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Charles visits 'relative' Dracula's home

The Prince - on a tour of eastern Europe - spent a day in the heart of the region in Romania, where the Dracula legend was born.

There he visited an old people's home in Sibiu, where he was presented with a book of poems written by one of the residents, and a school.

The Prince was then driven 40 miles through the Transylvanian countryside to visit a Saxon village at Mosna.

Prince Charles is apparently aware of the potential relationship between his family and Transylvania's most infamous son.

It is believed that Queen Mary, consort of George V was related to the 15th Century slayer prince Vlad the Impaler who inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula.

And it is known that porphyria, an iron deficiency, which is thought to lie behind the vampire myth, has run in the Royal Family.

Vlad Drac-ula, as he was known, is said to have dispatched with more than 100,000 Turkish warriors in battle.

The vampire legend was fed by Vlad's own predilection for eating bread dipped in his victim's blood.

But it wasn't until an author of the Victorian period, Bram Stoker, became interested in the myth of Vlad the Impaler, that Count Dracula was born.

Dracula means "son of the devil" in Romanian.

Now thousands of tourists visit the Transylvanian town every year where Vlad lived in Castle Bran.

Prince Charles arrived in Romania on Tuesday

On Thursday, he will visit several charities caring for the elderly and homeless in Bucharest, and he will watch a pantomime at the city's National Theatre.

He is due to leave for Sofia, in Bulgaria, on Friday. The tour also includes the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

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Internet Links

Following in Dracula's Steps
Ottomar Rodolphe Vlad Dracula Prinz Kretzulesco
Virtual tour of Bran Castle
Dracula Society UK
Bram Stoker's Dracula online
VEIN - Vampire Exchange and Information Network
Vampires of the World
The British Monarchy
Porphyria - a patient's guide

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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