Royal descent

A royal descent is a lineal descent from a past or present monarch. Royal descent is sometimes claimed as a mark of distinction and is seen as a desirable goal of genealogy. Pretenders, impostors and those hoping to improve their social status have often claimed royal descent and some have fabricated lineages. The importance of royal descent to some genealogists has been criticized.

Due to the incompleteness of records, the number of people who claim royal descent is much higher than the number who can actually prove it. Genealogists and geneticists have attempted to estimate the percentage of various populations that have royal descent.

Europe

There has been a long tradition for royalty predominantly to marry those of their own class. As a result, the ruling houses of Europe have tended to be closely related to one another, and descent from a particular monarch will be found in many other dynasties – all present European monarchs, and a great many pretenders, are descendants of William I of England, for example.