Is Kate the Princess of NEW SOUTH WALES? One of her ancestors was aboard the first Royal Navy fleet to land to build a penal colony, writes CLAUDIA JOSEPH

It's been more than two centuries since the Royal Navy's first fleet arrived at Sydney Cove and hoisted the flag of Great Britain.

The legacy of the past has become more complicated over the years – not least when it comes to the question of whether or not Australia should retain King Charles as head of state.

The good news for Britain is that a referendum on this issue has been postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince George, then just nine months old, visits a Bilby at the zoo. Bilbies are desert-dwelling marsupials native to Australia

One of Kate Middleton's ancestors commanded a ship from the very first Royal Navy fleet to land in Australia. This scene, showing British troops of the period on the Australian coast, is from the ITV drama The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

The first Union Flag is raised – a scene celebrated 150 years later by British artist Algernon Talmage

But one royal connection that has escaped much scrutiny until now is this: we can reveal that one of the Princess of Wales's ancestors was on board the First Fleet to travel to Australia.

Lieutenant David Blackburn, captain of HMS Supply, one of the ships in question, set sail with the fleet from Portsmouth, Hampshire at 4am on 13 May 1787.

The intention was to establish a penal colony in Australia.

Blackburn, who was related to Kate on her father's side, had celebrated his 35th birthday on board the ship on New Year's Day 1788 before arriving at Botany Bay on January 18 and, while the rest of the fleet sailed to Sydney Cove – now Circular Quay – eight days later.

This first fleet of eleven ships, six of which carried convicts from Great Britain to Australia, was under the overall command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who later became the first Governor of New South Wales.

A report from the time recorded events as follows: 'At daybreak a large task force had landed from HM Brig 'Supply' (the first ship to enter Sydney Harbour) to cut down trees, clear the ground find land depots, erect a flagpole and tents, and prepare a camp.

'The remaining ten ships of the fleet had arrived in Sydney Harbor from Botany Bay about evening, which the Governor, after reconnaissance, did not consider suitable for the settlement, the anchorage being unsafe on account of the shallow depth and swampy nature of the settlement. foreshore.'

The moment when Arthur Phillip raises the Union Flag was depicted by British impressionist Algernon Talmage in 1937 to mark the 150th anniversary of the landing.

The painting, which was first exhibited at the Royal Academy, now hangs in Tate Britain.

Blackburn is sixth from the left.

“On the evening of the 26th the colors were displayed ashore,” Phillip noted.

'The Governor, with some of his principal officers and others, gathered round the flagstaff, drank the King's health and success to the settlement with all that display of form, which on such occasions is considered auspicious as it quickens the spirit and fills the spirit. imagination with pleasant predictions.'

Blackburn, the cousin of Kate's great-great-grandmother Dame Sarah Martineau, became commander of HMS Sirius during its voyage to Norfolk Island in 1790.

He died in 1795 at the age of 42.

Historian Michael Reed, who discovered the connection, said: 'I discovered handwritten letters from Kate's ancestor Sarah Martineau and her family in the National Library of Australia.'

He considers them crucial to Australian history.

'These letters reveal her private thoughts and show that she lent her cousin £10 [the equivalent of £1300 or $A2,500 today] to help him buy navigation equipment and expensive new uniforms needed for the journey.

'David was one of the first Englishmen to try to talk to indigenous Australians, by recording and translating their language.'

He later sent 'Drawings of Birds, Plants and Fish of this Country' to his family in Norwich.

A 1799 painting by John Gosse entitled 'The Establishment of the Settlement of Port-Jackson at Botany Bay in New South Wales'. The scene shows the first British penal colony at Sydney Cove as sailors and convicts clear the land for settlement

It's been ten years since the Prince and Princess of Wales visited Australia, where they posed for photos in front of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge and took their first-born son, Prince George, to Taronga Zoo.

There was speculation that the Waleses would visit Australia at some point, perhaps ahead of the tour expected by the King and Queen.

However, with both the king and princess recently suffering medical setbacks, extended foreign travel seems unlikely in the short term.