Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun

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Pretender Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun

Born	July 22, 1942 (1942-07-22) (age 65) Sussex, England^[1]
Throne(s) claimed	England
Pretend from	July 11, 1944
Monarchy abolished	Complex situation regarding Edward IV's alleged biological illegitimacy.
Last monarch	see above
Connection with	George Plantagenet
Royal House	House of York
Father	Captain Walter Strickland Lord
Mother	Barbara Abney-Hastings

Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (born July 22, 1942) is a British Australian, who is most noted due to the documentary Britain's Real Monarch, which proposed him as a pretender to the Throne of England, had it still existed as a separate kingdom. He was born in England and educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, but emigrated to Jerilderie, New South Wales as a teen, where he lived out life as a rice farmer and family man.^[2]

Though he is associated with the House of York, he is not the current Head of the House of York. The claim for Abney-Hastings as a pretender to the English throne is a different situation, relating to his descent from George Plantagenet as his heir-general, tied in with the alleged biological illegitimacy of Edward IV of England. The official Headship of the House as proclaimed by last Yorkist king of England, Richard III, passed to John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln.^[3]

1 Early life
2 Claim to the throne of England
3 Personal views and family
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Abney-Hastings was born in Sussex, 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.^[1] 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.^[4]

[edit] Claim to the throne of England

In 2004, Britain's Real Monarch, a documentary broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom claimed 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. The programme attracted widespread attention in the United Kingdom. It was repeated on Channel 4 TV on 29 November 2007.

Those supporting Abney-Hastings' claim to the English throne suggest the theory that, 'At the time of Edward's ascent to the throne, the law of the land was that the heir had to be legitimate. If he were illegitimate his heirs would not have been legitimate and did not have the right to pass on the throne, and so on. The right of conquest would not be a factor, as they were not conquering a 'legitimate king'.'

Supporters of the documentary's argument add that the Act of Settlement 1701 is invalid, as William III of England was not the rightful king, and therefore a parliament summoned by him had no legal status and the Act did not receive the Royal Assent, as it was not approved by the legitimate monarch at the time, George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon. Their case can also draw support from the doubtful validity of Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, which allows them to argue that even if Edward was legitimate, his descendants were not.

[edit] Personal views and family

Abney-Hastings is a committed Australian republican and has expressed no interest in pursuing his claim to the nonexistent throne, although he is amused by it. Although Abney-Hastings has stated his support for Australian Republicanism he continues to hold and use his title of an Earl. As he inherited the claim on the death of his uncle Ian Abney-Hastings, Lord Mauchline in 1944, the documentary highlighting his claim to the throne was broadcast in his "Diamond Jubilee" year.

Abney-Hastings has two sons and three daughters with his wife Noelene Margaret McCormick (they married in 1969).^[5] His eldest son Simon Abney-Hastings holds the courtesy title Lord Mauchline. Simon was linked to Polish noble and Bourbon princess Tamara Czartoryska during the 2000s. He is currently one of the seven co-heirs to the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn.

Hon. Amanda Louise Abney-Hastings (born 1969)
Hon. Lisa Maree Abney-Hastings (born 1971)
Simon Abney-Hastings, Lord Mauchline (born 1974)
Hon. Rebecca Lee Abney-Hastings (born 1974)
Hon. Marcus Willian Abney-Hastings (born 1981)

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Barbara Abney-Hastings	Earl of Loudoun	Succeeded by Current Incumbent
Preceded by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Lindsay	United Kingdom Order of Precedence (gentlemen)	Succeeded by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Kinnoull