Did England’s Rightful King Die Recently in New South Wales?

Elizabeth II’s right to the throne rests upon the legitimacy of King Edward IV (d. 1483).

If Warwick the Kingmaker and Richard of Gloucester (better known as Richard III) were telling the truth, Edward IV was not the son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York by Cecily Neville, “the rose of Raby,” but was begotten upon that lady at Rouen by an archer named Blaybourne while Richard was several days march away from Rouen campaigning at Pontoise.

The issue of Edward IV’s legitimacy was revived, after more than 500 years, by a British television documentary, titled Britain’s Real Monarch, which aired in 2004 and which produced documentation from Rouen Cathedral to Richard Plantagenet’s absence during the relevant period.

The illegitimacy of Edward IV would have meant that the proper Yorkist successor to Richard was not Edward, but rather his younger brother George, Duke of “Drowned-in-a-Butt-of-Malmsey” Clarence.

Theoreticians of this sort of thing exclude female claimants from the hypothetical Clarentian Succession, as the possibility of female succession was a creation by Henry VIII, who by this theory was never king anyway. By their calculations, Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, who passed away recently in Australia, was the 19th successor to the British throne in descent from George I, former Duke of Clarence.

The Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser published the royal obituary.

[The] 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.

But he continued to serve Jerilderie Shire Council to the end and council general manager Craig Moffitt yesterday paid tribute to the “much-loved guy”.

“It is very sad,” Mr Moffitt said.

“He was quite a character around the town.”

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.

But Mr Abney-Hastings was voted onto Jerilderie council that same year and decided to focus his energy on that.

“He didn’t take his royal position too seriously, at least here in Jerilderie,” Mr Moffitt said.

“He would go over to England for royal ceremonies which he took seriously, but he always found it quite funny.”

Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (22 July 1942 – 30 June 2012)