‘House of the Dragon’ Star Harry Collett’s Family Tree Reveals a Heartbreaking WWII Tragedy

Hollywood Ancestry
Jul 1
7 min read

In 'House of the Dragon,' Harry Collett plays Jacaerys Velaryon, or Jace, a character who knows family loss and tragedy in a time of war. Explore how the actor's ancestors also faced family tragedy in a time of war.

BY MIKE BATIE

Actor Harry Collett as Jacaerys Velaryon in House of the Dragon; an inset circle photos shows a painting depicting his ancestors, a mother with her daughter and son, on a London street at night. — Actor Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys 'Jace' Velaryon in House of the Dragon. Inset: An artistic depiction of his ancestors during World War II in London.

Fans of House of the Dragon watched Jacaerys Velaryon meet a heartbreaking end. But many may not know that the actor who brought him to life, Harry Collett, has a real family story marked by tragedy—one that unfolded during the very real horrors of World War II.

An animated GIF image of Harry Collett as Crown Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, wind blowing in his long, wavy hair, in House of the Dragon. — Harry Collett as Crown Prince Jacaerys "Jace" Velaryon in 'House of the Dragon.'

A quick introduction to the author: My name’s Mike, I’m a family historian, and I research the ancestry of notable people—usually my favorite actors/characters. Harry's portrayal of Jace, the loyal, courageous, protective prince, stuck with me and inspired me to look into Harry's ancestry.

All right, let’s get into Harry Collett’s family story.

Harry’s 2nd great-grandmother, Rose Emma (Froggitt) Collett, and two of her young children, Ronald and Doreen—who are Harry’s great-granduncle and great-grandaunt—tragically perished during World War II.

A side-by-side image of actor Harry Collett's great-granduncle, Ronald (left), and great-grandaunt, Doreen (right). — 'House of the Dragon' actor Harry Collett's ancestors — Left: Ronald Collett, age 8 (great-granduncle); Right: Doreen Collett, age 11 (great-grandaunt).

During World War II, Harry Collett’s ancestors lived in Bethnal Green in East London. During this time, London endured repeated German air raids with bombs that devastated neighborhoods, killed tens of thousands of civilians, and forced many families to shelter underground each night.

A map showing the location of Bethnal Green in the east of London. — Map showing the location of Bethnal Green, the neighborhood where 'House of the Dragon' actor Harry Collett's ancestors lived during World War II.

When the air raid sirens sounded the alarm, residents would flood into the London Underground Tube stations by the thousands, seeking shelter from the firestorm of bombs raining down from the skies above.

A black and white photo inside the London Underground Tube, where residents sleep, using it for an air raid shelter during World War II. — An image of people sheltering in a London Underground Tube station during World War II. Actor Harry Collett's ancestors were familiar with this routine when air raid sirens sounded the alarm.

During the night of the 3rd of March 1943, air raid sirens sounded the alarm at 8:17 pm, and Harry Collett’s 2nd great-grandmother, Rose, and her two youngest children, Doreen (age 11) and Ronald (age 8), walked the 10 minutes from their house at 9 Stainsbury Street toward the Bethnal Green Tube station.

An artistic visualization of Rose Collett walking hand in hand with her daughter and son, through the dark streets of London at night during an air raid. — A visualization of Harry Collett's 2nd great-grandmother, Rose, and her two children, Doreen and Ronald, walking down the street toward Bethnal Green Tube station, seeking shelter during an air raid in WWII.

A map showing the Bethnal Green neighborhood, and the starting point on the right of the Colletts at 9 Stainsbury Street, with a red line showing the walking path to left end point at Bethnal Green Station. — The Colletts lived only a ten-minute walk from the Bethnal Green Tube Station, and this is the route they likely would have taken that night during the air raid.

In addition to the entire neighborhood descending the stairs, buses on the street also stopped to unload passengers to take shelter at the Bethnal Green tube station. Once at the Tube entrance, Rose Collett and her children descended the stairs into the dark. Normally, around 1,500 to 2,000 people would flood into this station seeking shelter during an air raid.

