Her Majesty the Home Secretary
Revealed: Amber Rudd descended from Charles II’s mistress
SHE is one of the more well-heeled members of the Cabinet and famously acted as ‘aristocracy co-ordinator’ for the hit film Four Weddings And A Funeral.
But now it can be revealed that new Home Secretary Amber Rudd is a genuine blue-blood – a direct descendant of King Charles II and his mistress, Barbara Palmer.
The couple had five children before Palmer was usurped by the infamous Nell Gwynn. They established a line that, eight generations later, produced Ms Rudd’s mother, Ethne.
Palmer, known for her extravagance, beauty, foul temper and promiscuity, had more influence in court than Charles’s Queen, Catherine, and was officially appointed Lady of the Bedchamber.
Diarist Samuel Pepys noted ‘I know well enough she is a whore’ but wrote admiringly of her, saying it ‘did me good’ to see her ‘linen petticoats, laced with rich lace at the bottom’. However, fellow diarist John Evelyn called her ‘the curse of the nation’.
Palmer was so loved by Charles II that she was made Duchess of Cleveland in her own right, an unprecedented move in a period dominated by men. And the dukedom came with a special condition that would allow her to pass it to her eldest son, despite him being illegitimate.
The King acknowledged five of Palmer’s children as his own, including Ms Rudd’s ancestor Anne – and Henry FitzRoy, whose descendents include the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and therefore Princes William and Harry too.
Other descendants of Palmer include Sarah, Duchess of York, the Mitford sisters, philosopher Ber- trand Russell and former Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden.
Peerage expert Michael Rhodes wrote that this ‘colourful Royal history’ makes Ms Rudd distantly related to the Queen. ‘She does have quite a rich pedigree,’ he added.
Another expert in genealogy, Patrick Cracroft-Brennan, says they are tenth cousins once removed, as they have a common ancestor in James I. And he added that Ms Rudd and the Queen are 11th cousins via another route – sharing a common ancestor in Sir Arthur Throckmorton, a courtier to Elizabeth I.
Ms Rudd’s link to Charles II also makes her an 11th cousin to a recent resident of Downing Street, Samantha Cameron, who can trace her family tree back to Nell Gwynn.
Experts say many people will have hidden Royal links going back centuries, but it is often difficult to find historical records to prove it. However, Ms Rudd’s family includes many members of the peerage, war heroes and politicians, so their links are easier to trace. She can count several baronets and barons among her forebears, including her greatgreat-grandfather Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, an MP in the 19th Century, and the 17th Lord Dacre.
William Hall, of genealogy website Heritage Hound, said: ‘The 1600s may be rather far away to most people but when dealing with characters from this background, it’s relatively easy to prove connections as they left so many records behind. When dealing with the genealogy of agricultural labourers or miners, it can be very difficult to establish links simply because it wasn’t as important to these people where they came from.’
Although Ms Rudd is likely to be the most aristocratic member of the Cabinet, she is some way behind David Cameron, who is the Queen’s fifth cousin, twice removed.