How the Stuarts Never Really Left the British Throne (DNA Proof)

Royal DNA Differences: House of Stuart vs Windsor…

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:22 House of Stuart
2:30 House of Windsor
4:32 DNA Differences
9:31 The Bridge

Here's something almost nobody realises about the British monarchy: the family sitting on the throne today literally descends from the Stuarts they're supposed to have replaced. But how are they related and what are the DNA differences between them? Well this is the story of two of the most important royal bloodlines in British history, the Stuarts vs the Windsors.

Now the House of Stuart was, first and foremost, a Scottish royal house — and they actually got their name from a office. The family held the hereditary office of High Steward of Scotland, running the royal household and its finances. And over time, "Steward" became "Stewart," and a job title became a dynasty.

Now they trace their origins back to Alan fitz Flaad, a Breton knight and noble whose son Walter entered the service of King David I of Scotland in the twelfth century, receiving Scottish lands and the office of steward. But they didn't reach the throne until 1371. This was when Robert II became King — and the route was through marriage. His father, Walter Stewart, the 6th High Steward, had married Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce, in 1315; and when Bruce's male line failed decades later, the crown passed to their son in 1371, Robert II. From there the Stewarts ruled Scotland for over three centuries.

Their biggest moment came in 1603, when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, uniting the two crowns for the first time. But this was also a house of spectacular catastrophe: Mary, Queen of Scots (who adopted the French spelling "Stuart") was executed in 1587, and her grandson Charles I lost a civil war and his head in 1649. The decline was slow but final: the Catholic James II was pushed off the throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, died in 1714. The German House of Hanover then inherited the British throne in 1714 through George I.

The exiled Stuarts fought back of course through the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 — the second led by Bonnie Prince Charlie — but they lost both. Now when it comes to the House of Windsor, the first thing to note is the name, which was adopted only a century ago for public relations purposes. The story starts with a wedding in 1840, when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German prince of the House of Wettin. So when their son Edward VII came to the throne in 1901, the ruling house technically became Saxe-Coburg and Gotha through the male line.

Sources:
House of Stuart | History & Facts | Britannica
The Stuarts | The Royal Family
The Stuart Monarchs - Historic UK
The House of Windsor | The Royal Family
House of Windsor | History, Family Tree, & Facts | Britannica
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - Wikipedia
British royal family change their name to Windsor - archive 1917 -https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/f...
Prince Philip's DNA may identify the last of the Romanovs | Hay festival | The Guardian
FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-DF98
Stewart Family | University of Strathclyde
FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-Z38845
FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-S781

#ancestry #windsor #royal