TOURISM chiefs in Romania are promoting the claim that Prince Charles is descended from Count Dracula to lure visitors.
Links between the Royal Family and Vlad the Impaler, the 15th century inspiration for the vampire legend, are being exploited in an attempt to lure tourists.
Prince Charles appears in a video made by the Romanian National Tourist Office, reports the Daily Telegraph.
“Transylvania is in my blood,” he jokes. “The genealogy shows I am descended from Vlad the Impaler, so I do have a bit of a stake in the country.”
The Romanian National Tourist Office is using the video, which has been uploaded on YouTube, to try and boost UK visitors by more than seven per cent.
The video climaxes with a reference to the Prince of Wales, “who can trace his ancestry back to Romania’s dark and distant past”.
Other literature highlights a short visit by Prince Harry to the country in Easter this year. A spokesman for the Romanian National Tourist Office said the country, which incorporates the region of Transylvania, was looking to use these links to increase UK tourists.
According to Royal Highness, a book published in 1982 by Sir Iain Moncreiffe, the former chairman of Debrett’s, the Prince is a great grandson 16 times removed to Vlad III. He can trace his lineage back through his great grandmother Queen Mary, the consort of George V, to Vlad IV, the half brother of the notorious ruler.
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