'Rightful' King of England dies in NSW

'Rightful' King of England dies in NSW

www.canberratimes.com.au

Australia’s own heir to the British throne has died.

The 14th Earl of Loudoun and Jerilderie councillor Michael Abney-Hastings died on Saturday morning at the age of 69.

Mr Abney-Hastings is well known in the Jerilderie Shire but is most famous for the 2004 documentary Britain’s Real Monarch, which suggests he should be the King of England in place of Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Abney-Hastings had been battling a debilitating illness and had been in and out of hospital in the lead-up to his death.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Mr Abney-Hastings was born in Sussex in 1942 and attended a private school in Yorkshire before moving to Jerilderie with his family.

His parents were Captain Walter Strickland Lord and the 13th Countess of Loudoun Barbara Abney-Hastings, making him the 14th Earl of Loudoun.

He made world headlines in 2004 when Britain’s Real Monarch explained King Edward IV was conceived illegitimately, and therefore as the direct descendant of the 1st Duke of Clarence he should be the rightful King.

Read more: www.canberratimes.com.au...

I remember watching "Britain's Real Monarch" when it aired here in Oz, the claim seemed legitimate and the story was really quite interesting. The funny thing about it is that the man himself, Mr Michael Abney-Hastings, thought the whole thing was quite amusing. Obviously the claim was worthy of Royal notice as he began to receive invites to attend Royal functions over in Britain, including the royal Wedding recently!

Anyway, here is the relevant show for those interested....



www.canberratimes.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Top find mate

I wasn't even aware of this gentleman until now..will have to invest some time in the documentary as it sounds quite interesting.

An Aussie king..imagine that. Maybe he'd let us all return to England with a big, fat compensation cheque for the suffering of our forefathers?

reply to post by Pirateofpsychonautics


I should mention that the delightful Tony Robinson is the host of the documentary!

reply to post by Kryties


WoW, so an Aussie is the true heir to the throne?


EDIT: Just watched the whole documentary and it was awesome, he definately is the true king. So now he is dead will King Jett take up the throne?

I say make the Windsors stand down they don't deserve to be there, they are illegitimate!!!

reply to post by CrimsonKapital


Yep! Even the Royal Family recognised his claim, even though the man himself didn't want the job

uhh so we had the jubilee and the olympics in a little over 3 weeks.... anyone's alarmed by this as well? coincidence?

reply to post by seenavv


Not really, considering the article I posted clearly states he had been suffering from a debilitating illness for some time.

Originally posted by Pirateofpsychonautics

An Aussie king..imagine that. Maybe he'd let us all return to England with a big, fat compensation cheque for the suffering of our forefathers?

Yeah you fellas wish brother

Haven't actually heard this before, reckon the title alone is worthy of looking

Originally posted by Pirateofpsychonautics
Top find mate

I wasn't even aware of this gentleman until now..will have to invest some time in the documentary as it sounds quite interesting.

An Aussie king..imagine that. Maybe he'd let us all return to England with a big, fat compensation cheque for the suffering of our forefathers?

No chance. Perfect excuse to annexe NSW as a personal fiefdom!

Good spot though thanks. I wasn't aware of this guy either. Have to say though, he isn't the rightful king either (if we want to get picky). We would be looking for surviving relatives of Edgar the Aetheling (only male survivor from the Norman Conquest), his sister also survived and became Queen Margaret of Scotland, after marrying Malcolm Canmore, so any direct descendents here would also have a far stronger claim than a descendant of the Hapsburgs (like Liz).

Originally posted by Flavian

No chance. Perfect excuse to annexe NSW as a personal fiefdom!

He'd have to fight Bazza Ofazza for that privilege

I suspect there was so many illegitimate births over the years that I could be King of England! Let's face it my surname matches a castle....two actually. Three towns match my surname two with castles. My great great grandfather got the barmaid pregnant out of wedlock so it's in the blood

It's a murky thing, Royal succession...

I do remember this though and if memory serves it all hinges on the supposition that a Henry (Agincourt fame I think) was out of the country for 18 month when his "heir" was born, implying his missus had been getting some sneaky sausage of a local lord back in Blighty while he was beating the French.

Now, it is only assumed he spent the whole 18 months out of town, but he may have come back and it wasn't noted anywhere which survives today.

It has to be said though that Queeny is a direct descendent of Harold of Godwin, a former King and William is descended from Charles I (or 2nd..I forget), so it is far from clear who is the "rightful" king. After all, possession is 9/10ths the law

reply to post by yorkshirelad


Well I have reason to believe my family might have close ties to Rosslyn Chapel. I stumbled across some info a while back and haven't gotten around to following it up yet. I will soon, now that I have reminded myself.

reply to post by stumason


Ahh, i didn't realise Queeny was a direct descendent of Harold Godwin. That does change things rather. Have to say though, the Anglo Saxons didn't rule from the same family - a king was selected from around 8 families every time there was to be a change of King. It was their way of ensuring that a suitable king was always on the throne.......

reply to post by Flavian


Well, by the time Harold got it, they were basically allowing the King to select his heir from anyone, hence the 3-way dispute between Godwin, William and the Harold of Norway.

It was the Normans who brought in the hereditary succession, but I was just pointing it out that it is never quite as clear cut as who is the "rightful" king. Bear in mind also that many have been excluded from succession through Acts of Parliament, so there could be many competing claims...

reply to post by stumason


Not quite right there. Edgar the Aetheling was far too young to be considered for the throne and there was no consensus on the other main contenders. Williams claim is based entirely on the fact that he claims a "gentlemans agreement" was made with Harold Godwinson following his shipwreck in Normandy. Harald Hardrada had a claim based on the lineage of the Viking rulers in England, although this was a tenuous link. He was entirely relying on his fame and standing as the most feared warlord of the era.

One of my favourite periods of history.

reply to post by Flavian


I was referring specifically to Harold of Godwin, who had been publicly named as the heir, whereas William had some spurious claim of a promise to which he could only provide witnesses from his own court along with a supposed promise by Harold himself to support his claim.. What is truth, we will probably never know, as all three sides claimed different versions of events.

reply to post by stumason


Saxon tales do actually tally with William the Bastard's version of events, although always with the proviso that Harold at that stage was in no position to agree to it anyway. Fascinating stuff..........

Anyhoo, sorry for going off topic Kryties.

Originally posted by Flavian

Anyhoo, sorry for going off topic Kryties.

I don't think it's off-topic at all actually, I am learning quite a bit watching your conversations!

Please feel free to continue