http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8897838%255E912,00.html

Kerry will be king, says royal poll theory
By JASON HOPPS in London
08mar04

IF ROYAL genes have any influence, John Kerry looks destined to dethrone George W. Bush in November's US presidential election.

According to a theory its British proponents say has proved surprisingly accurate over the past century, the candidate with the bluest blood in his veins will win the White House.

In 2000 it was Bush. This time, it's Kerry. "Our research is not yet complete, but my bet is that Kerry has more royal connections and that he is more noble than President Bush," said Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's Peerage, a guide to the British aristocracy.

"But both candidates have a remarkable number of royal connections and both are related to Queen Elizabeth."

Yale-educated war veteran Kerry, 60, can trace his roots via the first Massachusetts governor, John Winthrop, to every great family in Boston and a host of royals in Europe.

"Kerry can almost certainly be traced back to King James I and to the bloodlines straight through the Windsor and Hanover families," Brooks-Baker said.

James I, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, ruled England from 1603-1625 and is best remembered for commissioning a new translation of the Bible. Much of Kerry's royal heritage comes through his mother's side. Kerry, a Catholic, recently learned that his paternal grandfather was an ethnic German Jew born in a former mining town near the Polish border.

Although Kerry's family tree might have more royal branches than Mr Bush's, the President himself is no commoner.

Mr Bush was more royal than Al Gore, his opponent four years ago, and also boasts a direct descent from Henry III and from Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor, who was also the wife of Louis XI of France. He is also descended from Charles II of England.

Brooks-Baker said there has always been a significant "royalty factor" in those who aspired to the White House, with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan among those who had strong blue blood links.

Kerry's royal roots will give him victory, says Burke's

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2004/170804royalroots.htm

London Guardian | August 17 2004

When it comes to American presidential elections, blue blood counts.
So say British researchers who predict that Democratic challenger John Kerry will oust President George Bush on November 2 because he boasts more royal connections than his Republican rival.

After months of research into Mr Kerry's ancestry, Burke's Peerage, experts on British aristocracy, reported yesterday that the Vietnam war veteran is related to all the royal houses of Europe and can claim kinship with Tsar Ivan "The Terrible", a previous Emperor of Byzantium and the Shahs of Persia.

Burke's director, Harold Brooks-Baker, said Mr Kerry had his mother, Rosemary Forbes, to thank for most of his royal connections.

"Every maternal blood line of Kerry makes him more royal than any previous American president," Mr Brooks-Baker said.

"Because of the fact that every presidential candidate with the most royal genes and chromosomes has always won the November presidential election, the coming election - based on 42 previous presidents - will go to John Kerry."

Similar research carried out on Mr Bush ahead of the 2000 presidential race showed that he beat Al Gore in the royal stakes, claiming kinship with Britain's Queen Elizabeth as well as with Kings Henry III and Charles II of England.

Mr Kerry is a descendant of Henry III and Henry II of England and is distantly related to Richard the Lionheart, who led the third crusade in 1189, according to Burke's.

He is also descended from Henry I, King of France and his wife, Anne of Kiev, giving him kinship with the royal houses of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the House of Rus.

Burke's research showed Mr Kerry also has historical political connections in the United States.

He is closely related to John Winthrop, the first Massachusetts governor - the state for which he is now a senator - and his maternal grandmother was the granddaughter of Robert Winthrop, who was speaker of the House of Representatives from 1847 to 1849