MANY of us like to think we are related to royalty, but Nigel Ratcliffe reckons he can prove it.

Mr Ratcliffe, who grew up in Colne Rise, in Rowhedge, has been researching his family tree with his brother Graham and the pair have discovered a family link to battling Queen Boudica, King Frithugar Deira of Saxony and King Ethelbald.

Boudica led a revolt against the Romans in Colchester in about 60AD, while King Frithugar reigned in Germany in about 380. King Ethelbald is widely credited with uniting the English kingdoms of Wessex and Kent.

Labourer Mr Ratcliffe, 59, who has moved to Lincolnshire, joined his brother Graham, 62, in researching their heritage through the website, Ancestry.

“It is incredibly exciting, we certainly didn’t expect to find we were related to royalty,” said Mr Ratcliffe, whose dad lives in Abberton and whose sister is in Monkwick.

“It doesn’t change who we are, but it has given us both a massive lift and we just don’t know where else it could go.”

Mr Ratcliffe said he has taken all possible measures to verify the findings, including using other family tree sites and speaking directly to Ancestry’s genealogists.

Midway through the first millennium, the Ratcliffe family tree arrived in northern Europe, primarily in Denmark and Germany, before returning to Colchester, with warrior Queen Boudica.

She led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire which resulted in the destruction of the town.

The family lineage also appears to link in with Hereward the Wake, also known as Banished Hereward, from Lincolnshire. He was so named after being ordered to leave the county by Edward the Confessor.

Mr Ratcliffe added: “It was one of those things where I didn’t really have an interest, until my brother called me up and started telling me about our line of kings and queens. Now we think by the time we have this line finished, we will have about 1,200 families and maybe 3,000 names.”

An Ancestry spokesman said he was surprised Mr Ratcliffe had been able to trace his line so far back, adding it is “unlikely” to be able to trace family with accuracy any earlier than 1066.