Donald Trump Just Discovered He's Related To King Charles And He Already Wants To Move In

Donald Trump claimed on social media this week that he is related to King Charles III, saying genealogists had identified the US president and the British monarch as 15th cousins while Charles was on a state visit to the United States. Trump quickly turned the claim into a joke, saying he had 'always wanted to live in Buckingham Palace' and would raise it with the King and Queen 'in a few minutes.'

The supposed family link emerged through a Daily Mail report built around an ancestral chart that Trump later reposted. The tree purported to show that both men descend from the 15th century Scottish nobleman John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox, a great grandson of King James II of Scotland, with the lines said to end 14 generations later in a British king and an American president.

How Donald Trump And King Charles Became 'Cousins'

At the centre of the story is that single Scottish branch. According to the reporting, the common ancestor is 15th-century Scottish nobleman, John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox, whose descendants spread through the tangled web of European aristocracy.

On Charles' side, the connection is hardly surprising. The modern House of Windsor is steeped in Stewart and Stuart blood, and the royal family tree has been documented for centuries.

Trump's route into the same line is less familiar but, on this account, runs through his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. She was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland before emigrating to the United States, and her MacLeod surname anchors a chain of Scottish ancestry that genealogists say leads back to Lennox.

Trump's response to discovering that he and Charles are, on paper, 15th cousins was entirely in character. In his repost, he wrote: 'Wow, that's nice. I've always wanted to live in Buckingham Palace!!! I'll talk to the King and Queen about this in a few minutes!!!'

The tone was unmistakably Trump. Supporters saw another piece of theatre from a politician who thrives on blurring the line between showmanship and diplomacy. Critics saw a glib aside landing in the middle of a serious state visit.

Either way, people quoted by Woman's Day were quick to play down any suggestion that the connection carries real weight beyond the novelty.

More Novelty Than Meaning

One source quoted by Woman's Day described the relationship as genealogically interesting but practically meaningless.

'The link is so remote it has zero practical significance,' the source said. 'At that distance, you're basically related to half the population of medieval Scotland. It's the kind of connection that sounds impressive until you realise almost anyone with British ancestry ends up being a distant cousin of royalty if you dig back far enough.'

Royal genealogists have turned up similar curiosities for years. Queen Elizabeth II was found to share distant family links with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp through older strands of English and French nobility. Separate research has also suggested Madonna and Queen Camilla share ancestors.

'This isn't the first time something quirky has turned up in the Royal Family's genealogy,' the source added, noting that Paris Hilton, Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington and singer Beyoncé have also been linked to the wider royal family tree.

Set against that backdrop, the Trump and Charles discovery looks less extraordinary than it first sounds. Legally and constitutionally, it changes nothing. A 15th cousin does not acquire any claim to a royal residence, whatever jokes he makes about moving in.

Awkward Timing

The irritation in some London circles appears to have less to do with ancestry than timing.

Charles is in the United States on his first official state visit since becoming King in 2022, a trip carrying serious diplomatic weight at a moment when relations between Washington and London are being cast as strained. The visit is tied to the 250th anniversary of American independence, a symbolic milestone at a time when the two governments are said to be clashing over foreign policy and defence.

'It's true that the timing of this discovery was unfortunate and the President's post about wanting to live in Buckingham Palace did ruffle a few feathers back home in London,' a source told Woman's Day.

From the Palace's perspective, the King is in the US to project stability and help steady a relationship that some diplomats privately describe as being at 'an all time low.' The same source suggested that, handled carefully, even an eye rolling cousin joke from Trump could be folded into that wider soft power exercise.

'Charles was there in a diplomatic capacity,' the source said. 'Relations between the US and UK are at an all time low, and he hopes that marking 250 years since the Empire lost America will go some way. Having to "play cousins" with the President can only help what has been a tense situation.'

In other words, if the White House wants to lean into shared history, Charles may be willing to tolerate a slightly embarrassing distant relative gag so long as it supports rather than derails the broader message.

Trump, for his part, has made clear that he enjoys his encounters with British royalty. He has spoken warmly about Queen Elizabeth II, recalling how what was meant to be a brief courtesy call in 2018 stretched to nearly an hour and helped pave the way for a full state visit the following year.

That warmth now appears to extend to his newly discovered cousin. 'He's fantastic, a fighter,' Trump said of Charles. 'We're close. I have a really good relationship with him. He's a great guy.'

Whether the relationship looks quite that close from the other side of the Atlantic is another matter. On paper, Donald Trump and King Charles now share a thin strand of ancestry and a moment in the diplomatic spotlight, however far back in the family tree it takes to find it.