Kate Middleton is a Brummie and related to a former Prime Minister
THE DUCHESS of Cambridge is descended from a former British Prime Minister, according to new research.
Far from being a commoner, the royal is actually related to Neville Chamberlain, who led the nation at the outbreak of the Second World War.
The astonishing revelation also means that the former Kate Middleton is also really a Brummie.
Australian history teacher Michael Reed discovered the 32-year-old is descended from two of Birmingham's most prestigious families - the Chamberlains and the Martineaus.
The Chamberlain clan spawned visionary city leader Joseph and his son Neville, Prime Minister at the outbreak of the Second World War. They are remembered in the city centre square dedicated to Joseph Chamberlain.
The Martineaus were another political dynasty whose numbers included five successive generations of mayors or lord mayors of Birmingham.
Mr Reed, of Hallam College, Melbourne, has been investigating Kate's roots since she married Prince William in 2011.
He is set to present his research at a conference at Birmingham's Newman University on July 4 and 5 to mark the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's death.
He said: "Kate's great great grandfather was Francis Martineau Lupton, a politician himself, and his first cousin was Birmingham Mayor Sir Thomas Martineau, a friend of Queen Victoria. Sir Thomas's nephew was Neville Chamberlain.
"As Hitler discovered when he met Neville in 1938, Kate's political relatives were strongly anti-war - hence his policy of appeasement.
"Sadly, Francis Martineau's son, Lionel, was one of many in Kate's family killed in the First World War." Kate's family ties to Birmingham add to her links with the city.
Her husband is famously an Aston Villa fan and saw the team against Sunderland last season.
The conference, co-organised with Birmingham Council and political history groups, includes a dinner at the Chamberlain family's Highbury Hall home in Moseley.
But despite the links, Kate probably won't be swapping Buckingham Palace for a home by the Bullring just yet.