OMFG - Lady Di was not Anglo-Saxon -is this the end of the monarchy???

[Hekate]

50. So many peoples have lived in England, sometimes conquered it, that not an eyebrow will be raised

It can be traced in the words of the English language itself: rich, multifaceted, of many origins, flexible, embracing of new words.

In no particular order, and with some repetition:

Britons
Picts
Celts
Gaels
Scotii
Angles
Saxons
Jutes
Romans
Norsemen
Vikings
Normans
French

It can be traced in the names of kings, as well. King Canute is a Latinized form of Knute. There's not much continuity of individual family among the Royals, going back hundreds and hundreds of years; if you are looking for some unbroken line of succession it ain't there. As Terry Pratchett observes in one of his novels: "Among royalty, assassination IS death by natural causes." House of This, House of That: the names change, the throne and land are what are important. Princesses were swapped around ("their hand given in marriage&quot for treaty purposes and to consolidate tracts of land and wealth, all over Europe and into Russia. Second and third sons likewise. Bastardy was pretty common (see Shakespeare). As long as legitimate and illegitimate sons didn't compete for a crown with swords, it could be managed. The custom of letters being addressed as My Dear Cousin from a Royal in one country to a Royal in another was fairly literal after awhile.

I don't think this particular revelation as being anything staggering -- just interesting.

I keep being called away from finishing this post, so perhaps someone else has already said all this.