The Descendants’ primary means of fostering high standards in genealogy is by granting membership to individuals who meet such standards. Admission to the Royal Bastards is considered an achievement of great merit by amateur and professional genealogists alike.
Membership is open to any individual who —
(1) proves descent from an illegitimate child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of a king of England, Scotland, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom; and who
(2) documents that descent in a lineage paper meeting the Descendants’ scholarly standard, essentially equivalent to the Genealogical Proof Standard.
Candidacy does not require invitation or nomination.
The fees for membership in the Descendants include an application / genealogical review fee, and life membership dues; these are disclosed upon request. Payment of both fees is due at the time of submission of an application. Should a candidate be unsuccessful on the first attempt, the application may be amended and will be reconsidered within twelve months of the original submission. Membership dues are fully refunded if the candidate is unsuccessful, but the application / genealogical review fee is not refunded. Several members who joined in recent years did so after successfully revising their applications.
The Descendants strive to answer all basic questions by e-mail; this is also the first step for those interested in applying. To initiate the process, send a simple summary of the proposed line from bastard to applicant (bare names and spouses in each generation will usually suffice), especially noting emigrant ancestors who take the line from Britain to elsewhere, usually to the United States or a predecessor colony. Officers will reply indicating any evident problems. If the line is not known to be problematic, the applicant will then receive the complete lineage paper form, a Microsoft Word document with fillable fields. Since 2017, each generation occupies one full page of the Descendants’ lineage paper form. The form is to be completed and submitted together with copies of all cited evidence. Applications are to be submitted digitally; applications on paper are acceptable in certain circumstances by prior arrangement).
Detailed application instructions, including an addendum with sample generations of a completed lineage paper, are available here as a PDF: