When the skeleton of Richard III was discovered in a car park in Leicester in 2012, archaeologists knew it was a momentous find.

But little did they realise that it might expose other skeletons — those in the cupboard of the British aristocracy, and may even call into question the blood line of the Royal family.

In order to prove that the bones really were Richard III's, scientists needed to take a DNA sample and match it to his descendants.

Genetic testing through his maternal DNA proved conclusively that the body was the king's. However, when they checked the male line — the unnamed descendants of Henry Somerset, the 5th Duke of Beaufort — they discovered something odd. The DNA did not match Richard's, meaning that at some point in history an adulterous affair had broken the paternal chain.

Although it is impossible to say when the affair happened, if it occurred around the time of Edward III (1312–1377) it could call into question whether kings such as Henry VI, Henry VII and Henry VIII had royal blood, and, therefore, the right to rule.

Without his claim to royalty, it is unlikely Henry VII would have been able to raise an army for the Battle of Bosworth, in which Richard III was killed, and the history of England could have been very different.