The Chase star Anne Hegerty has a surprising connection to the Royal Family - but confesses she isn't "interested" in meeting the King or Queen. Anne, 66, featured on ITV's DNA Journey in 2022 where she discovered that Queen Elizabeth II is her 19th cousin, making King Charles her 19th cousin once removed.

The Chaser revealed to Woman's Own magazine that her great-great-grandfather Sir John Hay was a "direct descendant" of Sir Thomas de la Hay, who married Princess Elizabeth Stewart. Her father was Robert II of Scotland, who was the grandson of the King of Scots.

While Anne may have a royal connection, she has never had an audience with the King, and when asked if she has an intention of meeting the royals, the star had a blunt assessment. She said: "I've never actually met a member of the Royal Family and I'm okay with that. I don't particularly have any penchant to meet them."

Anne admits she "likes" the royals and quite "enjoys reading about them". However, the quizzer "doesn't have any ambition" to meet The Firm.

And while Anne admits she is a fan of the royals, she believes some of the family could be fans of quiz shows. She believes the late Queen Elizabeth became fond of watching Pointless during lockdown, reports Edinburgh Live.

She also mentions that Queen Camilla is a cousin of Judith Keppel, the first winner of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and former Eggheads star. However, Anne says she's "not really interested" in meeting Camilla either.

When appearing on DNA Journey with fellow The Chase star Shaun Wallace, Anne revealed her grandmother had always boasted of Royal connections. Anne, however, found her claims utterly implausible.

"My grandmother was the most tremendous liar," the ITV favourite chuckled. "My aunt said she was a romancer and she'd embroider life a bit, so I always felt that anything from my grandmother had to be taken with a pinch of salt."

Anne's mother knew about the assertions but is reported to be "disproving" of them. Speaking to Express.co.uk, she continued: "As a child, I was always curious about this stuff and my mother was always very repressive.

"My mother was always deeply disapproving of the idea of anyone knowing about their ancestors. She'd say, 'It doesn't prove a thing, dear'.I think it was because on my mother's mother's side there's quite a bit of posh, and my mum thought I'd grow up to be a terrible snob."

Anne admitted she had "already grown up a snob" though. She had previously quipped she had "always felt regal".

Anne shot to stardom as one of the formidable Chasers when she joined the ITV quiz show in 2010. She has since featured in various versions of the programme as well as I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!