Los Angeles, Jan 30 (IANS): Actor-comedian Bob Odenkirk was left gobsmacked after his family line was confirmed to be linked to that of King Charles III.

The ‘Better Call Saul’ star appeared on the US genealogy series ‘Finding Your Roots’ when he was told of the shocking discovery, reports Mirror.co.uk.

The revelation awkwardly came after the American insisted he was "not a monarchist". The show's host Henry Louis Gates Jr, made the connection after being able to trace Odenkirk's family roots back five generations to Friedrich Carl Steinholz, who was the actor's fifth great grandfather born in Plon, Germany in 1755.

As per Mirror.co.uk, the findings showed how Steinholz's mother conceived him out of wedlock with the Duke of Plon, who was in fact tied to other royal families across Europe thanks to intermarriage.

Prior to the reveal, Odenkirk said on the show: "I’m an American. I’m not a monarchist. I don’t believe in that. You know, I feel like it’s a little twisted. I understand why society built itself around monarchs and leaders, and they passed them down through generations. I understand that goes through every society, every civilisation. But I think that we’ve gotten to a better place with democracy and we should keep going down that road.”

That's when Gates jumped in to give him the huge surprise that he was 11th cousins with Charles, which led to Odenkirk jokingly changing his tune immediately. He laughed: "Well maybe I'll change my mind on that." The pair got into a jovial back and forth, with Gates "criticising" Odenkirk for "trashing" his newfound family.