Josh Widdicombe descended from Mary Boleyn and Edward I. Are you descended from them or Edward III?

Описание: This is a short talk inspired by the BBC's documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? and specifically the episode about the comedian and presenter Josh Widdicombe and his descent from Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne, and Edward I of England. It made for interesting and informative TV, but as it happens being descended from Mary Boleyn isn't that unusual at all, and Edward I even less so. Indeed, in the latter's case a very large proportion of the indigenous British population is likely to be descended from Edward III, and thus Edward I and all the way back to William the Conqueror.

Cleopatra Thea is mentioned in the talk as possibly having descendants in European royal families. This is NOT Cleopatra VII (the famous one), but an earlier family member who was daughter of Ptolemy VI (d. 145 BC) She married into the Seleucid royal line of Syria, and is thought possibly to have been an ancestress of various kings, including those of Emesa, Parthia and Armenia. If so, that just might link her to the royal lines of Europe. But there is NO chance of ever proving that with a lineage. It is, as far as I know, impossible to prove a bloodline transmission from the ancient world of Europe, North Africa and the Near East to modern individuals.

At the time of writing (October 2021), the Josh Widdicombe episode discussed here can be viewed in the UK (until September 2022) at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...

In the video I refer to some Durham University research which was motivated by an eariler Who Do You Think You Are? (the Danny Dyer episode). Although I think this is now behind a login access for the university, the link is at:
http://community.dur.ac.uk/a.r.millar...

I apologise for the background noise, courtesy of the local RAF flying school.