Sharon Stone, 67, claims to be a descendant of rich royals but still grew up dirt poor thanks to a terrible twist of fate

Acting legend Sharon Stone has claimed she is a descendant of royals.

That is what the Basic Instinct star told Drew Barrymore when visiting her talk show on Wednesday to promote her new role on Euphoria.

The 67-year-old Hollywood icon said that her father grew up in a wealthy household with royal ties but that he did not inherit anything due to old family rules.

That forced him to take low-level jobs in rural Pennsylvania as the family grew up dirt poor with little luxury.

It wasn't until Stone moved to New York City to work as a high-end fashion model that she got her first taste of money.

'My dad had come from just inordinate wealth,' explained the Casino actress to Barrymore. 'He had come from a long line of royalty, in fact, and came to America. In his family tree, they were the original oil drillers in Oil City, Pennsylvania.'

But then there was a terrible twist of fate.

'They were drilling an oil well and it blew and killed everyone and all of a sudden his mother and her three kids, well, they didn't get the money because the money didn't go to women. The women didn't have rights,' she added.

'So the money went to the oldest male relative who was an 18-year-old boy of my great uncles. And so an 18-year-old shouldn't get all the oil money.'

The family was forced to work: 'So that was gone and my grandmother went to become a nurse in an asylum and took her daughter and my dad, who was four, and went to live in someone's barn stall and work.

'My dad was working and he eventually bought back the family home, which was then this mansion in ruins,' she noted.

She added her mother had it even worse: 'My mom came from incredible poverty and was removed from her home for child abuse. And she was given to someone at nine to be their maid, laundress, cook. That's how she grew up until they married at 16 and 17. They were adults from the time they were little.'

Stone also noted her childhood was far from normal.

'There was a lot of dysfunction in my family. Both of my parents had been like semi-orphaned, they were both depression-era people, so they were both in the World War II crisis in this kind of extraordinary poverty with nothing available.'

Last year, Stone was on PBS' hit show Finding Your Roots. 

She was lost for words when host Henry Louis Gates Jr. revealed to Sharon: 'Charlemagne (the former king who transformed Europe) is your 38th great-grandfather. The first holy Roman Emperor. He was a mean dude. 

'He's one of the most important people in history, of course, and he basically created modern Europe, with an iron will.'

Stone responded: 'If you want to see someone completely stunned, look at my face.' 

Charlemagne, who towered at an astonishing 6ft 4in, reigned as King of the Franks from what is now France from AD 768 until his death in 814. 

Also emperor of the Carolingian Empire, he shaped the character of medieval Europe and fathered at least 18 children, including Pippin the Hunchback and Charles the Younger.

His successful military campaigns in the eighth century saw him conquer Saxony and enforce the region's conversion to Christianity.

The ruler also invaded the kingdom of Lombards in what is now Italy and northern Spain, before turning his attentions to Bohemia (now the Czech Republic).

In the year 800, Charlemagne came to the aid of Pope Leo III as he tried to quell a rebellion. 

As a token of thanks, Leo declared Charlemagne emperor of the Romans, a position that legitimized his rule over his Italian territories. 

Besides his military prowess, Charlemagne successfully introduced administrative reforms and helped improve commerce by standardizing weights, measures and customs. 

By the time of his death, Charlemagne had earned the title of the 'Father of Europe', and his legacy lasted for centuries after he was gone. 

Stone also discovered that her three times great-grandfather, George Greggs, emigrated from England to Pennsylvania to work as a coal miner. 

He fought on the side of the Union during the American Civil War. 

Her 31st-great-grandfather was Hugh Capet, a 10th century successor to Charlemagne who made Paris the center of power in France.  

Speaking about the shock revelation, Henry said: 'Sharon's family tree is dripping with history. Her third great-grandfather emigrated to Pennsylvania from England, became a coal miner, then served heroically in the Civil War, fighting in several major battles. 

'When she learned that, she burst into tears. She learned that she descends from two French kings on her father's side, and her 31st great-grandfather, Hugh Capet, was the man who made Paris the center of power in France. 

'Charlemagne, who was the founder of modern Europe, was her 38th great-grandfather. She just was flabbergasted, and so honored. I think she has a Revolutionary War ancestor too.'

Stone is not the only celebrity to have discovered links to Charlemagne. In 2016, Sir Richard Branson boasted of the 'extraordinary family fact' of his link.

But geneticists have previously pointed out that a connection to Charlemagne is not actually that remarkable.

Expert Professor Adam Rutherford said in 2017 that 'literally everyone' from Europe has a direct lineage to Charlemagne - but celebrities are just more likely to have the means to prove it. 

He and a team at University College London worked on the notion that you have two parents, who also had two parents, and so on, working backwards to form an ever expanding family tree.

From this, they were able to work out that everyone living in Europe in the 10th century, and so before, was related to everyone who now lives on the same continent.

Professor Rutherford, who was speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival, also pointed out that everyone is related to King Edward III.

He said: 'Literally every person in Europe is directly descended from Charlemagne. Literally, not metaphorically. You have a direct lineage which leads to Charlemagne.'

The expert added: 'Looking around this room, every single one of you... is directly descended between 21 and 24 generations from Edward III.'