Archbishop of Canterbury son of Churchill's private secretary?

London: The Archbishop of Canterbury has said a DNA test result revealing the identity of his biological father has come as a "complete surprise".

The Most Reverend Justin Welby, 60, has discovered he is the son of Sir Winston Churchill's last private secretary, the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne.

He had believed his father was whisky salesman Gavin Welby, who died in 1977.

His mother, Lady Williams of Elvel, has confirmed she had a "liaison" with Sir Anthony just before she wed in 1955.

She said the news had come as an "almost unbelievable shock", and although her memory of the time was patchy, she recalled sleeping with former colleague Sir Anthony after "a large amount of alcohol on both sides".

Hair samples

Archbishop Welby, the most senior cleric in the worldwide Anglican communion, said he discovered the real identity of his biological father in recent weeks.

The Daily Telegraph reports that he decided to take a DNA test after it approached him with research it had carried out into his family's background.

It reports mouth swabs were compared with hair samples from a hairbrush kept by Sir Anthony's widow and showed a 99.9779% probability they were father and son.