9 celebrities with real-life ties to royalty

It’s no secret that Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal were born into a wealthy family – Jake’s ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift made sure of that. “You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community, glamorous, shiny, bright Beverly Hills,” the pop star allegedly crooned about Gyllenhaal in her country breakup song, “I Bet You Think About Me.”

Swift, however, may have actually undersold the sheer extent of Gyllenhaals’ privilege. Jake and Maggie aren’t merely the children of Hollywood elite – they’re the direct descendants of Swedish nobility.

The pair’s ancestor, Lieutenant Nils Gunnarsson Haal, was ennobled in 1652 and their Swedish cousins hold titles of nobility to this day. The American branch of the family hasn’t done poorly either – in addition to the famous siblings, the Gyllenhaals also claim film directors and media executives among their numbers.

Thandiwe Newton is one of the most celebrated British actresses of her generation, with an Emmy and a BAFTA Award to her name. Long before she ever stepped in front of a camera, however, Newton’s life was already fascinating.

Newton’s Zimbabwean mother was the daughter of a Shona chief, before she immigrated to the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s. Her father’s heritage is altogether more ordinary – he was a lab technician from Cornwall, England. Nevertheless, Shona custom dictates that royal blood passes through generations, meaning that Newton and her daughters are all princesses.

For many British artists, earning a title is the crowning achievement of a long and illustrious career. For Christopher Guest, on the other hand, it was an inevitability. The writer and actor behind comedy classics, like “This is Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show” became the 5th Baron Haden-Guest, following his father’s death in the late 1990s.

Guest’s title was awarded on a technicality, because his elder brother was born out of wedlock, making him ineligible for a hereditary title. The actor was active in the UK House of Lords during the early years of his tenure, before governmental reforms barred most hereditary peers from voting in Parliament. Guest described allowing hereditary peers to vote in Parliament as “unfair” but also characterized the reformed system as “sheer cronyism,” advocating instead for an elected upper house.

As a result of their marriage, Guest’s wife, Jamie Lee Curtis is a baroness. People could even theoretically address her as the Lady Haden-Guest. The Academy Award winner does not use the title, however, stating, “it has nothing to do with me.”

On “Game of Thrones” and “Downton Abbey,” Kit Harington and Rose Leslie made their marks as characters who had proximity to nobility, but no official ties of their own. The acting couple’s real life social status, however, is much closer.

Leslie is the daughter of Sebastian Arbuthnot-Leslie, the Chieftain of Aberdeenshire branch of Clan Leslie. The actress’s mother also has ties to Scottish nobility: she is the great-granddaughter of a baron. Leslie’s non-noble ancestors include a New Zealand Prime Minister and a Mexican governor. Leslie was raised in Scotland’s Lickleyhead Castle, the historic seat of her family’s power.

Like his wife, Harington also has notable relatives on both sides of the family. His father is Sir David Harington, an English baronet, who reportedly descends from King James I. Harington’s mother, playwright Deborah Jane Catesby, is allegedly a descendant of Robert Catesby – one of Guy Fawkes’ associates who attempted to murder King James I in 1605.

In the United States, the Delevingne sisters are known for their famous friends. But in their home country, this pair of British models are the heirs to generations of fame and status. Cara and Poppy’s father is a prominent English property developer and the son of the rebellious Honourable Angela Delevingne, a socialite and viscount’s daughter.

Cara and Poppy’s mother, Pandora, is also descended from the British aristocracy. Pandora’s father was Sir Jocelyn Stevens, a newspaper executive, and her mother was from a noble family of baronets.