well well well, isnt this Interesting ...Aussie in claim to throne
December 28, 2003
A NSW man has been identified as the rightful King of England by a leading historian.
Royal claim: Mr Abney-Hastings
Medieval scholar, Dr Michael Jones says he can prove Queen Elizabeth's claim to the throne is illegitimate and it should belong to Michael Abney-Hastings.
British-born Mr Abney-Hastings, who moved to southern NSW as a teenager, is the subject of a British documentary.
Mr Jones, one of Britain's leading historians, believes he has proved through painstaking research that the Royal Family's right to rule is based on a lie.
He says King Edward IV, who reigned from 1461 to 1483, was not of royal blood; he was the illegitimate son of a French archer.
Sitting in his home in Jerilderie, 640km southwest of Sydney, in a T-shirt and shorts with a can of beer after a hard day at the wheel of a forklift truck, is the man who it is claimed should by rights be King Michael I of England.
But the 62-year-old, who is about to unwillingly step into the world spotlight, has no plans for a change of lifestyle.
Mr Abney-Hastings was astounded when Mr Jones and a Channel 4 crew turned up on his doorstep. "When they told me I was surprised all right," he said.
"But I don't think it will worry us too much. Titles don't mean much out here and I have no intention of leaving Jerilderie.
"Why would you want to be king anyway? They can't do anything without someone on their back. This thing will all blow over in a couple of weeks and life will go back to normal."
The British research shows the heirs of King Edward IV's younger brother, the Duke of Clarence are the rightful rulers of England.
Mr Abney-Hastings has three daughters, two sons and five grandchildren and he works for Rice Research Australia on a 2400ha farm.
Apart from when his wife died a year ago, Mr Abney-Hastings had not visited an Australian city for 12 years.
He has a strong tie with the community and is president of the local historical society and the St Vincent de Paul group.
"I was at dinner yesterday at a friend's house and they all stood up and sang 'God save the King' as I walked in. We all had a laugh," he said.
In fact, "King" Mike is not quite as Australian as his broad accent suggests. Born in England and educated at Ampleforth public school, he is the 14th Earl of Loudon, and a string of other lesser titles. The evidence which may change his life is in a document Dr Jones found in a library in France's Rouen Cathedral.
It proves, he says, that at the time of Edward IV's conception, his parents were 160km apart.
Edward's "father", Richard Duke of York, was fighting the French at Pontoise, near Paris, while Edward's mother, Lady Cicely Neville - based at Rouen - was apparently deeply engrossed in the company of a local archer.
In the five-week period when conception could have taken place, Edward's royal father was a good five days' march away.
The court was rife with whispers of an affair.
King Louis XI of France is recorded as shouting about Edward: "His name is not King Edward - everybody knows his name is Blaybourne!' (the surname of the French archer).
A concerted campaign was launched by the family, hoping to stifle such rumours.
The royal flaks even suggested that conception had taken place in May 1440 in Yorkshire, before the royal parents set sail for France: an 11-month pregnancy!
The documentary airs in Britain next week. No release date has been set for Australia.
The Sunday Telegraph
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