Queen Elizabeth II related to Vlad Dracula?

Yesterday I wrote an article explaining the connection between the current reigning English monarchy and Vlad Dracula, otherwise known as Vlad "the Impaler". It showed their connection, not a relation. A new line of descent was brought to my attention last night that I need to analyze, and I thought I would do it here. Here is the alleged line of descent of Queen Elizabeth II to Vlad Dracula's father, Vlad II Dracul:

*Elizabeth II
*George VI
*Mary of Teck
*Francis, Duke of Teck
*Klaudia Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde
*Countess Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad
*Baron Gergely Inczédy de Nagy-Várad
*Baroness Ágnes Kendeffy de Malmoviz
*Katalin Kun de Osdola
*Kristina (Christiana) Racz de Galgo
*Peter (Petru) Racz de Galgo
*Adam Racz de Galgo
*Zamphira Logofat de Szazsebes (Female)
*Stanka (Stanca) Basarab of Wallachia (Female)
*Mircea "The Shepherd" (Voivode) of Wallachia (Male)
*Radu cel Mare Radu IV `the Great' (Voivode) of Wallachia
*Vlad Călugărul (half-brother to Vlad Dracula)
*Vlad II Dracul (father to Vlad Dracula)

My previous article focuses on Klaudia Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde's paternal lineage, this alleged descent focuses on Klaudia's maternal lineage. We do know that Klaudia's parents are Count László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and his wife Baroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad. Ágnes is the known granddaughter of Baron Gergely Inczédy de Nagy-Várad and his wife Countess Ágnes Kendeffy de Malmoviz.




According to pedigree charts published by Iván Nagy in Magyarország családai, Ágnes Kendeffy de Malmoviz is most definitely the daughter of Gáspár Kendeffy de Malmoviz and his wife Katalin Kún. No other information is given on Katalin Kún in the Kendeffy family's pedigrees and information.




No additional information is given on Katalin Kún in Béla Kempelen's word Magyar Nemes Családok, and neither in any of these other following publications: Magyar nemzetségi zsebkönyv by the Magyar Heraldikai és Genealogiai Társaság (Hungarian Heraldry and Genealogy Society), A Magyar Nemzetségek A XIV. Század Közepéig by János Karácsonyi and finally Középkori Magyar Genealógia by Pál Engel.

Assuming that the alleged family tree is correct, Ágnes Kendeffy's mother is possibly Katalin Kun de Osdola. Considering I cannot find any additional information on Katalin Kún under the Kendeffy's, I must look under the Kún's and hope for the best. I do locate a countly Kún de Osdola family, but I do not locate any Katalin being married to a Gáspár Kendeffy.




There are, although, some interesting marriages and connections to known family names of Gáspár Kendeffy de Malmoviz and his wife Katalin Kún's descendants. Note the two (2) Rhédey's, the Kendeffy and also the Inczedy. The alleged ancestry above states that Katalin Kun's mother was a Kristina Racz de Galgo. There is indeed a Krisztina Rácz married to Miklós Kún do Osdola, right smack-dab in the middle of all the name connections. But that doesn't mean anything, we need proof that they are our Katalin Kún's parents.

Let's assume that Katalin Kún's parents are indeed Miklós Kún do Osdola and Krisztina Rácz shown on the pedigree chart. Continuing analyzing the alleged line of descent stated above, we need to look into the "Rácz de Galgo" family.





I locate a Rácz de Galgó family and indeed there is a Krisztina, who's second husband was a Miklós Kún. The pedigree chart fits perfectly with what was given on the alleged pedigree above. It does show the line of descent to a Zafira Logofét. The entry on the Rácz de Galgó family also gives some information on Zafira; it states: "neje oláh származású volt: Logofét Zafira". This says that Zafira Logofét (surnames are always listed before the given names in Hungary and Transylvania), was originally from Wallachia (Oláh). This seems to continually fit, as Vlad Dracula's family was from Wallachia and Vlad himself was once Voivode of Wallachia.

This is when my research starts to dry up with my Hungarian resources that I have. The resources are primarily for Hungary, not Transylvania. I now go to a trusted source for nobility and royalty information: http://genealogy.euweb.cz/. This website was created by Miroslav Marek and he has a whole page devoted to his sources. The alleged ancestry above from Zamphira Logofat de Szazsebes to Vlad II Dracul is correct, according to his website.. which I do not doubt. The only problem is with "Stanka (Stanca) Basarab of Wallachia". It lists her husband as "Ioan Norocea, Logofat de Pitesti, Great Chancellor of Wallachia", but no children (Zafira) are listed for them or can be found on his website. Also note that the name is "Logofat de Pitesti", not the "Logofat de Szazsebes" listed in the alleged pedigree.

