Simon Abney-Hastings, the son of a farmhand from the Australian outback, might be an unlikely choice to receive an invitation to King Charles III’s coronation at Westminster Abbey next week, but he is the one person other than those in the line of succession who could actually have a claim on the throne.
Unlikely though it might seem, the scenario is based on research by British medieval historian Michael Jones.
Two decades ago he uncovered a document in Rouen Cathedral in France which he says is proof that King Edward IV was illegitimate.
Photo: Reuters
During the five weeks when Edward might have been conceived, his father, Richard of York, was 160km from his wife, Cecily Neville, the Duchess of York, Jones says.
As a result, Jones says that Edward was not the rightful heir to the throne, and the line of succession should instead have gone through Edward’s younger brother, George, the Duke of Clarence, who is a direct ancestor of Abney-Hastings.
Although the family do not possess any lands or stately homes in the UK, by virtue of their lineage they inherited the ancient Scottish title of Earl of Loudoun.
Abney-Hastings’ father, Michael Abney-Hastings, emigrated from the UK to Australia in 1960.
Michael inherited the title from his mother, the 13th Countess of Loudoun, in 2002 and it passed on his death in 2012 to his son, who is the 15th earl.
In recognition of the family’s heritage, Simon Abney-Hastings, 48, is one of just 13 individuals carrying out ceremonial roles largely because they successfully proved that their forebears played a particular role at previous coronations.
The earls of Loudon have traditionally been the bearers of the golden spurs as far back as the 12th century.
In earlier centuries the spurs — signifying the monarch’s role as head of the armed forces — were attached to the new sovereign’s feet. In more recent times they have just ceremonially touched the heels of the monarch before being placed on the altar.
The surprising implications of the Rouen Cathedral discovery came as a shock to the Abney-Hastings family nearly 20 years ago.
A British documentary team visited an unsuspecting Michael Abney-Hastings at his home in Australia for the 2004 program Britain’s Real Monarch.
To the amusement of his family, they were told that new research pointed to Edward IV being illegitimate, which “means that you are the rightful king of England.”
Michael Abney-Hastings responded that he had been aware of a “distant” link to the Plantagenet royal dynasty, but said that the news that he might have been King Michael I was “a bit of a shock.”
An Australian, Simon Abney-Hastings lives in Wangaratta in the southeastern state of Victoria, and appears to have no plans to press any claim.
His lawyer and private secretary Terence Guthridge said that although historians might believe he has the right to inherit the throne, the 15th earl “has never held this view.”
He has always been a “loyal and staunch supporter” of both Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Guthridge said.
“Indeed, they exchange birthday or Christmas cards every year,” he added.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS