English Rose

Just watched Boris Johnson on BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? Was tremendous. Well worth a watch on BBC iPlayer if you like that sort of think (which my genealogist girlfriend does).

Now Boris is the kind of guy you watch mainly for comedy value (like the Duke of Edinburgh) and he doesn't disappoint. Best line is when he offends the whole of Wales by stating "Prince of Wales? What Wales, England? I mean, Wales, Britain?"

He also presses the point that, despite his "mongrel" European heritage (French, German, Turkish) he has plenty of English blood too.

What was particularly funny when he found out that his great (x6) grandfather was King of Wurttenburg, his great (x7) grandfather was Frederick, Prince of Wales. And his great (x8) grandfather was none other than King George II of Great Britain - which Boris was keen to emphasise, shows his "English blood."

Eh... kinda. Except George II was the last British monarch to be born outside Britain. And he didn't really speak much English. So Boris is about as English as... the royal family. Good to know!