The list of ties to Estonia mostly concerns Europe's Royal families: The bloodlines of Britain's King Charles III, along with those of King Frederik X of Denmark, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Harald V of Norway and of King Philippe of Belgium all stretch as far as Estonia, "Ringvaade" reported,

Fred Puss, head of the Estonian Biographical Center (Eesti Isikuloo Keskus), a genealogical service, told "Ringvaade" that: "That these [monarchs] are related to each other will come as no surprise to anyone, though they also have several Estonian ancestors. One of the earliest of these was Gotthard Kettler, last master of the Livonian Order (1517-1587 – ed.)"

One common antecedent is Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1764-1788), whose younger sister, Princess Caroline, would marry the future British monarch George IV, and who was in an unhappy marriage with Frederick I of Württemberg. She ended up being sent to an Imperial Russian estate at Lohde, present-day Koluvere, Lääne County, while divorce proceedings from Duke Frederick were ongoing. She was buried at Kullamaa church, though local legend that she was interred with a still-born baby proved to be just that, following an exhumation.

"Surprisingly, in addition to kings, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also one of her descendants," Puss said, referring to an illegitimate line traced back to the duchess and her time at Koluvere.

In fact, the bulk of well-known, present day high-profile familial links to Estonia relate to politicians.

According to Puss, while Finland's new president, Alexander Stubb, may primarily be of Finnish-Swedish origin, he also has surprisingly extensive Estonian roots.

"Not just via one bloodline, but across dozens. He is a descendant of people from Estonia on both his father's and mother's side," Puss said.

These date back to the time of the Baltic Germans, who effectively made up the bulk of the ruling class in Estonia and Latvia from the late middle ages to the 20th century.

"These were not Estonians, they were Germans living here; for example, one of Stubb's antecedents was master cabinet maker Gottlieb David Butenhof, who initially lived in Vändra, Pärnu County, and later in Pärnu itself. Some of Stubb's ancestors even bore the surname Livlender, meaning Livonian," he went on.

Livonia (Estonian: Liivimaa) was a historical area which at its peak covered much of present-day Estonia and Latvia.

Another high profile figure with Estonian roots is President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

One of her ancestors is cotton mill industrialist Ludwig Knoop. (1821-1894) who founded the Kreenholm factory in Narva, nowadays being repurposed as a cultural quarter.

Indeed, von der Leyen visited Kreenholm while on an official visit to Estonia in October 2022.

"[Knoop] has been rated as one of the greatest entrepreneurs in 19th century Europe. He was not born here, but he still spent half his working life here," Puss said. Knoop was created a Baron by Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

Martin Hoffman, whom Puss said was one of the first people to emigrate from Estonia to North America – comparatively early on, in 1657 – is an antecedent of 32nd President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), Puss added.

"Ringvaade" also looked at President of Austria Alexander van der Bellen, whose links are much more recent; his parents were Estonian refugees who left the country with the Soviet occupation at the end of World War Two and who became naturalized Austrian citizens in the late 1950s, as did the young Alexander. One of his distant relatives is former Estonian prime minister and current MEP Andrus Ansip, Puss said.

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