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King Richard III's 'doubtful' legitimacy questions present Queen's right to rule

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ANI London
Last Updated : Dec 03 2014 | 10:31 AM IST

Queen Elizabeth II may not be the rightful ruler, as scientists have made some genetic discovery on King Richard III's body, which poses doubt on the royal line of succession.

According to the researchers at the University of Leicester, they are now 99.999 percent sure that the skeleton with a twisted spine found in a Leicester car park in 2012 was the last Plantagenet king who had died in battle in 1485. However, the skeleton's male Y chromosome, only passed from father to son, and did not match that of five living individuals paternally linked to King Richard.

According to the Mirror, there was a break in the male genetic line, which could question the foundations of the entire Tudor Dynasty which the Queen is descended from.

Richard III was connected to these lineages through his great grandfather Edmund, Duke of York John of Gaunt's brother, and Prof Schurer, pro-vice chancellor of the University of Leicester, said that though they have no information of where the break was, it was possibly the link between Edward III and his son John of Gaunt.

He added that John of Gaunt was the father of Henry IV, and hence if John of Gaunt wasn't Edward III's son, arguably Henry IV had no legitimate right to the throne, and neither did Henry V, Henry VI, and the Tudors.

However, Prof Schurer also said that since the history of the British monarchy involved "all kinds of twists and turns", the Y chromosome discovery had no demeanor on the present Queen's right to rule.

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First Published: Dec 03 2014 | 10:18 AM IST

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