Is it true in the past people with dark hair and white skin used to be seen as royalty?

Question

I was with my friend, and I started making fun of his ugly hair. He then tells me people like him used to be royalty, and people like me, peasants.
I have dirty blond hair and, he's whiter than me, yet his hair is totally black.

He says back in the old times of castles and kings, people like him were royalty.

Is this true?

Answer 1

in the old Finnish epic Kalevala, dark-haired people are considered to be villians.

Answer 2

No, this is absolutely false. People's hair color had nothing to do with royalty. Hair color was a result of ethnicity and race. Many monarchs had red, black, blonde, etc. However, the pale skin was a byproduct of some royal positions. The status of royalty freed many from intense hard labor, limiting their exposure to the sun. But this would only be identifiable amongst fair-skinned cultures.

For example, royal Sultans were anything but fair skinned; however, Queen Elizabeth I and King Henry VIII were both fair-skinned. Royalty was most often determined by heredity or military prowess.

Answer 3

In a lot of older cultures, the white skin and dark hair was a sign of status, it shows that the person was NOT a worker or peasant, and spent most of his time indoors instead of out and working in the sun.

Funny how times have changed, huh?

Answer 4

In some countries.

Answer 5

"Bluebloods" had pale skin that made their veins stand out because they weren't out toiling in the fields like the peasants. As for your friend's dark hair, I haven't a clue.