Is Queen Elizabeth The Rightful Monarch? Shock New Claim About Legitimate Heirs

Much has been discussed about the future of the Royal Family and the titles various members will receive as their place in the line of succession changes. However, a shocking new claim has emerged which claims that, had history played out differently, the members of the Windsor family who have held the throne since the 1930s didn’t really have as legitimate of a claim.

According to Express UK, French retiree Francois Graftieaux, 73, is making a third request to receive a DNA sample from Queen Elizabeth II, in a bid to get the royal family to acknowledge that his father was actually a direct descendant of Prince Edward VIII, who paved the way for the current family’s rule by abdicating his throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson.

Grafiteaux claims his father, Pierre-Edouard, was the result of an affair between then Prince Edward and his grandmother, Marie-Leonie Grafiteaux, and he wants to have his family’s place in history acknowledged.

“In the 1900s, the true line of succession was unlawfully concealed to block the Grafiteauxs from their place in history,” he said.

Though he admits he knows his family wouldn’t have actually had any real claim to the throne following Edward’s abdication, he feels his family’s rights to nobility were blocked as his grandmother was reportedly “silenced” when she tried to announce the pregnancy news.

“Whilst my father and I would have had no direct claim to the throne on account of Edward’s abdication, which also precluded his descendants from becoming King, the Grafiteauxs would have become nobility at the very least,” he said. “As the last of my family of Grafiteauxs, I will take whatever action is possible and necessary to protect our legacy and to shed light on one of the greatest Royal sex scandals in living memory.”

Grafiteaux is now requesting a sample of DNA for the third time after previous requests in 2004 and 2013 were both ignored, though he now claims that if he is snubbed yet again, he will proceed with a legal case against the palace itself to try and force the recognition of his family in history.

“I am not asking the Palace for money, title or power but merely to ascertain the identity of my grandfather and the circumstances surrounding my father’s birth,” he shared. “If the Palace again refuses to cooperate, which I strongly suspect it will, then I am happy to see legal advice and let what amounts to the largest Royal sex scandal in history play out in public through the courts.”

Gratifeaux revealed his grandmother had received a payout to keep quiet about her pregnancy, which led to her help becoming one of France's lead fashion designers, and he also feels that presents his grandmother received based on an exclusive design created by the Duke of Windsor upon his birth are among the items that prove his lineage.