He refuses to wear kilts, but the Royal family tree proves that William is still more SCOTTISH than King Charles!

The Royal Family is proud of its Scottish roots and eager to make the most of it, not least at this time of year when senior members flock to Balmoral in Aberdeenshire.

But if King Charles can boast direct descent from James VI of Scotland and I of England, his sons William and Harry have noticeably more Scottish blood in their veins than their father – even if they refuse to wear kilts!

No fewer than seven Stuart monarchs ruled the combined throne of Scotland and England from 1603 to 1714.

James VI of Scotland and I of England were the first Stuart monarchs to the British throne. Charles can trace the lineage back to James through George I. But William and Harry have three more lines of Stuart ancestry

Like other senior royals before him, Charles has always made it a point to wear kilts when he’s north of the border. Apart from their youngest years, Harry and William have always refused

The Spencer side of their family allows William and Harry to trace back countless different links to the Stuart monarchs. Their father, Charles, has only one lineage

Charles III is descended from only one of them, through James I’s daughter, Elizabeth Stuart, whose grandson, Elector George of Hanover, was succeeded as George I.

Through his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Charles is also descended from Robert II of Scotland.

Lady Diana Spencer, meanwhile, was descended from James VI’s son Charles I and his grandson, King Charles II, but illegitimately through two of Charles II’s many mistresses.

Diana’s grandmother, Lady Cynthia Spencer, was descended from Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, the child of Charles II and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille.

Another of Diana’s ancestors was Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton, whose mother, Barbara Villiers, was one of Charles II’s many subordinates. Barbra was one of the most beautiful women of her age and diarist Samuel Pepys admitted that he thought of her in his dreams.

Prince William’s Stuart blood is also enhanced by his lineage from another Stuart king, James II, who reigned from 1685-88.

Even Catherine, Princess of Wales, seems to wear more tartan than William. But William has several lines of Scottish descent

The Spencer family descends, among others, from the 1st Duke of Grafton (pictured), the illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress, Barbara Villiers

Diana Princess of Wales, pictured at the 1981 Braemar Games, was descended from both Charles II and James II

Sarah Ferguson, pictured, Queen Camilla and the Spencer family can all trace their ancestry back to Charles II through his mistress Louise de Kérouaille and their son, the 1st Duke of Richmond

James had an affair with Arabella Churchill, sister of the 1st Duke of Marlborough and distant ancestor of Sir Winston Churchill. Diana is descended from James and Arabella’s first child, Henrietta FitzJames, born in 1667.

William’s mother was not the only royal to be descended from the Stuarts.

Coincidentally, Diana, Queen Camilla and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York all descend from the son of Charles II and Louise de Kérouaille, the aforementioned Charles Lennox.

What it means is that if Charles II – ‘the Merry Monarch’ – hadn’t been so ‘cheerful’ and remained faithful to his wife Catherine of Braganza, there would be no Diana Spencer, no Camilla Parker-Bowles and no ‘Fergie’ been. ‘. It’s a safe bet to say that recent royal history would have been much less eventful.

It also means that, when he eventually becomes king, the future William V will be the first descendant of Charles I to rule Britain since 1714.