Anthony Ramos Discovers He’s a Secret ‘Prince’ Thanks to Finding Your Roots

It’s not every day that someone finds out they’re descended from real royalty, but it happened to Anthony Ramos on the Searching for your roots.

During this week’s episode of the popular PBS documentary series, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. revealed to the actor that Ramos’ 15th great-grandfather, an enslaved Guanche named Andrés de Llerena, eventually married Maria de Lugo, whose father was a king of the indigenous people. Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands. A statue of Ramos’ royal ancestor still stands in Tenerife today.

“Do you ever feel like a prince?” Gates asked.

“Hey mom, do you hear that? I’m a prince,” Ramos joked. “My dog’s name is ‘Prince’.”

“The man was ripped, I’m not going to lie,” he continued. “He was in good shape. Some good genes hopefully. You know what I’m saying? She could wear pants. Woof.”

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A statue of the royal ancestor Anthony Ramos still stands in Tenerife.

Peter Schickert/Getty

When Gates explains that his royal ancestor lived in Tenerife “long before” the Spanish conquered the island in 1496, Ramos expresses disbelief.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said, adding, “It’s so crazy. I definitely didn’t feel that way in Bushwick.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Gates further discussed de Llerena’s enslavement. Although the researchers could not conclude how or how long he was enslaved, the Harvard professor said they “believe it was at least 10 years”.

“That’s a long time to be a slave, man,” the In the Heights said the star.

The Guanches were the natives of the Canary Islands. According to Owlcation, the Spanish began their invasion of the islands in the early 15th century. After Tenerife—the last conquered island—fell into the hands of Spain, the conquerors scattered the Guanche population around the world as slaves.

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Anthony Ramos in ‘Hamilton’ in February 2016.

Theo Wargo/WireImage

Ramos has proudly touted his heritage since his Broadway breakthrough. During the interview with S. 2021 The Hollywood Reporterthe actor recalled how he was told to hide his ethnic identity so as not to “be in the ‘Latino box'”. Hamilton won the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, Ramos stood next to creator Lin-Manuel Miranda waving a Puerto Rican flag.

Ahead of the NFL’s 2022 campaign for Latino Heritage Month, Ramos told PEOPLE that “it’s important to celebrate [Latino culture] because it is also a remembrance and paying respect and honor to our ancestors who came before us.” He emphasized the necessity of illuminating the “cultural”.

“It’s the DNA in us,” he said. “That’s what drives us… it’s that taste.”

For his next project, Ramos will star in Bob the builder a film produced by Jennifer Lopez. A press release stated that the film intends to “celebrate the vibrant and colorful textures of the Caribbean Latin American nations and their people.”

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Searching for your roots’ the next episode airs Tuesday, April 2 at 8:00 PM ET on PBS.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education