The future king of Britain descends from American patriots who fought against the crown he is destined to inherit, according to a new book tracing Prince William’s family tree.
In “American Crown,” Stephanie Green traces the Prince of Wales’ extraordinary American lineage to Revolutionary War patriot Nathan Hale and other colonial ancestors.
“The more I read about the family, the more interesting it was,” Green told Fox News Digital. “All the characters in the family tree are so fascinating, and it’s an American success story. The fact that he has this American bloodline â I don’t even know if he’s aware of it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Kensington Palace for comment. A spokesperson for the palace previously told Fox News Digital it does not comment on books.
Green said that through William’s mother, the late , his lineage traces back to Benajah Strong.
“The Strongs have been in this country for a very long time, since the 1600s,” Green said. “Benajah was from Coventry, Connecticut, which places him not only in the heart of the American Revolution but at its very beginning. Coventry was a hotbed of anti-monarchist sentiment, and Benajah’s role during the American Revolution was to spread the word that the British were on the march. He was part of what we call ‘The Lexington Alarm.'”
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“Benajah’s grave is still in Coventry,” Green added.
The first Strong ancestor emigrated from England to New England in 1635, according to The Washington Post. William’s sixth-great-grandfather was born in Coventry in 1740 and enlisted as a private in the Connecticut militia.
Strong’s nephew was Nathan Hale, whom Green described as “our most famous American martyr and one of our most famous American patriots.”
“He was the son of Benajah’s sister,” Green said. “He was captured and hanged by the British in 1776, shortly after the American Revolution began. Unfortunately, his remains have never been found. People in Coventry have memorials in his honor and still hope his remains will one day be found and returned to his hometown.”
Hale, who studied at Yale, was a teacher when the Revolutionary War began, according to The Washington Post. Like his uncle, Hale joined the Connecticut militia. The outlet reported that Hale later joined Knowlton’s Rangers, widely considered the first organized U.S. military intelligence unit.
In 1776, Hale traveled to British-occupied Long Island on a spying mission, posing as an unemployed Dutch schoolteacher. Some historians have argued that Hale’s fatal mistake was carrying his Yale diploma with him. He was captured by British forces in Queens.Â
After being interrogated, Hale was hanged at age 21, about two months after the Declaration of Independence.
Hale’s reported last words were, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
During her research, Green said she discovered a surprising connection to America’s first president.
“Everyone who follows the royal family knows about the Spencer family, a very aristocratic family from England,” Green said. “Diana, of course, was Lady Diana Spencer when she married in 1981, but people probably don’t know that the Spencer family and George Washington’s family go way back.”
“I have a whole chapter on Sulgrave Manor, which is George Washington’s ancestral home in England,” Green said. “It’s right down the road from Althorp, the Spencer family estate. In fact, the Spencers and the Washingtons were quite friendly. The Spencer girls worked at the Washington ho
