We’ve Discovered Meghan Markle’s English Roots!

The world is excited about the upcoming wedding between Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle. To celebrate their union, we researched Markle’s family tree and discovered that she shares some well-known British relatives.

According to our researchers, Meghan Markle has shared ancestors with both Winston Churchill and William Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare (left) and Winston Churchill (right)

We found that Markle is William Shakespeare’s fifth cousin thirteen times removed. Her connection to Winston Churchill is even closer, as they are sixth cousin five times removed.

Markle’s connection to Churchill is through Zachariah Howe, who came from a family of British settlers who originated from Essex.

Howe was born in Essex in 1640 and later moved to the US. It was in Massachusetts that he met wife Sarah, nee Gilbert. Meghan is a descendant of their son, John, while Winston Churchill was a descendant of their daughter, Sarah Curtis.

See how they are related below:

Markle and William Shakespeare share common ancestors as well. Markle is related to Shakespeare on her father’s side and Shakespeare is related to Markle on his mother’s side.

Meghan is a descendant of Joan Whalesborough, and Shakespeare is a descendant of her husband, John Whalesborough, born in 1369.

Aaron Godfrey, our VP of Marketing, commented on the findings:

MyHeritage enables anyone to discover their family history easily, so when we heard the wonderful news about Harry and Meghan’s wedding, we wanted to help Meghan discover some English roots of her own. I’m sure she will be delighted to know that she comes from such prestigious British stock.

We are excited to share this discovery and we congratulate Meghan and Prince Harry on their upcoming wedding!