The following is an excerpt from the MyHeritage Blog:

As the Queen of Pop Taylor Swift prepared to dazzle Paris and Lyon with her current Eras tour, our team did some research on Taylor’s family background and discovered that she is distantly related to King Louis XIV of France.

Their family connection dates back to aristocratic England in the 14th century, with their common ancestors being Michael de la Pole, second Earl of Suffolk, and his wife Katherine Stafford. Michael de la Pole was an English nobleman who supported Henry IV against Richard II during the late 14th century. In the 17th century, Taylor’s English ancestors left for the American colonies and settled in Massachusetts, before moving on to Pennsylvania a few generations later.

On Louis XIV’s side, the link is through an English noblewoman Margaret de la Pole, who married a count of Béarn (in Southwestern France) in the 15th century. Her great-granddaughter would become Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and her granddaughter of the latter is none other than Marie de’ Medici, the paternal grandmother of the French King Louis XIV.

Louis XIV (1638–1715) is well known for building the magnificent Palace of Versailles.

Louis XIV’s parties at Versailles were spectacular. The king loved to dance, and as a young king he danced in front of the court dressed as the sun. In fact, he founded the French Royal Academy of Dance, predecessor of the Academy of the National Opera of Paris, which today trains the dancers of the Paris Opera. 

Music was constantly played at Versailles, and not just for dancing. Louis XIV loved not only listening to music, but also playing it. Did you know that he studied guitar with the best musicians of his time and that he loved singing while playing the guitar? Apparently it runs in the family!

Explore your own family connections on MyHeritage.com