Prince Charles admits family connection to DRACULA.
 
  Prince Charles is campaigning to  save the forests of Transylvania, inspired by his ancestral links to  Vlad the Impaler, the 15th century nobleman better known by his  patronym, Dracula. Rapid  economic growth in Romania - which is now part of the EU - means that  the forests of the Carpathian Mountains are under threat from  development and logging. The  Prince is calling for the forests, some of the last untouched  wilderness areas in Europe, to be protected before they are lost, like  the woodland that once covered Britain.  He claims a family connection to the  area through Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, who earned the sobriquet  Vlad the Impaler thanks to his favoured method of torture and execution.  The 15th century nobleman, notorious for his bloodthirsty campaigns against the Ottomans and fierce repression of his people, is a distant ancestor of Charles's great-grandmother, Queen Mary.    The total number of his victims is estimated in the tens of thousands, many killed...
 
 
 
