Prince Harry and Megan Markle are 'related'

Many expect Prince Harry to get down on one knee any day now and propose to Meghan Markle, making them husband and wife.

But it seems their family tree may already be connected with The Mail on Sunday discovering the couple are in fact 'distant cousins'

A genealogical investigator found that Meghan's father, Emmy Award winning cinematographer Thomas Markle, has links back to a 15th century ancestor of the Queen Mother (aka Harry's great-grandmother).

The investigation traced the Suits star's ancestry back 15 generations to Englishman Ralph Bowes, who lived between 1480 - 1518 and was the High Sheriff of County Durham.

Ralph's great-great-grandson Christopher Hussey sailed to America in 1632 and founded Nantucket Massachusetts, which is how Meghan's family ended up Stateside.

While on Harry's side, Ralph Bowes's grandson Sir George Bowes was the first of many with royal connections, being described as 'loyal to Queen Elizabeth I'.

Many generations later, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born and she later married Prince Albert, who would go on to become King George VI.

The couple had two daughters, one of whom is Queen Elizabeth II - Harry's grandmother.

But we suspect the distant relation between the pair won't be enough to put Prince Harry off ring shopping from his pick of the Crown Jewels.

It's been reported the actress had tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace earlier this month, suggesting the pair will soon make their relationship official.

The couple's loved up displays of affection at the recent Invictus Games in Toronto left bookies suspending betting of a royal engagement after it reached 1:1.

While some royal watchers suspect the couple may already be secretly engaged, given that Meghan had royal protection while watching the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games in September - a security detail not offered to "girlfriends", only "fiancés".