The Harkonnens claim common ancestry with House Corrino in the Palaiologoi, the last ruling house of the Byzantine Empire, via Constantine XI's younger brother, Thomas Palaiologos. Through Harkonnen Obeshev's wife, Lisia Pozzo de Borgo, this family claims descent from Kiril' Romanov, cousin to Nikolai II, Russia's last tsar, and heir to his empty throne.