Yesterday's Observer revealed that a Scottish DNA project has found that actor Tom Conti, the laid back star of films such as Reubem, Reuben and Shirley Valentine is related to Napoleon.
Conti's father Alfonso was an Italian immigrant, and his mother was Scottish, but of Irish ancestry.
According to the DNA research his lineage is Saracen, and he descends from a family that settled in Italy around the tenth century. One branch of the family, of which Napoleon was a member, settled in Corsica.
Conti described his relationship to Napoleon as "quite a shock" at first, but now he is "rather pleased".
I cannot imagine Conti ever leading an army into battle, but as a Lothario he may well be in the same league as both Wellington and Napoleon.
