'A dark and deliciously murky secret hovers over the continuing relationship between Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton – a skeleton so large that even a vast royal closet would struggle to contain it.

For the Mail can reveal that William and Kate are distant cousins. Not only that, the common ancestor who links the two lovers is a murderous despot whose bloody deeds have been deliberately forgotten by history. Until now. The man who links William and Kate as kith and kin is Sir Thomas Leighton, an Elizabethan soldier, diplomat and, for 40 years, the cut-throat Governor of Guernsey.

He is William’s 12th generation great-grandparent, and Kate’s 11th, making them 12th cousins, once removed.'

Read more: Prince William & Kate Middleton are Distant Cousins