London: A Moroccan newspaper recently published a piece that claims the Queen of England is actually a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.
According to UK tabloid Daily Mail, the findings were first published in 1986 by Burke's Peerage, a British authority on royal pedigrees.
According to their findings, Elizabeth II's bloodline runs through the Earl of Cambridge in the 14th century, across medieval Muslim Spain, to Fatima, the Prophet's daughter.
Although disputed by some historians, genealogical records of early-medieval Spain also support the claim and it has also been verified by Ali Gomaa, the former grand mufti of Egypt.
Burke's Peerage claims that the descends from a Muslim princess called Zaida, who fled her hometown of Seville in the 11th century before converting to Christianity.
Zaida was the fourth wife of King Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad of Seville. She bore him a son Sancho, whose descendant later married the Earl of Cambridge in the 11th century.
But British magazine the Spectator points out Zaida's origins are 'debatable'. Some historians believe she was the daughter of a wine-drinking caliph descended from the Prophet. Others say she married into his family.
"It is little known by the British people that the blood of Mohammed flows in the veins of the queen. However, all Moslem religious leaders are proud of this fact," wrote Burke's publishing director, in a letter to the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986.
"The royal family's direct descent from the prophet Mohammed cannot be relied upon to protect the royal family forever from Moslem terrorists," he added.
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