Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun
Encyclopedia
Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (born 22 July 1942) is a British Australian
, who is most noted due to the documentary Britain's Real Monarch
, which alleges him to be the rightful monarch of England instead of Queen Elizabeth II
. He was born in England
and educated at Ampleforth College
in Yorkshire, but emigrated to Jerilderie, New South Wales
as a teen, where he lives out life as a rice
farmer
and family man.
The claim for Abney-Hastings as a pretender to the English throne relates to his descent from George Plantagenet
as his heir-general, tied in with the alleged biological illegitimacy of Edward IV of England
.
, England
, to Captain Walter Strickland Lord and Barbara Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun
. However, he grew up at Ashby-de-la-Zouch
in Leicestershire
where his mother is from, a town where one of his family's castles is located; Ashby de la Zouch Castle
. As a youth he was educated at Ampleforth College
a private Catholic
school in North Yorkshire
, before moving to Australia
when he was 18 years old.
, a documentary broadcast on Channel 4
in the United Kingdom
repeated the claim, disputed among historians, that King Edward IV of England
was biologically illegitimate, and therefore that Abney-Hastings, as the senior descendant of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
, is the rightful King of England
. Were Edward IV illegitimate, his daughter, Elizabeth of York
, from whom the current British royal family is descended, would be excluded from the rightful succession and Michael Abney-Hastings would be the monarch based on an unbroken line of Male Preference Primogeniture
leading from William the Conqueror who became king of England by right of conquest in 1066.
and has expressed no interest in pursuing his claim to the throne, although he is amused by it. Abney-Hastings says he refrains from using his title publicly.
Abney-Hastings has two sons and three daughters with his wife Noelene Margaret McCormick (they married in 1969). His eldest son Simon Abney-Hastings holds the courtesy title
Lord Mauchline. He is currently one of the seven co-heirs to the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn
.
Abney-Hastings is a councillor
of the Jerilderie Shire, elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008.
Anglo-Celtic Australian
Anglo-Celtic Australian are citizens of Australia with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.-Demography:From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th century, the vast majority of settlers were British or Irish...
, who is most noted due to the documentary Britain's Real Monarch
Britain's Real Monarch
Britain's Real Monarch was a historical documentary presented by Tony Robinson first shown on Channel 4 on 3 January 2004. It has also been broadcast in America and Australia...
, which alleges him to be the rightful monarch of England instead of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. He was born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and educated at Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
in Yorkshire, but emigrated to Jerilderie, New South Wales
Jerilderie, New South Wales
Jerilderie is a town of 768 people in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the only town in the Jerilderie Shire Local Government Area....
as a teen, where he lives out life as a rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
and family man.
The claim for Abney-Hastings as a pretender to the English throne relates to his descent from George Plantagenet
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Warwick, KG was the third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the...
as his heir-general, tied in with the alleged biological illegitimacy of Edward IV of England
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
.
Early life
Abney-Hastings was born in SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to Captain Walter Strickland Lord and Barbara Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun
Barbara Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun
Barbara Huddleston Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun , was a Scottish countess.Loudoun was the oldest daughter of Reginald Mowbray Chichester Huddleston and Edith Abney-Hastings, 12th Countess of Loudoun, great-great-great-granddaughter of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of...
. However, he grew up at Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, — Zouch being pronounced "Zoosh" — often shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It is twinned with Pithiviers in north-central France....
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
where his mother is from, a town where one of his family's castles is located; Ashby de la Zouch Castle
Ashby de la Zouch Castle
Ashby de la Zouch Castle is in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England . The ruins have been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and they are a Scheduled Ancient Monument...
. As a youth he was educated at Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
a private Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
school in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, before moving to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
when he was 18 years old.
Claim to the throne of England
In 2004, Britain's Real MonarchBritain's Real Monarch
Britain's Real Monarch was a historical documentary presented by Tony Robinson first shown on Channel 4 on 3 January 2004. It has also been broadcast in America and Australia...
, a documentary broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
repeated the claim, disputed among historians, that King Edward IV of England
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
was biologically illegitimate, and therefore that Abney-Hastings, as the senior descendant of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Warwick, KG was the third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the...
, is the rightful King of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
. Were Edward IV illegitimate, his daughter, Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
, from whom the current British royal family is descended, would be excluded from the rightful succession and Michael Abney-Hastings would be the monarch based on an unbroken line of Male Preference Primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
leading from William the Conqueror who became king of England by right of conquest in 1066.
Personal views and family
Abney-Hastings is a committed Australian republicanRepublicanism in Australia
Republicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's status as a constitutional monarchy to a republican form of government. Such sentiments have been expressed in Australia from before federation onward to the present...
and has expressed no interest in pursuing his claim to the throne, although he is amused by it. Abney-Hastings says he refrains from using his title publicly.
Abney-Hastings has two sons and three daughters with his wife Noelene Margaret McCormick (they married in 1969). His eldest son Simon Abney-Hastings holds the courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
Lord Mauchline. He is currently one of the seven co-heirs to the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn
Baron Grey de Ruthyn
The title of Baron Grey de Ruthyn was created in the Peerage of England by writ of summons in 1324 for Roger Grey, a son of John Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Wilton. It has been abeyant since 1963...
.
- The Lady Amanda Louise Abney-Hastings (born 1969)
- The Lady Lisa Maree Abney-Hastings (born 1971)
- Simon Abney-Hastings, Lord Mauchline (born 1974)
- The Lady Rebecca Lee Abney-Hastings (born 1974)
- The Hon. Marcus Willian Abney-Hastings (born 1981)
Abney-Hastings is a councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
of the Jerilderie Shire, elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008.