EastEnders star Danny Dyer is a direct descendant of the French King, Louis IX, a Kent historian has revealed.

The revelation will be made in the new BBC One show, Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family, by University of Kent historian Dr Emily Guerry.

The two-part series, which also included filming in the county, follows on from the revelatory episode of BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? in which he discovered he was descended from King Edward III.

In the programme, Canterbury-based medieval historian Dr Guerry of the university’s School of History and Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS), will reveal to Danny that the French King was canonized in 1297.

According to Dr Guerry, his distant ancestor was extremely pious - he pierced the tongues of blasphemers, he prayed like a monk, and when he acquired the relic of the Crown of Thorns, purported to be worn by Jesus Christ at his crucifixion, he led a humble procession through the streets of Paris in its honour.

As part of the programme, Danny restaged the sacred event by wearing walking barefoot in a linen through the French capital while carrying a replica of the relic.

She said: "I never imagined that I would meet a direct descendant of Louis (or that this person would be a famous actor) but I've enjoyed every minute of working on this project with the BBC."

The BBC One two-part show Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family also included filming at Leeds Castle.

Forty-one-year-old Danny, who was born in Canning Town, east London, fully immersed himself in the lifestyles of his relatives, trying out their pursuits and passions - right down to the tights. "I pulled it off", he said.

"It's me going right back to my first ancestor, a Viking called Rollo, who's the king of the Vikings - a very powerful man. We make our way back down through eight ancestors' lives and I live and breathe what their lives were like for a day.

"Essentially, it's a history programme, because that's what we wanted to do - an educational programme told through my eyes."

The actor, who is also known for films such as Mean Machine, The Football Factory and Vendetta, said: "I like to embrace every historian with a big cuddle at the beginning, to make them settle down, and just have an old chinwag about medieval history."

There are plenty of memorable moments from filming for Dyer, including finding out about his French family to eating a fermented shark in a Viking village in Sweden.

His three children - Love Island's Dani, 22, Sunnie, 11, and Arty, five - and wife Joanne Mas, also took part.

"I think I've driven everyone mad about this and they're not that interested - they don't really believe that we're royal," he said. "So I thought I'd roll them in a bit and they'd get it. It was just us being us, as we would have been 500 years ago in all the get-up, and my little boy running around with his little sword. He absolutely loved it."

He added: "If anything, it makes you more humble about life, and very grateful for who I am.

"I think it's very important when you're in the position that I'm in, that you curb that ego and try to nourish your soul as much as you possibly can, and just try to be a decent, kind human being. That's the key I think, there's not enough of that going on in the world."

Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family starts on BBC One on Wednesday at 9pm.