Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 19:05:17 PDT

LONDON, Oct 9 (AFP) - Britain's Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II are direct descendants of Count Dracula, it was reported Friday.

The Sun tabloid newspaper said the British royal family can be directly traced to the 15th century Romanian ruler Vlad Dracul, known as The Impaler because of his favourite method of dealing with his enemies.

Although not proved to have been a vampire, the bloodthirsty Vlad was an inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula." Quoting from a new book, "Roots of the Rich and Famous" by Robert Davenport, The Sun said that Vlad's bloodline entered the British royal family through Queen Mary, who died in 1953 and was consort of George V.

Her Austrian ancestors were descended from the Hungarian Teck family, which in turn can be traced to Vlad's Romanian bloodline, according to the book.