His wife is the musical one in the family: her Together At Christmas carol concert has become a highlight of the festive season.

The Princess has performed in public three times, both as a conductor and pianist.

Yet Kate Middleton, who turns 44 next week, is not the only member of her family to be related to the British Irish singer songwriter Chris de Burgh, who has sold more than 45 million albums worldwide.

The Daily Mail has discovered that Prince William, who is a distant cousin of his wife, is also related to the musician, who wrote the hit songs A Spaceman Came Travelling and Lady In Red.

And, in an extraordinary twist, the families are both connected to the public school Marlborough, where fees are more than £60,000 a year.

Both Chris and Kate went to Marlborough and the Wales’s are rumoured to be considering the school for their three children George, 12, Charlotte, ten, and Louis, seven.

According to genealogical research, the trio are all connected to King Edward III and his wife Philippa of Hainault, who was his political advisor and acted as regent in 1346 when he was away for the Hundred Years’ War.

Their son Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, married the Irish heiress Elizabeth de Burgh, Countess of Ulster, who is distantly related to Chris de Burgh.

And their great-great-great-great-great granddaughter Agnes Gascoigne married landowner Sir Thomas Fairfax, an ancestor of William and Kate, creating a link which connects the royal couple to rock royalty.

Sir Thomas, who served with Henry VIII on his expedition to Artois, was knighted when the city of Tournai, in Belgium surrendered to the King. 

He and his wife Agnes Gascoigne had six sons and six daughters, and lived in Gilling Castle, in Yorkshire.

While William was descended from their son Sir Nicholas Fairfax and his wife Jane, Kate is descended from his younger brother William, making them 15th cousins.

Kate’s link to Chris de Burgh was revealed at a genealogy roadshow for the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? programme, in London's Olympia in 2013.

De Burgh, who is married to wife Diane and had three children, said at the time: ‘I was unaware that there is a distant connection between the de Burgh family and the Middletons.

‘There are probably many others also connected to both families. At least that will give us something to talk about should we ever have a cup of tea together.’

Chris de Burgh’s mother was Maeve Emily de Burgh, daughter of General Sir Eric de Burgh, a British army officer who became chief of the general staff in India.

They are not directly descended from Edward III but share his daughter-in-law’s surname.