'It's not news' protests the comic

Al Murray is related to David Cameron, newly released family records have revealed.

The comedian is a distant cousin of the prime minister, sharing a link via 19th century novelist William Thackeray.

Mr Cameron’s great great great great grandfather was John Talbot Shakespear, a senior bureaucrat with the East India Company.

Mr Shakespear was the uncle of Vanity Fair author Thackeray – who is Murray’s great great great grandfather.

They are therefore first cousins, five times removed.

The link was uncovered among 2.5 million files which have gone online via the http://www.findmypast.co.uk/ website. The India Office records cover Europeans living in India from 1698 to 1947.

Murray himself was sceptical about the news, tweeting this morning: ‘I am at the centre of a #notnews nexus. My mum says "don't know how we are related to PM other than via Adam & Eve.”

‘Though I am glad to be doing unpaid PR for that genealogy website, believe me,’ he added, sarcastically.

Published: 29 Jan 2014