Rose Collett, with her children, descends the stairs at Bethnal Green Tube Station in the dark, during an air raid. Crowds of people descend the stairs into the dark. — Rose Collett, with her children, descends the stairs at Bethnal Green Tube Station in the dark, during an air raid.

As the Colletts and throngs of other people descended the steps in the dark, up above, people heard the deafening sound of a brand-new anti-aircraft rocket battery firing off nearby. The people were unfamiliar with this new sound and thought it might be bombs falling.

Crowds on the dark street at Bethnal Green Tube Station entrance look up toward an anti-aircraft rocket being fired into the sky as German planes fly by. — On the night of 3 March 1943, a new type of anti-aircraft rocket was tested, and the unfamiliar sound made residents fear that perhaps enemy bombs were falling on the neighborhood.

Rose Collett and her children were already well down the stairs when the loud, unfamiliar sound of the new anti-aircraft rockets roared up above.

An illustration of Rose Collett in the stairway of the Bethnal Green Tube Station entrance. — Rose Collett and her children were already well down the stairs descending in the dark when a new anti-aircraft rocket was being tested up above.

As the crowd pressed down the stairs into the dark, a woman with a baby fell at the bottom of a stairway landing, and an elderly man behind her also went down, starting a domino effect as others tripped and fell on top of them, unable to see what was happening below them in the dark.

An artistic visualiztion of a woman holding a baby, tripped in the dark stairway, as others fall behind her. — A woman with a baby slipped in the dark and damp stairway, triggering a domino effect of others behind falling into each other in the cramped stairwell.

Within seconds, some 300 people became jammed from floor to ceiling in a tight space of about 15 by 11 feet, stacked up to six people deep. Those pinned down under the massive weight of those above them couldn’t move, and soon they couldn’t breathe under the crushing mass of people.

An artistic visualization of hundreds of people crammed into the tight stairwell of Bethnal Green Tube Station. — Some 300 people were crammed in the tight space of the Bethnal Green Tube entrance after a domino effect of tripping over and falling into each other in the dark stairway.

About three hours later, the last person was finally pulled out of the stairway. Among the dead pulled out were actor Harry Collett’s 2nd great-grandmother, Rose, and his great-grandaunt, Doreen. Ronald was pulled from the stairway, barely alive, but pronounced dead at the hospital.

In the end, 173 people died: 27 men, 84 women, and 62 children.

An artistic visualization of three roses laid at the top of Bethnal Green tube station entrance. — Three of the 173 people who died in the Bethnal Green Tube station accident were actor Harry Collett's ancestors, his 2nd great-grandmother, and her two youngest children.

UK register of World War II Civilian War Deaths shows an entry for Harry Collett's 2nd great grandmother and two of her children. — The UK register of World War II Civilian War Deaths lists Harry Collett's 2nd great-grandmother and two of her children. Ronald is listed separately as dying in Stepney, as he was pronounced dead at the hospital there.

Actor Harry Collett is here today because he is a descendant of another son of Rose, named Alfred Thomas Collett (Harry's great-grandfather), who was already a young man at the time of the Bethnal Green tube station incident. I’m not certain at this time if Alfred was involved in the incident, as he was about 21 and may have been living away, or possibly gone to war, but it must have been heartbreaking for Alfred to lose his mother and two youngest siblings in such a tragedy. The Collett family line that actor Harry Collett descends from can be traced back to the 1300s in Gloucester, England.

A family chart that has photos in circles of the family of Harry Collett, with lines showing he is descended from another son, Alfred Collett, who survived his mother and younger siblings who perished in the Bethnal Green Tube incident. — Family chart showing Harry Collett descends from another child of Rose Collett, who perished in the Bethnal Green Tube Station Disaster.

