So that's why he's so believable! Just in time for the launch of "Eclipse," genealogy researchers have unearthed evidence that the most famous fictional vampire of our time, Robert Pattinson, is related to the most famous vampire of all time, Vlad the Implaer.
According to The Associated Press, researchers at Ancestry.co.uk have revealed that the 24-year-old "Twilight" hunk has ties to Vlad III Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler, the Transylvanian leader widely thought to be the inspiration for the main character in Bram Stoker's legendary 1897 novel "Dracula."
The tie between Pattinson and Vlad apparently comes via their common relationship to the British royal family. England's Prince William and Prince Harry are Pattinson's distant cousins and Vlad the Impaler was their distant uncle. Vlad was born in Transylvania and ruled over the region now known as Romania (then called Wallachia) from 1456 to 1462. Known as "the Impaler," Vlad was famous for executing his enemies by driving wooden stakes into their bodies.
"Tracing Pattinson's family back to Vlad was difficult research, but the pieces that unraveled created the perfect accompaniment to the 'Twilight Saga,'" said Anastasia Tyler, a genealogist at Ancestry.com. "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."
And, in a connection only a publicist could dream of, the folks at Ancestry.com say that "Twilight" series author Stephenie Meyer also has ties to the British princes' lineage, which means that, yes, she too is related to Dracula.
Coincidentally, "Eclipse" opens Wednesday, June in 1930.
