Madonna's royal cousin

Mar 14, 2006, 12:25 GMT

Madonna has asked Britain's Duchess of Cornwall to help her trace her family tree - after discovering they are distant cousins.

The pop beauty, who is married to British film director Guy Ritchie, recently found out she is related to Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles, as well as Canadian singer Celine Dion.

Madonna, 47, has now asked both of her new 'relatives' to help her and genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner to find the rest of their shared ancestors.

Reitwiesner is quoted by Britain's Daily Star newspaper as saying: 'Camilla and Madonna are both descended from Zacharie Cloutier, who lived from 1617 to 1708. Camilla and Celine descend from Jean Guyon, who lived from 1619 to 1694.

'Both Jean and Zacharie died in Chateau-Richer, Quebec. Because of their unusual French-Canadian ancestry, they are all blood relations. Madonna is absolutely fascinated by this.'

Camilla, who is a massive fan of Madonna, is said to be keen to help the 'Hung Up' singer trace her roots because she hopes being related to the sexy star will boost her popularity.

A source close to the duchess said: 'Believe it or not, Camilla is a huge Madonna fan, so she was thrilled when she got in touch and explained their ancestry. It's great for Madonna as well because she's desperately trying to accepted by the British public. What could be more British than having English royalty in your family?'

Madonna, who has previously met Camilla's husband Prince Charles, is set to start tracing her royal heritage over the next few weeks.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International