Pop sensation Taylor Swift is a distant relative of Louis XIV, who was king of France from 1643 to 1715, family history research has revealed.
Taylor Swift will begin the French phase of her Eras concert tour at La Défense Arena in Paris on 9 May. But new research from family history website MyHeritage shows that she is the 8th cousin 11 times removed of the former French monarch.
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Their common ancestor is Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (1367-1415), an English nobleman who was known for supporting Henry IV against Richard II during the turmoils of the late 14th century. On Taylor Swift’s side, he is her 18x great grandfather, the ancestor of a line of her family who emigrated from England to America in the 17th century. He is also the 7x great grandfather of Louis XIV.
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Known as ‘Louis the Great’ or ‘the Sun King’, Louis XIV’s reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign. He is known for consolidating a system of absolute monarchy in France that endured until the French Revolution and commissioning the building of the Palace of Versailles. In 1685, he revoked the Edict of Nantes, leading to persecution of France’s Protestant Huguenot minority that drove them from the country.
He also shared his distant relative Taylor Swift’s love of music. He founded the French Royal Academy of Dance and enjoyed singing while playing the guitar.