A study suggested that Queen Elizabeth descended from a Muslim princess called Zaida.
Highlights
- Study claims Elizabeth II's bloodline linked to Prophet's daughter Fatima
- Queen descends from Muslim princess who converted to Christianity: Study
- The claims were first published by a British authority on royal pedigrees
is a descendant of Prophet Muhammed, a Moroccan newspaper has claimed, attributing the bizarre finding to a study.
According to the Daily Mail, the findings were first published in 1986 by Burke's Peerage, a British authority on royal pedigrees. The Morrocan newspaper has claimed that 43 generations of Queen Elizabeth's family have been traced to produce the research finding that the Queen is a distant relative of the Prophet.
The study claims
Elizabeth II's bloodline runs through the Earl of Cambridge in the 14th century, across medieval Muslim Spain, to Fatima, the Prophet's daughter.
The claim is disputed by some historians, but the genealogical records of early-medieval Spain support it. According to reports, Ali Gomaa, the former grand mufti of Egypt, also endorsed it.
Queen Elizabeth II is the world's longest-reigning monarch. (File)
"It is little known by the British people that the blood of Mohammed flows in the veins of the queen. However, all Moslem religious leaders are proud of this fact," wrote Burke's publishing director, in a letter to then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986.
The study by Burke's Peerage suggested that the Queen descended from a Muslim princess called Zaida, who fled her hometown Seville in the 11th century before converting to Christianity.
Zaida was the fourth wife of King Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad of Seville. She bore him a son, Sancho, whose descendant later married the Earl of Cambridge in the 11th century.
However, historians are divided over Zaida's origins. Some believe she was the daughter of a wine-drinking caliph descended from the Prophet, while others say she married into his family.