-after 1880, my 2nd great-grandfather, verified.

Irvin O. Lord -----1875-1946, my great-grandfather, verified.

Clarence Lord -----1901-1967, my grandfather, verified.

Lorraine Elizabeth Lord (Allen) ----- 1926- 2011, my mother, verified.

Me ----- verified.


Tomb of Sir John Savage, Knight of Rocksavage

Indeed, the line that reportedly leads me to Diana as my 12th cousin once removed originated in England, as are my original roots, with Sir John Savage, b. October 1524, Clifton, Cheshire, England, d. 5 December 1597, Rock Savage, Clifton, Cheshire, England. His burial was in December 1597 at St. Michael’s & All Angels Churchyard in the Savage Chapel, Macclesfield, Cheshire East Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England. Sir John was reportedly a Knight of Rock Savage, a mayor of Chester, and a mayor of Cheshire. Impressive! But, as I suspected, some of the sources did not lead me to the correct John Savage, however some did. I will concentrate on those sources to correlate the information. Some sources led me to Sir John but ended with a child other than Mary Elizabeth Savage Browne, one led me to a spouse that was not Mary Elizabeth’s mother. In addition, no Hannah Browne has been discovered as per my notes above.


This blog post/lesson in ancestral relationships taught me much about sources and how long it may take to verify those sources and that those sources may or may not be correct.


Genealogical Proof Standard

The Genealogical Proof Standard must be applied here.


My conclusion is that Diana, Princess of Wales may or may not be my 12th cousin once removed. I wish that undeniable evidence exists that I am related to Diana. I respect her many humanitarian deeds and feel sad regarding her reported mistreatment by the royal family. Unfortunately, this no longer my "favorite discovery" as obviously the claim needs to be researched further with strong correlation of data, but it was fun for a while to think that I am related to Diana, Princess of Wales. In genealogy we can never be 100% certain of any relationship unless there is DNA evidence to prove the relationship.


DNA does not lie

 

 

 

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