Mookie Betts already is baseball royalty, but it appears he’s could be part of a different royal family soon.
Actress Meghan Markle is set to marry Prince Harry on May 19 at Windsor Castle and the Boston Red Sox outfielder recently found out that he and Markle could be distant relatives, according to The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham.
According to Abraham, Betts and Markle’s families both descend from the same part of Alabama, as discovered by amateur genealogist Jim McNiff.
By studying Betts’ ancestral history, McNiff discovered that the Sox star and Duchess-to-be’s families intersected 150 years ago, per Abraham.
“According to the 1870 Federal Census, the population of a township in Madison County, Ala., included 22 adults and children with the surname Betts,” Abraham writes. “In house No. 105, there was 17-year-old Joseph Betts. In house No. 107, 14-year-old Jacob Betts lived with his family.
“Joseph Betts is the great-great grandfather of Mookie Betts and Jacob Betts the great-great-great grandfather of Markle.”
Abraham does state that it is impossible to fully determine if Joseph and Jacob are related, but he notes that residents of Madison County were descendants of slaves who were owned by Elisha Betts, who lived in Lunenburg County, Va.
Certainly an interesting connection for the Sox outfielder, and he wouldn’t turn down a meeting with his newfound relative.
“That would be cool, to meet her,” Betts said, per Abraham. “I wonder if she’s a baseball fan?”
If she wasn’t before, she certainly should be now.
