Talk:Royal Descent

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[edit] Importance

OK, the stub tag has been replaced with an importance tag, asking for discussion. There is evidence that a reasonable number of people are, were or might be concurrently interested in the subject of royal descent (eg. it is at least well-known in a community). It is often discussed by genealogists, for example on soc.genealogy.medieval, soc.genealogy.britain, and alt.talk.royalty. It is also of interest to geneticists and sociologists because royal descent is the easiest exemplar of the concept of the most recent common ancestor because of the strength of the historical record for royal families and their descendants (see, for example, the widely quoted discussion by Prof Steve Jones in In the Blood: God, Genes and Destiny (1996) suggesting that 25% of Britons have a royal descent). There are numerous books about particular royal descents, but more encyclopedic are the many references by historians to the concept of widespread royal descents and to its implications for our understanding of the development of society: for example, in the works of Sir Anthony Wagner, including Pedigree and Progress (1975) and English Genealogy (1983).Chelseaboy 12:05, 27 January 2006 (UTC)