5 Lesser-Known Details About Queen Camilla’s Wild Family Tree

Queen Camilla might be part of the royal family today, but her own family tree is quite the story in itself. Think messy marriages, a great-aunt with a fascinating love life, a grandfather who walked out on his family, and a great-grandmother who had an affair with a king. And that's not all! Her family history also comes with some unexpected celebrity connections, including a Game of Thrones star.

Camilla's paternal grandfather, Philip Morton Shand, had quite a turbulent personal life. He married four times and divorced three times, but his complicated love life wasn't the only thing that stood out. Philip was also an absent father who barely saw his son, Bruce Shand, Camilla's father. Speaking about his great-grandfather in a 2012 interview with The Standard, Tom Parker Bowles didn't hold back, saying, “As a father to my grandfather, whom he abandoned, he was a sh*t, but I think he was a slightly tortured figure, too.” Despite their troubled family history, Philip's passion for food and writing left a mark on Tom, who was inspired by his great-grandfather's books to pursue a career as a food critic and author.

Camilla wasn't the first woman in her family to have a relationship with a future king. Her great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was married to George Keppel when she had an affair with the future King Edward VII in 1898. Their relationship lasted until his death in 1910, and Keppel became one of the most prominent women in his social circle. There's an interesting parallel with Camilla's own love story with King Charles, Edward's great-great-grandson, which only highlights just how closely connected Britain's aristocratic families have been for generations.

The Queen’s family tree has a surprising connection to Buckingham Palace itself. Her maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Cubitt, was the son of a carpenter who went on to become one of Britain's most successful master builders. After setting up his own firm in London in 1810, he worked on several major developments across the capital, including the East Front of Buckingham Palace. That means one of the buildings most closely associated with Camilla's life as Queen owes part of its history to her own ancestor.

Camilla wasn't the only one in her family to have a remarkable love story. Her great-aunt, Violet Trefusis, daughter of Alice Keppel, was a writer who shared a deep romantic bond with fellow author Vita Sackville-West. The two had known each other since childhood, and their relationship continued into adulthood, even after both women married men. In 1920, they travelled to France together, in a relationship that would go on to inspire literary works and remain a notable part of both women's lives.

Camilla's family tree has a few unexpected celebrity connections, too! According to reports, she is distantly related to Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, with the two sharing an ancestor, John Tufton, the 2nd Earl of Thanet, a 17th-century nobleman. But Jon Snow isn't her only famous distant relative. Camilla is also reportedly related to pop icon Madonna through her mother's side of the family, with their connection tracing back to French-Canadian ancestors.