And you can’t spoil The Best WDYTYA Ever, a lovely and super-amusing hour of television. You might say Dyer has millions of 22 x great-grandads, it’s not surprising one of them is Edward III, and you’re probably descended from him too but that would make you a spoilsport. Never mind ruff, what about a crown? I’m thinking God Save King Daniel “My blood is his blood, I can’t compute it in my brain,” says Danny, at Edward’s tomb in Westminster Abbey. He says he’s going to treat himself to his own ruff: “Just bowl about with it, if anyone questions it I’ll explain why I’m wearing a ruff, and then they’ll have to walk away won’t they, embarrassed?” Yes, Danny Dyer is a direct descendant of Edward III, and he’s got a scroll to prove it. Cromwell’s son Henry, from whom Danny is descended, was married to someone called Seymour go up her branch, through people called Hotspur and Plantagenet, and you get to Edward III. Maybe he does.Īnd that’s not the end of it. He’s walking round like he owns the place. The gaffs just keep on getting grander and bigger, as does Danny’s head. “You could have a right rave in ’ere couldn’t you babe, eh?” Danny says to Cromwell’s biographer in the great hall at Hampton Court. And both controversial earls of Essex (only one official), villains, canny, cheeky, cocky, top dogs, started humbly and done good, against the odds. Yeah, Wolf Hall – they share that, Danny and his 15 x great-grandfather: both stars of BBC drama. And her great-great-grandfather was … Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s right-hand man. “I’m going to put the lips on her Tim,” says Danny, kissing the portrait of his ancestor, a lady in a rough ruff and a bit of rough. In the church Tim introduces Danny to Catherine Cromwell. You don’t have to approve of the English class system to be amused by it, especially extremes of it.ĭanny’s amazing social ascent continues. Now cousins from neighbouring counties (Danny lives in Essex), they might as well be from different planets.
They make a lovely pair – Tim and Danny, Lord Tollemache of Helmingham and the landlord of the Vic in Walford, a proper old-school plummy toff and a proper East End geezer. “What a gaff you’ve got here,” he says to the man who has lowered his drawbridge so Danny can drive his SUV over the moat. That’s before he’s seen Helmingham Hall in the next village, which is where his 11 x great-gran was from. “I think it’s the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen,” says Danny, standing outside Otley Hall in Suffolk. It does, thanks to an expert, who finds a 10 x great-grandfather with an actual manor – as in a big Tudor pile, not just the part of town he lived in. “I just hope this journey gets a little bit more jolly to be honest,” says Danny, jolly meaning more posh and more minted. No one’s freaking out yet, though the criminal is a sad story of a woman – Danny’s great-great-gran – who tried to conceal her dead baby.Īncestors called Buttivant (“however you pronounce it, Bootivant, I’d say Bu’ivan’ – there’s no Ts in it”) bring hope of Frenchness: “Am I French? How French am I? I know I look French and all that.” French nobility peu’-ê’re? It’s another cul-de-sac though the Buttivants came from Whitechapel. Daddy Dyer can’t provide aristocracy, only a few black-and-white photos, a workhouse, and a criminal. He wasn’t around much when Danny was growing up, which is probably why he’s so eager to find strong male relations further back. In an (actual factual) East End pub he meets up with the old block from which he was chipped. We couldn’t go back any further than that because no one knows who his mum and dad were.It doesn’t start well. My oldest known relative was Rollo the Viking, who came from Scandinavia to become the first Lord of Normandy in the 900s. Were you surprised by how far back your family tree went? He’s a clever bloke, but he’s very boring! Hopefully, you’ll learn a lot more from one of my shows than you would from a David Starkey series. It’s a history show that’s told through my eyes, so I’m hoping it reaches a lot of people. I want to indulge in it, taste it and find out what their lives were actually like. When you have a family tree like mine, you have to go and explore it.
What can you tell us about this new series?Įver since I was told I had royal heritage, I’ve been dying to find out more.
I didn’t train as an actor and I’ve come from a really working-class environment and I found myself all of a sudden in a position of responsibility, so to find out about my ancestors… it’s a rags-to-riches story. I had always felt a bit of emptiness about why I am the way I am and why I’m in the position I’m in. Has your life changed since you discovered your royal roots?
Danny dressed in hunting attire like his 30 x great grandfather William the Conqueror The proud Londoner finds out how far back his royal bloodline goes and how his regal relatives lived.
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