Did you know: Twilight’s Robert Pattinson is (kind of) related to Vlad Dracula

By Alma Fabiani

Published Mar 31, 2022 at 09:12 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

29573

When it was first announced that Robert Pattinson—who had so far sent (mostly) teenage girls into an obsessive frenzy as Twilight’s enigmatic and, let’s be honest, super hot Edward Cullen—would be taking on the double-edged role of the Gotham-based superhero in Matt Reeves’ 2022 The Batman, a second round of hysteria surrounding the actor arose. This time however, his already impressive fan base of fan girls tilted more towards a male-dominated audience of film bros.

Though we’ve got nothing but praise for one of the few comic book superheroes to have a feel of ‘reality’ about them, to us, Pattinson will always be the perfect vampire lead. That is if you take the masterpiece that is Good Time out of the equation completely. But we digress.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Praying (@praying)

For those of you out there who agree with us on exactly how perfect the actor was for his role as Bella Swan’s tortured lover, buckle up because we’ve got a pretty mind-blowing fact you might enjoy. As it turns out, Pattinson is a distant kin of Vlad III, who you may know as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula—we weren’t joking when we said perfect.

As you probably know, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was published in 1897, was the first book to make a connection between Vlad Dracula and vampirism. According to Wikipedia, Stoker had his attention drawn to the blood-sucking vampires of Romanian folklore after reading Emily Gerard’s 1885 article about Transylvanian superstitions. That being said, it is common knowledge that Stoker did not know much about the infamous ruler and that the Irish author based the vampire character on quite a few other people as well.

It should also be noted that, as amazing as it is to learn that Pattinson is somehow related to Vlad the Impaler, the man lived over 550 years ago, meaning a lot of people are in fact related to him. But let’s not dwell on the past too much—let’s delve into exactly how the actor is related (even if distantly) to Dracula.

In 2010, Anastasia Tyler, a genealogist at the American genealogy company Ancestry, revealed that Pattinson and the Transylvanian leader are connected through their relationship to the British royal family. In other words, Prince William and Prince Harry are Pattinson’s distant cousins. Making Vlad III their distant uncle.

“Tracing Pattinson’s family back to Vlad was difficult research, but the pieces that unravelled created the perfect accompaniment to the Twilight saga,” said Tyler. “Without any myth or magic, we find royalty and vampires lurking in Pattinson’s life—making his story just as supernatural as the one he’s playing on screen.”

Funnily enough, it was also found that Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight book series, is connected to the two Princes’ lineage—and therefore to Dracula. Oh, and in case you’re more of a Pattinson fan because of his role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, you might also be interested in the fact that in 2009, Ancestry genealogists said that actress Emma Watson, who plays teen witch Hermione Granger, is related to a 16th century woman accused of witchcraft. Spooky, right?

Keep On Reading

By Eliza Frost

Controversial American Apparel owner just opened LA Apparel in NYC—and TikTok girlies are flocking to shop

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Potter TV series crew bewildered over production’s strange decision on location to film iconic scene

By Charlie Sawyer

President Trump and JD Vance angry over the DNC setting up a taco truck outside RNC headquarters

By Abby Amoakuh

Only at Coachella can you be caught saying the N-word and still perform without question

By Abby Amoakuh

Chappell Roan faces backlash from TikTok moms for likening motherhood to hell

By Alma Fabiani

Amazon Music is giving away 4 months free. Here’s how to claim it

By Charlie Sawyer

New study confirms Bacterial Vaginosis can be sexually transmitted, backing what women have long suspected

By Charlie Sawyer

From breaking up families to spreading rumours about Joe Biden’s death, here’s what QAnons been up to

By Abby Amoakuh

Euphoria fans freak out as major storyline for season three gets leaked

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno caught in political drama

By Charlie Sawyer

Trump administration announces plan to offer US immigrants $1,000 to self-deport

By Eliza Frost

We finally know why Conrad and Belly broke up in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2

By Matilda Ferraris

From Ballerina Cappuccina to Trallalero Trallalà, we unpack the darker undertones of Italian brainrot

By Abby Amoakuh

Aimee Lou Wood urges fans not to copy her teeth as DIY teeth filing trend rises on TikTok

By Eliza Frost

Gavin Casalegno calls out Team Jeremiah bullying in The Summer I Turned Pretty fandom

By Charlie Sawyer

Lawmakers pressure Trump to provide evidence that Venezuelan asylum seeker Andry Hernández Romero is still alive

By Eliza Frost

How Jet2holidays and Jess Glynne became the sound of the summer

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Keep vaping or your Tamagotchi dies. Introducing the latest vape invention in New York

By Charlie Sawyer

22-year-old groom arrested after police find 9-year-old bride at staged Disneyland wedding

By Eliza Frost

Everyone’s posing like Nicki Minaj: the TikTok trend explained