It sounds like the sort of claim made by a tabloid to stir up trouble in the UK, but the words are allegedly straight from the mouth of Prince Charles, who claims to be descended from none other than the inspiration for all Dracula related literature. But while it might seem novel and in keeping with the season of Halloween, is there something else behind the story?
The revelation entered the mainstream after several centuries when Charles said to reporters that a historian had uncovered the link between the two sons of the man Dracula was based on and his own Great Grandmother Mary of Teck. Mary of Teck was Grandmother to Queen Elizabeth the II. And so when the historian discovered writings including the name Mary in reference to a Wurttemburg princess who had lived around the same time the possibility was sealed. And though some are finding the link hard to believe, Charles seems on-board with the idea – at least for now. Whether it will eventually be confirmed or not is yet to be seen.
Some have suggested this may be the reason the prince felt compelled to purchase a home in Rural Transylvania and why he was so keen to keep the woodlands there undisturbed by developments and other forms of destruction – preserving them as some would say just as they were when his ancestor reigned over the Transylvanian countryside. Of course if he is related to Vlad the Impaler, it seems the family has cooled off quite a bit on the more grisly elements of Vlad’s history.
But if Charles were related to the character “Dracula,” then this means so too would be Queen Elizabeth. And as you look into the family tree it starts to look less like a headline and more like a cross between a horror movie and a Dan Brown novel.
Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler as he would be known among his enemies is often depicted as one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants in the history of the world. And while that title is highly contested among tyrants throughout history, Vlad is certainly one of the most famously grisly – partially due to a writer named Bram Stoker and a novel he wrote in 1897. The novel, titled Dracula was considered on par with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for being an iconic masterpiece of horror of the era. Even today Dracula is a household name, though for all this time the name’s connection to another has remained a complete secret until now.
And if that wasn’t strange enough, it seems there is one last twist that may deepen Charles’ claims. King George the III – another ancestor of Prince Charles – was said to have suffered from an illness known today as Porphyria. And though Porphyria and Lycanthropy are two different diseases, the two are attributed often to both vampires and werewolves. One other sufferer of the disease often cited as a textbook example? Vlad Tepes of Transylvania.