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The Telegraph, India
June 15 2013
We gave them more than an empire. We gave them a future king
DAVID BROWN
London, June 14: Prince William will be Britain's first king to have
proven Indian ancestry, DNA analysis has revealed.
Tests on saliva samples taken from the relatives of William (the Duke
of Cambridge) have established a direct lineage between the second in
line to the throne and a woman now known to have been at least
half-Indian.
The discovery means that the Duke will become the first Head of the
Commonwealth with a clear genetic link to its most populous nation. It
is his only non-European DNA.
William has yet to visit India but will be encouraged to make an
official tour after the birth of his first child next month.
William's parents visited India in 1992 but a photograph of Diana,
Princess of Wales, sitting alone in front of the Taj Mahal came to
symbolise the disintegration of their marriage.
Now researchers have uncovered the details of the similarly doomed
relationship of the Duke's Indian great-great-great-great-great
grandmother.
It has long been known that Eliza Kewark lived in western India but
she is usually described as Armenian. However, analysis of DNA passed
down the female line confirms that she was at least half-Indian.
The revelation explains why the Scottish father of her children
suddenly deserted her and sent their daughter, Katherine, to Britain
at the age of 6. Researchers have discovered letters from Eliza to her
children's father, Theodore Forbes, pleading for her to be allowed to
see him.
When Theodore died on a ship back to Britain in 1820 his will referred
to Eliza as his `housekeeper' and the mother of her `purported
daughter' Katherine.
The revelation means that a woman who appears to have been shunned by
colonial society because of her race is an ancestor of the future
king.
Jim Wilson, a genetics expert at the University of Edinburgh and
BritainsDNA, who carried out the tests, said that Eliza's descendants
had an incredibly rare type of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), inherited
only from a mother. It has so far been recorded in only 14 other
people, 13 Indian and one Nepalese. This DNA will have been inherited
by the Duke and Prince Harry but will not be passed on to their
children, although it is likely that their descendants will have some
of Eliza's Asian genetic material.
Wilson, a senior lecturer in population and disease genetics, said
that results of the mtDNA combined with the findings of South Asian
DNA in the rest of the genome meant that the evidence of the Duke's
Indian heritage was `unassailable'.
The news delighted Mary Roach, Princess Diana's maternal aunt, who
provided a DNA sample for the experiment. `I always assumed that I was
part-Armenian so I am delighted that I also have an Indian
background,' Roach said.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130615/jsp/frontpage/story_17010162.jsp#.UbzLpefI3p8
June 15 2013
We gave them more than an empire. We gave them a future king
DAVID BROWN
London, June 14: Prince William will be Britain's first king to have
proven Indian ancestry, DNA analysis has revealed.
Tests on saliva samples taken from the relatives of William (the Duke
of Cambridge) have established a direct lineage between the second in
line to the throne and a woman now known to have been at least
half-Indian.
The discovery means that the Duke will become the first Head of the
Commonwealth with a clear genetic link to its most populous nation. It
is his only non-European DNA.
William has yet to visit India but will be encouraged to make an
official tour after the birth of his first child next month.
William's parents visited India in 1992 but a photograph of Diana,
Princess of Wales, sitting alone in front of the Taj Mahal came to
symbolise the disintegration of their marriage.
Now researchers have uncovered the details of the similarly doomed
relationship of the Duke's Indian great-great-great-great-great
grandmother.
It has long been known that Eliza Kewark lived in western India but
she is usually described as Armenian. However, analysis of DNA passed
down the female line confirms that she was at least half-Indian.
The revelation explains why the Scottish father of her children
suddenly deserted her and sent their daughter, Katherine, to Britain
at the age of 6. Researchers have discovered letters from Eliza to her
children's father, Theodore Forbes, pleading for her to be allowed to
see him.
When Theodore died on a ship back to Britain in 1820 his will referred
to Eliza as his `housekeeper' and the mother of her `purported
daughter' Katherine.
The revelation means that a woman who appears to have been shunned by
colonial society because of her race is an ancestor of the future
king.
Jim Wilson, a genetics expert at the University of Edinburgh and
BritainsDNA, who carried out the tests, said that Eliza's descendants
had an incredibly rare type of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), inherited
only from a mother. It has so far been recorded in only 14 other
people, 13 Indian and one Nepalese. This DNA will have been inherited
by the Duke and Prince Harry but will not be passed on to their
children, although it is likely that their descendants will have some
of Eliza's Asian genetic material.
Wilson, a senior lecturer in population and disease genetics, said
that results of the mtDNA combined with the findings of South Asian
DNA in the rest of the genome meant that the evidence of the Duke's
Indian heritage was `unassailable'.
The news delighted Mary Roach, Princess Diana's maternal aunt, who
provided a DNA sample for the experiment. `I always assumed that I was
part-Armenian so I am delighted that I also have an Indian
background,' Roach said.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130615/jsp/frontpage/story_17010162.jsp#.UbzLpefI3p8