Blue Blood: Meghan's ancestors' coat of arms which come from German ancestors. It is a gold feather set between two gold fleur-de-lis on a blue background

One was raised in Kensington Palace, the son of the Prince of Wales and grandson of Queen Elizabeth II.

The other was born 5,500 miles away in California, the daughter of parents who worked in the film industry.

Yet Prince Harry and his American actress girlfriend Meghan Markle may have more in common than it seems.

A genealogical investigation by The Mail on Sunday reveals the couple are distant cousins – related through a late 15th Century ancestor of the Queen Mother.

Meghan’s connection to the Royal Family comes from the forebears of her father Thomas Markle, an Emmy-winning cinematographer, on his mother’s side.

While Meghan’s much-loved late paternal grandmother Doris Markle worked at a shop described as the US ‘equivalent of Poundland’, her family origins were rather more auspicious.

A genealogical investigation by The Mail on Sunday reveals that Meghan (left) and Harry (right) are distant cousins – related through a late 15th Century ancestor of the Queen Mother

Indeed, they can be traced all the way back to an Englishman called Ralph Bowes, Meghan’s ancestor from 15 generations ago.

He was a High Sheriff of County Durham, whose family seat was Streatlam Castle with its extensive estates.

His granddaughter Bridget Bowes became a dutiful wife to John Hussey, of Dorking, Surrey.

His grandson, Christopher Hussey moved to America in 1632, helping to found Nantucket, Massachusetts, and this is the line of the family that would eventually produce Meghan.

The Bowes estates and Streatlam Castle continued to pass down from Bridget’s uncle through a succession of male heirs.

Illustrious family tree: The couple's link can be traced all the way back to an Englishman called Ralph Bowes, Meghan’s ancestor from 15 generations ago

A couple of centuries later the direct line to the Royal Family and Harry starts, when the estate and the castle have passed down to Sir George Bowes, an MP.

Meghan’s connection to the Royal Family comes from the forebears of her father Thomas Markle, an Emmy-winning cinematographer, on his mother’s side.

His first wife died childless, but his second wife gave birth to one child, a daughter – Mary Bowes – who in 1767 married John Lyon, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

John Lyon added Bowes to his name – a strict condition of inheriting Streatlam Castle and surrounding estates – and the Bowes-Lyon dynasty was forged.

Five generations later, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married the Duke of York, who would become George VI.

In due course, Elizabeth would be Queen Mother when her eldest daughter became Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.

Meghan might also like to investigate another piece of historical good fortune.

Her German ancestors were entitled to their own coat of arms, in the form of a gold feather set between two gold fleur-de-lis on a blue background.

It comes courtesy of Meghan’s grandfather, Gordon Markle (husband of Doris), who was descended from Abraham Merckel (1630-1698) of Alsace.