Simon Michael Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun (born 29 October 1974), styled as Lord Mauchline until 2012, is a British aristocrat living in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

who is the current holder of the ancient Scottish noble title of

Earl of Loudoun Earl of Loudoun (pronounced "loud-on" ), named after Loudoun in Ayrshire, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1633 for John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun, John Campbell, 2nd Lord Campbell of Loudoun, along with the subsidiary ...

Family and activities

The Earl of Loudoun is the son of

Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (born Michael Edward Lord; 22 July 194230 June 2012), was a British-Australian farmer, who is most noted because of the 2004 documentary '' Britain's Real Monarch'', which alleged he was the ...

, whom he succeeded in 2012. He resides in

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the title is the present holder's brother, the Hon. Marcus William Abney-Hastings (born 1981). Abney-Hastings was chosen by His Majesty to carry one of the gold spurs of the royal regalia, emblems of knighthood and chivalry to be presented to

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

at his coronation. Abney-Hastings is the only Australian to have played an official role in the coronation. In a statement provided to some media outlets, his private secretary Terence Guthridge / Barrister At Law said Abney-Hastings was "delighted" to be asked to bear the large golden spurs, part of the ceremony dating back to the coronation of Richard I (

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

), in 1189. He is also a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and advocates for the canonization of his ancestor,

Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (a brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III) and his wife Isabel Neville. As a result of M ...

Patronage and honours

* Hereditary Governor — Patron –

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

* Patron –

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

Museum * Patron – Friends of

Loudoun Kirk Loudoun Kirk is a disused church located about one mile west of Loudoun Castle, East Ayrshire. It served as Loudoun, Loudoun's parish church until some point after 1600,

* President – The Board of Governors, St Andrew's First Aid Australia * Patron –

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Highland Games, Australia. (Formally Ringwood Highland Games) * Patron – Clan Campbell Society of Australia * Patron – Barnet 1471 Battlefields Society * Patron – Australia Day Council – Victoria. Australia * Protector – Order of St Thomas of Acre * Kentucky Colonel 2022 Highest Honor Commonwealth of Kentucky USA * Esteemed friend of Loudoun Museum, Leesburg,

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County ...

USA * Chieftain of the Day 2022 – Brigadoon Highland Games – Bundanoon NSW * Chieftain of the Day 2023 – Brigadoon Highland Games – Bundanoon NSW * Chieftain of the Day 2023 – Aberdeen Highland Games

Ancestry and the royal succession

Through his grandmother Barbara Huddleston Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of

Loudoun Loudoun () is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston parish, Galston Parish (which encompasses ...

, he is directly descended from, and heir-general of,

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (21 October 144918 February 1478), was the sixth child and third surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He p ...

, brother of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

. In 2004, the documentary ''

Britain's Real Monarch ''Britain's Real Monarch'' is a historical documentary presented by Tony Robinson first shown on Channel 4 on 3 January 2004. It has also been broadcast in Australia and in the United States. The documentary discusses the descendants of Georg ...

'' repeated the claim that Michael Abney-Hastings, as the senior descendant of

, was the rightful

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

. This argument hinges on the claim that

Edward IV of England Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

was illegitimate. Simon Abney-Hastings, following his father's death, would have become the rightful monarch of England under this alternative path of succession, rather than

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, and would be the current monarch rather than

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. Abney-Hastings has recognized his right to inherit the throne of England. However, he has stated he is a loyal supporter of the late Queen and her eldest son. He was invited to the coronation of King Charles III, notwithstanding the competing claim being occasionally discussed by some media sources.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loudoun, Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl Of 1974 births Australian peers Earls of Loudoun People from Wangaratta Living people Australian monarchists 21st-century Australian people Australian people of English descent