All in all, the line of descent from Queen Elizabeth II to Vlad II Dracul, the father of Vlad "the Impaler", is very possible. The only contradictory facts, that need to be proven, lie with Katalin Kún and Zafira Logofat. Does anyone have any sources to prove or disprove these two remaining pieces of this alleged line of descent? If so, please contact me!

Sources:
*Magyarország családai, by Iván Nagy
*Magyar Nemes Családok, by Béla Kempelen
*Magyar nemzetségi zsebkönyv, by Magyar Heraldikai és Genealogiai Társaság
*A Magyar Nemzetségek A XIV. Század Közepéig, by János Karácsonyi
*Középkori Magyar Genealógia, by Pál Engel
*http://genealogy.euweb.cz/, by Miroslav Marek

Robert Pattinson is related to Dracula?

Today while doing my daily genealogy blog readings, I stumbled upon Randy Seaver's article Is Robert Pattinson a cousin to Vlad the Impaler?. I was instantly intriuged because I myself have a connection to Vlad Dracula Tepes "the Impaler".

Reading his article, I find that the entry originated with a article posted today (June 24th) on the UK version of Ancestry's Blog. You can find the article here: Twilight star Robert Pattinson is related to Dracula!. Reading the article and looking at the [very] tiny hard to see pedigree, I become confused and dumbfounded.

The article was written by Annabel Bernhardt, the PR Manager for Ancestry.co.uk. In the article she claims that King George VI of England is a direct descendant of Vlad II Dracul, the father of Vlad III Dracula.. otherwise known as Vlad "the Impaler". At this point I could care less about Robert Pattinson's connection to Vlad, or even the current reigning English monarchy. I needed to clear the air of King George VI's ancestry.

King George VI of England is a descendant of countless royal and noble houses of Europe, but one: the Basarab family of Transylvania. The Basarab's were a very large Transylvanian family with powerful aristocratic, noble and also royal connections. It is through these that Vlad "the Impaler" is connected to King George VI and his descendants, not related.

King George VI's mother is the well-known Mary of Teck, wife of King George V of England. Mary's paternal grandmother was the Countess Klaudina Zsuzsánna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde. Klaudina ia a documented descendant of the Szilágyi de Horoszeg family. The connection with the current England monarchy is through this Szilágyi family. The wife of Vlad "the Impaler" was a noblewoman from that same Szilágyi de Horoszeg family. Here is the descend of Klaudina to the Szilágyi de Horoszeg family:



Klaudina Zsuzsánna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde is the great-granddaughter of László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and his wife Mária Toroczkay de Toroczkó-Szent-György. Mária herself is the daughter of István Toroczkay de Toroczkó-Szent-György and his wife Borbála Kapy de Kapivár.



In this next pedigree chart, you see that Borbála Kapy de Kapivár is the descendant of Miklós Kapy de Kapivár and his wife Katalin Lipcsey de Nagy-Lucse. Katalin is the daughter of Damian Lipcsey de Nagy-Lucse and his wife Margit Macedóniai de Macedónia.



This next pedigree shows that Margit Macedóniai de Macedónia is the granddaughter of János Macedóniai de Macedónia and his wife Anna de Gara.



You can see this this next pedigree that Anna de Gara is the great-granddaughter of Dezső de Gara and his wife Anna Szilágyi de Horogszeg.



This final pedigree chart does not show Anna, but she is a known granddaughter of Miklós de Szilágy, alive in 1408. She is the daughter of Mihály, who was the uncle to Erzsébet. Erzsébet was the wife of János Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, and mother of Mátyás Corvinus, King of Hungary. Vlad Dracula "the Impaler"'s wife is the known daughter of Osvát, brother of the previously mentioned Erzsébet.

A lot of false pedigree and assumptions are made when it comes to celebrities, royalty and family trees. Embellishments are made and facts are not documented and sourced. I'm honestly a little upset that this fabricated pedigree for King George VI of England shows that he is a direct-line descendant of the Transylvanian Basarab family. This is false and there is no given proof by Annabel Bernhardt of her sources for this information.

Source: Nagy, Iván, and István Fribeisz. Magyarország Családai.