To get in touch with distant famous relative?

[Cookingrice]

I have a very famous distant relative. Through lockdown she’s cropped up a lot in quizzes. The family spread across the country a generation back, no bad feelings. I thought how nice it might be just to make contact, just to say hi, but would that be weird? I don’t want anything from her at all (except maybe a signed photo for the children 🤣). I’ve found their official web page with contact email, obviously not them but might be starting point.

Is it weird? If not what should I say?

For context, she’s my grandma’s great niece.

Thank you - welcome your thoughts!

@GreyhoundG1rl er yes, but the point being that this isn’t such a distant relationship that it’s ‘weird’ or unusual. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this person would know of the OP even if they don’t actually know each other.

Your grandmothers were sisters, and close. That makes the link quite strong I think.

If your deceased Dad was her relative (rather than married into the family, I mean) then telling her that his death has exacerbated an interest in your family tree would be fine.

Sharing a photo of the sisters (and/or their parents, your shared great-grandparents) would be a nice touch.

Be prepared for silence, though. She may not even receive the message if her employee/agent decides not to forward it.

I am sorry for your bereavement.

That's not weird at all! Write to her saying that you lost your father and want to reconnect with distant family that she was easy to find for obvious reasons. Ask her if she's in contact with others much. Say who you are that you've got a family where you live, what you do. It's fine to compliment her work if you can. I think it's lovely to reconnect with distant family. She might ignore you, but you're not loosing anything! I wouldn't expect a quick reply but hopefully she will!

Oh a d attach pictures of your family to the email. Go for it!

@londonrach

That's vvvv distant...in fact half the people in the UK be related that close. Yabu re contacting this poor lady.

No it's not, we are talking about all the great-grandchildren of one particular couple. In some families that will be just a handful of people, in others maybe 2 or 3 dozen.

@Cookingrice did you manage to make contact with her?

I think it's Adele