Elle Fanning Finds Out She’s Distant Cousins With Kate Middleton

Elle Fanning plays royalty on the big screen in the new adaptation of Sleeping Beauty, and it turns out she’s related to royalty in real life too.

The 16-year-old actress recently found out that she shares a connection with Britain’s royal family, and is also a distant (very distant) cousin of Kate Middleton.

“It’s so weird,” Fanning told E! News at the Hollywood premiere of her new movie, Maleficent. “I saw it the other day. My cousins called me up and they were like, ‘Look online!’ I looked online and like King Edward III is my great-great-great-grandfather. I was like, ‘Is this real?’ ”

“It’s crazy,” Elle Fanning added.

Being related to Kate Middleton means that Elle is also related to Pippa Middleton, with whom she may actually share more in common. Both Elle and Pippa have lived in the sizable shadow of their more-famous sisters, and both have worked hard to make a name for themselves.

For Pippa, that has meant writing books and appearing at swanky events. She increased her public appearances so much that last year, close to the birth of Prince George, Kate and William reportedly asked her to tone it back a little bit to limit exposure for the royal couple.

“Kate and William didn’t want her to write her party planning book Celebrate, let alone a regular column in various magazines,” a source told the Daily Mail last year. “They have spoken to her about this.”

Elle Fanning meanwhile has worked to make her own name after sister Dakota became one of the biggest child stars in decades. This has reportedly put the sisters in conflict, as a source told RadarOnline.com last year that Dakota Fanning and Elle have decided to live separate as they built their own careers.

“They have something of a peace treaty, in the sense that Elle gets L.A. to herself, while Dakota is much happier in New York. Dakota is living off of the fortune she made as a child actor, instead of chasing after every big job under the sun,” the source said.

But Elle Fanning has tried to maintain a normal life as well. While she has two movies that sold at Sundance this year (Young Ones and Low Down), she also goes to a “normal school” and recently got asked to the prom, even though she’s still a sophomore.