An image from a Church of England baptismal record showing Harry Collett's ancestor, Alfred Thomas Collett, as the son of Charles Thomas & Rose Emma Collett. His baptismal date is shown as 19 March 1922 at St. Bartholomew's in Bethnal Green. — The Church of England baptismal record of Harry Collett's great-grandfather at St. Bartholomew's in Bethnal Green, showing Charles Thomas & Rose Emma Collett as his parents.

Today, a memorial to the victims—known as the Stairway to Heaven Memorial—is located at the Bethnal Green tube station entrance, and on that inverted staircase heading into the sky, you can see the name COLLETT on it, in memory of Harry’s ancestors among the victims.

Stairway to Heaven Memorial at Bethnal Green tube station entrance, showing an inverted stairway ascending to the sky, with the surnames of victims on it, including the surname COLLETT, for Harry Collett's ancestors who perished in the incident. — The Stairway to Heaven memorial at Bethnal Green Tube station entrance, depicting an inverted stairway ascending to the sky. On it, you can see the surname COLLETT, in memory of Harry Collett's ancestors who perished in the accident. (Image by Doyle of London)

Harry Collett isn’t the only actor to have an ancestor involved in the Bethnal Green Tube incident. Also in the stairway that night was Ruth, the grandmother of actress Millie Bobby Brown, known for Stranger Things and the Enola Holmes films. Thankfully, Millie’s grandmother survived. Millie debuted a novel, titled Nineteen Steps, inspired by her grandmother Ruth’s survival of the Bethnal Green station tragedy and her life during the war.

A side-by-side of actress Millie Bobby Brown in her roles in 'Enola Holmes' and 'Stranger Things.' — Actress Millie Bobby Brown, known for her roles in Enola Holmes (left) and Stranger Things (right), also had an ancestor involved in the Bethnal Green Tube station accident.

It’s amazing that two actors in global hit television shows and movies both have ancestry tied to one stairway, on one night, in Bethnal Green during World War II.

A black and white historic image looking down the stairway of the Bethnal Green tube station. — The stairway of Bethnal Green tube station, where both Harry Collett and Millie Bobby Brown had ancestors involved in the tragic accident in 1943.

It’s a reminder that while fantasy shows tell stories of royal dynasties torn apart by war, history records countless everyday families whose own branches were forever changed by war.

Harry Collett as Prince Jace wit his mother, and fading to the right, an illustration of Harry Collett's 2nd great grandmother, Rose, and her children. — Harry Collett, as Crown Prince Jacaerys (left) in 'House of the Dragon,' understood the pain of family loss during war, and it echoes in his family tree as well, with the loss of his 2nd great-grandmother, Rose, and two of her children (right) during World War II.

We also bid a fond and gutwrenching farewell to Harry as Jacaerys, our Jace. You dutifully and beautifully portrayed the prince of whom it is written: "Thousands died. Yet none of these losses were felt so deeply as that of Jacaerys, Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne." Your portrayal and embodiment of the Prince has truly led a global audience to feel that loss.

An animated GIF image of Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys, holding his younger brother, with a mournful expression and moist eyes. — Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys "Jace" Valeryon.

Original genealogical research by Mike Batie | Hollywood Ancestry

If you reference information from this article, please credit Mike Batie | Hollywood Ancestry and link back to the original page whenever possible.

How to Cite

Batie, Mike. "Harry Collett's Ancestry: The Real Family Story Behind the House of the Dragon Actor." Hollywood Ancestry. Published July 1, 2026. https://www.hollywoodancestry.com/post/house-of-the-dragon-star-harry-collett-s-family-tree-reveals-a-heartbreaking-wwii-tragedy

Feel free to contact me with any questions (see below).

About the Author

Storytelling connects generations, and both family history and film preserve the stories that shape who we are. I've been researching genealogies for decades, beginning with my own family tree before exploring the ancestry of actors, filmmakers, and other notable figures. Through Hollywood Ancestry, I hope to inspire others to discover their own roots and the remarkable stories hidden within their family history.

—Mike Batie

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