The Last of the Gypsy Royals

The ‘Last of the Gypsy Royals: the documentary‘, started out as a feature article (originally published as ‘Kings, Queens and Presidents’) in The Northumbrian magazine in 2003. Journalist Fiona Veitch Smith got the idea for the article when she stopped off at the Border Hotel for lunch after a hike over the Pennine Way and saw some orginal photographs of the Gypsy Royals from the late 1800s. As she had a degree in history she relished the task of delving into the past of this unusual royal family. The original article ended with the death of King Charles II in 1904 and wistfully tailed off into reminiscences of old stories and images of photos lining a country pub wall.

Then in 2007 Fiona posted the article on one of her websites (www.veitchsmith.com). It wasn’t long before she got a comment from Alex Kennedy, whom, she was later to discover, was a descendent of the Yetholm Gypsies and a highly respected ambassador for Traveler / Romany / Gypsy culture in the Scottish Borders. Alex said “I am a descendant of the Yetholm Gypsies, and I would just like to say that we have not died out, we are still here.”

An on-line reunion

Soon other descendents came out of the woodwork and family members from around the world visited the site and left comments, including Nils Blyth from Australia who has become the family’s unofficial genealogist. Lost connections were rediscovered and a family began to re-unite on a stranger’s website. And so began a three year correspondence. In the summer of 2009, Fiona said that she was delighted that the family was reuniting through her website and asked whether or not they had thought of holding a physical reunion in Kirk Yetholm. Many family members, not least Alex Kennedy, were thrilled with the idea. However, no one was prepared to take the initiative.

A sudden death

Then suddenly, and very tragically, Alex Kennedy died on Christmas Eve 2009. In early January 2010 a cousin, Maggie Kennedy from Edinburgh, posted on the website saying that she and some other family members had decided to get together in Yetholm in the summer in Alex’s memory. And so the idea of the reunion took off again.

The start of the documentary

From very early on in the process Fiona thought this had the makings of a brilliant documentary. She approached a number of production companies and Tony Glover Film and Video caught the vision and have been working with her ever since. They interviewed a number of family members in anticipation of the reunion as the planning got under way.

The gathering of the clan

The reunion took place on 25 July 2010. Around 80 people gathered on the village green of Kirk Yetholm – a gatherinig of a clan for the first time in over 100 years. Who is the current king or queen? What do these people still have in common? What will happen when the reunion is a distant memory? Will someone take up Alex Kennedy’s mantle? There is already talk of establishing the reunion as an annual affair and perhaps establishing some kind of ‘council’ to promote gypsy culture – and one man has controversially decided to make a claim for the throne. The filmmakers continue to follow them on their journey and have just received the endorsement of Northern Film and Media.

To see some photos of the reunion see the ‘reunion pictures’ post in the ‘announcement’ box to the right.

Have your say

If you’d like to get in touch, have your say in our public forum, or contact the production team directly.