He's one of the most feared and reviled figures in history - yet not many know his descendants can be traced all the way to Britain's current monarch.
Vlad the Impaler ruled the Romanian region of Wallachia with a brutal regime still infamous to this day, getting his name from his favourite torture method.
The brutal 15th-century leader was known to kill his enemies by impaling them on wooden stakes causing an excruciating death which could sometimes take up to three days.
But genealogy shows that our new king Charles III is a real-life descendant from the man who is considered the original inspiration for Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'.
Vlad is technically Charles' great-grandfather 16 times removed through Queen Mary of Teck, consort of George V (Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather).
Charles is also related to the eastern European's country's Custodian of the Crown, Margareta of Romania, with whom he spent summers as a child.
Charles III has close stakes in Romania and Transylvania that go beyond distant blood ties, and in 2015 he launched The Prince's Trust Romania dedicated to the preservation of heritage.
As for his distant ancestor Vlad, the fearsome ruler is seen as a national hero to this day due to his fierce, albeit tyrannical, defence against the country's enemies.
Vlad was often referred to as 'Dracula', which translates to 'the Devil's son' - a moniker now more commonly associated with the world's most famous vampire.
His early life had been wracked with horror and misery too, having seen his father, Vlad Dracul, assassinated and his brother tortured and buried alive.
Under Vlad's orders, enemies were said to have been burned alive, skinned, roasted and decapitated.
In one particularly horrifying story, it's said one man was boiled in water and his remains force fed to his family.
The tyrant has been depicted in numerous films, plays and even video games over recent years due to his reputation.
