Royal history occasionally produces a family-tree twist so extraordinary that it sounds invented.

King Edward VII had a long relationship with society hostess Alice Keppel. More than a century later, Alice's great-granddaughter would become Queen Camilla.

And there is another twist.

Camilla married King Charles III - Edward VII's great-great-grandson.

Alice Keppel became close to Edward when he was still Prince of Wales in the late 1890s and remained an important companion until his death in 1910. Edward was married to Queen Alexandra and was notorious for his many affairs.

Alice herself was married to George Keppel and had two daughters. Through the younger, Sonia, came Rosalind Cubitt - Camilla's mother - making Alice Keppel Camilla's great-grandmother.

The family lines then crossed in the modern Royal Family when Camilla married Charles in 2005.

So the woman who became Queen Camilla is the great-granddaughter of a woman who had been the mistress and confidante of her husband's great-great-grandfather.

You couldn't make that into a period drama without somebody saying the plot was a bit far-fetched.

British history, however, got there first.

Discover more remarkable history stories on our book ...

Love Stories, Passions and Heartbreaks 

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