As head of the 530-year-old House of Alba, she is entitled to ride her horse into Seville Cathedral, and according to protocol does not have to kneel before the Pope. Some genealogists even claim that the Queen must bow to her, owing to the fact that the duchess is descended from James II through his illegitimate son James Fitz-James, while the Queen is from the "upstart" Saxe-Coburg-Gotha line.