Red Sox's Mookie Betts Meets Distant Relative Meghan Markle for 1st Time

Kyle Newport @@KyleNewportFeatured ColumnistJune 30, 2019

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 28 : Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox addresses the media in a press conference during a team workout ahead of the 2019 Major League Baseball London Series on June 28, 2019 at West Ham London Stadium in London, England. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

The 2019 London Series not only represented Major League Baseball's first-ever games in Europe, but it also served as a family reunion of sorts.

In May 2018, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, were distant relatives. Per Abraham, Massachusetts amateur genealogist Jim McNiff discovered a pair of connections between the two high-profile stars.

Back in 1870, Betts' great-great grandfather (Joseph Betts) and Markle's great-great-great grandfather (Jacob Betts) both resided in Madison County in Alabama. Also, in 1920, Betts' great uncle and Markle's great-great aunt got married.

Well, Betts and Markle finally met ahead of Saturday's showdown between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees at London Stadium:

Pete Abraham @PeteAbe
So I wrote this story — https://t.co/y2pdVa9DtD — a year ago about Mookie Betts being distantly related to Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex. They met today and Mookie told her about the story. Then they hugged. What a thing. https://t.co/I1L7UqNYwr

"I didn't know she was coming. I knew [Prince Harry] was coming," Betts said, per Abraham. "I told her about the story and she laughed and gave me a hug. She didn't know about it. They probably didn't believe it."

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"It's pretty cool it happened. I didn't think I'd ever meet her, but I did."

Betts went 1-for-4 with two walks and two runs scored as his Red Sox fell to the Yankees in a 17-13 slugfest.