-Caveat Lector- from: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/wolffiles30.html <A HREF="http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/wolffiles30.html">Lewinsky's Extended Family Has Royal Ties</A> ----- “If nothing else, this proves that it truly is a small world after all.” — Genealogist Jon Speller Wall of Shame One man’s attempt to characterize the erosion of our world The Vanderbilts married the Lehmans. The Lehmans married the Strauses. And in April, Monica's mother, Marcia Lewis, married into the Straus family. The line turned from Christian to Jewish with the marriage of Wendy Vanderbilt and of Orin Lehman, whose family founded the Lehman Bros. financial empire. By Buck Wolf ABCNEWS.com N E W Y O R K, August 12 — Even if Monica Lewinsky never took a White House internship, she’d still have some claim to fame—her extended family through accident of marriage has ties to Princess Diana. Through Lewinsky’s stepfather, Ronald Peter Straus, Lewinsky can trace a blue-blood line that runs through railroad tycoons in the Vanderbilt family, Wall Street powerhouses at Lehman Bros.—and ultimately to heirs of the British throne. ABCNEWS.com has confirmed the research of New York genealogist Jon Speller, who has identified 17 blood and two marital ties that unite a Jewish girl from Beverly Hills to British royalty. “If nothing else, this proves that it truly is a small world after all,” Speller says. “They are two people from very different backgrounds who came to prominence in different ways, yet they share a connection.” Your Royal Neighbors Many genealogists agree that at least one in five Americans can find royalty in their family if they search far back enough. But Lewinsky’s path is more direct than most. Speller made the connection while developing the forthcoming American Dynasty Database, a CD-ROM that shows the link between scores of royals, celebrities, and other newsmakers. “Most people think if you are Jewish, or a member of another minority, you can’t possibly be connected to royalty,” Speller says. “Here’s proof we are a lot closer to a global family than most people think.” >From Beverly Hills to Windsor Castle The recognized scribe of British aristocracy, Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage, indicates that Diana’s mother, Frances Ruth Spencer Kydd, was one-quarter American. Her father was the grandson of Frank Work, a poor man who one day helped a stranger who slipped on the streets of New York. That man happened to be railroad tycoon “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt—and Vanderbilt sure knew how to say, “Thank You.” Vanderbilt hired Work, who eventually became the family’s stockbroker and one of the most powerful men on Wall Street. Work hated the notion that his daughter married into British aristocracy. He disowned the child until her divorce, and, under the terms of his will, threatened to disinherit any family member who set foot again in Britain. But Diana’s grandfather, Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, defied the will and claimed his title, becoming the 4th Baron Fermoy. Edmund’s sister, New York socialite Cynthia Burke Roche, married iron manufacturer Arthur Scott Burden, whose family developed a process to manufacture nails about the time of the Civil War and parlayed it into a fortune. Enter Joan Rivers Arthur’s brother, James, who ran the company, was prominent in New York society. He entertained the Prince of Wales at his home in 1924 during an international polo match. And his wife was a daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The rest, as they say, is history—and well documented through New York’s society pages. The Vanderbilts married the Lehmans. The Lehmans married the Strauses. And in April, Monica’s mother, Marcia Lewis, married into the Straus family. The line turned from Christian to Jewish with the marriage of Wendy Vanderbilt and of Orin Lehman—whose family founded the Lehman Bros. financial empire. Now divorced, Lehman recently became engaged to comedienne Joan Rivers, raising the possibility that she, too, would take a spot on the Lewinsky-Diana family line. Relatives You Don’t Brag About Of course, many people fear what they might find if they dig into their past. Even in this line of creme-de-la-creme lineage, there are members you wouldn’t brag about at the family picnic. Arthur Scott Burden, for instance, suffered a mental breakdown in 1913 after he fell off his polo pony. A sheriff’s jury declared him incompetent and he died in a White Plains, New York, mental hospital. James Abercrombie Burden told the New York times that his brother Arthur was “a victim of brain atrophy.” More appropriate table conversation might be the tale of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who died heroically in the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania. A front page New York Times headline read: “Vanderbilt Saved Woman, Gave Life Belt Though He Could Not Swim.” “A woman came up to him, and I saw him place the belt around the woman,” said Lusitania survivor Thomas Slidel. “He had none for himself.” P.S.: Speller says such notables as Al Gore, Drew Barrymore, and even the Marx Brothers can be linked to Princess Diana. But those genealogies have many more links in them. In this sense, at least, Monica Lewinsky is closer than those folks are to royalty. Buck Wolf is a producer at ABCNEWS.com. The Wolf Files is a weekly feature. Copyright (c)1998 ABCNEWS and Starwave Corporation. All rights reserved. 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