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.

Candidacy does not require nomination. Membership is open to any individual who —

(1) proves descent from an illegitimate son or daughter of a king, an illegitimate son or daughter of the child of a king, or an illegitimate son or daughter of the grandchild of a king of England, Scotland, Wales, 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.

The Descendants’ initiation fee and life membership dues are $400, plus a non-refundable genealogical review fee of $200. 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. Several members who joined in recent years did so after successfully revising their lineage papers.

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. The herald-genealogist 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 form fields. Since 2017, each generation in the Descendants’ lineage paper occupies a full page. The form is to be completed on a computer, then printed out and submitted, together with copies of all cited evidence (applications may be submitted digitally or on paper).

For further clarity about standards, portions of sample lineage papers are available on request to prospective applicants.

More detailed application guidelines, to be followed when completing the lineage paper, are available here as a PDF:

Application Guidelines, Revised 31 Dec 2023 (PDF, 3 pages)