The link doesn't seem to be working. Is it the one about the Earl of Loudon ? If so there was a TV programme about his claim a few months ago. It's based on the theory that Edward IV was illegitimate and therefore the "true" King is this Aussie Earl.

Here's the article.  Sounds like that particular Earl. 

 

King Michael of Australia: the latest royal?

Author: Dr Jacqui Murray
Date: 02 June 2004

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King Edward IV - the royal house of Blaybourne?

Who needs Danish princesses when we have our own king? Why the fuss about Prince Harry's choice of the Sunshine State as his first colonial base camp? And, is the outed 'King' Michael the logical choice for president of an Australian republic? Jacqui Murray ponders these and other questions for this vital and mature Land Down Under where 'Going Bush' didn't always mean Washington.

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Royal-watchers speculated that Harry's venture into the Queensland bush last year was part of his journey towards manhood - that blokey Nirvana where Blunnies and RMs rule and even visitors, like Premier Peter Beattie, sport an Akubra to reassure country folks they might be out of sight but not always out of mind. Well, we've got news for Harry - Michael Abney-Hastings of Jerilderie beat him to the bush around 40 years ago and ended up doing what real men do - driving a fork lift and enjoying a beer and pie with the lads down at the footy club.

If, having inched closer to a manhood that appears to elude many male Royals, Harry had opted to remain here for a while, unlike Councillor Michael of Jerilderie Shire Council, population 1908 souls and famous only for being the site of Ned Kelly's last heist, Harry wouldn't have struggled to make ends meet. The job offers for young Harry rolled in and he was even touted by one of Her Majesty's Queensland Ministers as just the chap to slip into an ambassadorial role for our beef industry.

No such offers for Michael, 14th Earl of Loudoun (a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1633), widow of Noelene, descended of the last of the Plantagenet Kings of England, Richard II, who arrived in Australia as Lord Mauchline (or more correctly Lord Tarrinzean and Mauchline, also created in 1633) after the usual British public school education to try his hand as a jackaroo. According to one story, aired on ABC TV last month, this was to have been Michael's 'gap year' before moving back to the Mother Country and on to other things. According to another, he arrived as part of the Big Brother Movement, which arranged for boys and men of solid British stock to migrate to the end of Empire to ensure the soundness of the Empire line.

According to research by one of Britain's foremost mediaeval scholars, Dr Michael Jones, the House of Windsor's (House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha before they changed their German name during World War One) claim to the British throne is somewhat tenuous. Dr Jones claims he has found proof that King Edward IV, who ruled from 1461 to 1483 during the Wars of the Roses, was illegitimate owing to the unfortunate circumstance of his mum's French fling with an archer during one of the many wars that had called 'dad', Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, away to the battlefield. Thus, so the claim goes, Edward's younger brother, George Plantagenet Duke of Clarence, should have been king.

Those were indeed tumultuous times. People had been snatching the throne from cousins, murdering kings and little princes and generally misbehaving for years. When Henry 'Chopper' VIII got his hands on the top job in 1509, after brief reigns by Edward V, Richard III and Henry VII, he was well aware his claim was a touch shaky. Towards the end of his life, despite multiple wives and attempts to produce an equally lusty male heir, an insecure Henry rounded up as many potential Plantagenet rivals as he could and deprived them of their heads. Not even the elderly Margaret Plantagenet Pole, Countess of Salisbury, whom he had earlier described as the 'holiest woman in England' escaped his terror. Legend has it that in 1541 the 150 spectators at the Tower of London, including the Mayor of London, were horrified when 68 year old Margaret fled the block and was chased around Tower Green by an axe man taking swings, and chunks of her, on the run. The Blessed Margaret Pole, martyr, was beatified by Pope Leo VIII in 1886.

But Henry's henchmen missed one of Margaret's granddaughters and many earls, countesses, barons, baronesses, lords and ladies later, Michael arrived in Australia during the 1960s. Unlike various Henrys, Edwards and the infamous Richard III, Michael says he has no desire to be King of England. In fact, in the last referendum he voted for Australia to become a republic. Buckingham Palace, according to BBC News, has refused to 'respond specifically to the claims' that Michael may have a claim on that palace and multiple royal castles.

It is therefore ironic that these days Australians are lining up to rub the Queen's Shilling and that the nation has seen a blossoming of unshrinking violets (in all their splendid Republican hues) accepting transplantation to the warmth of the financially ample bosom of foreign Royalty. The national scramble for Regal rewards calls to mind the acid observation of novelist Sir James Barrie. He proposed that there were few more impressive sights than a Scotsman on the make. Using Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, Lost Boys, and Never-Never Land, as a benchmark, it is fair to argue that while Scots on the make may be impressive, they don't even come close to the breathtaking front of Australian republicans reaching out for a soft seat on the Royal Roundabout ... a magical roundabout where passengers don't have to part with a penny for the duration of the ride.

Some recent Vice-Regal appointments suggest the trend set all those years ago by Federal Labor and the Republican Queenslander Bill Hayden, in embracing the office and sentiment of Governor-General, is here to stay. Up in synthetic Frontierland, the Northern Territory is lorded over by a bush balladeer not noted for Royalist inclinations. At the other end of a country more opportunist than lucky in recent years, Tasmania has elevated a once-outspoken Republican to frock up as Her Majesty in situ... despite an unrivalled stint by said gentleman in the international spotlight as a somewhat controversial seeker after of Iraqi Arms of Mass Destruction.

The Apple Isle may be forgiven for being in the grips of Rampant Royalism given the other international media frenzy engendered by the 'fairy tale' of a supposedly 'ordinary Tassie girl' being snapped up by a Nordic Prince and monarch-in-waiting. But Crown Princess Mary was given a sharp reminder of her real role when the Danish court, founded by Viking Gorm the Old around one thousand years ago, allegedly asked that she undergo a fertility test before marriage. It's worth noting that Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito, heir to the world's oldest throne (six thousand plus years), attended Mary's wedding alone. His wife, Crown Princess Masako, had fled to the hills suffering from 'mental and physical exhaustion' apparently brought on by years of harassment from the Imperial Household Agency to produce a male heir. So far Masako, now aged 40, has only been delivered of a daughter who cannot accede to the throne under the Japanese constitution.

Deep down, though, our obsession with royalty is a bit disappointing, a bit of a poke in the eye for our subscription to the national mythology that we're an egalitarian mob. All of which leads us to speculate that Australians are nothing special. We can't claim we're peculiarly attached to the 'fair go'. We're as susceptible to inducements as any on the planet - particularly when it comes to getting a rails run to the podium of privilege. And Royals really understand the pulling power of pomp and changed circumstance. When it comes to 'compensation packages', the Crown has Republicans on toast.

What can Republicans offer aspirants to High Office and Easy Street? Not much, really. Our Tupperware honours system doesn't fool anybody. Who really believes that an Order of Australia cuts more ice than a Knighthood (preferably KT) when it comes to instant recognition as a VIP and scoring a Centre Court seat at a Wimbledon final? And consider the pressing issue of aerial upgrades from Cattle Class to Snouts-in-the-Trough Class. Nor should we overlook all those brass bands and guards of honour. Savour, for a moment, the inner glow of being introduced - to your old pub pals and that bastard former boss - as 'Excellency'. Imagine never having to pick up the tab or being embarrassed into leaving a tip at breakfast, lunch, dinner and all grazing points between.

And who, honestly, could easily resist settling into a lifestyle of fully-maintained prime location real estate with bevies of butlers and aides-de-camp and drivers and cooks and bottle washers. Why on earth would anybody choose a Holden or a Ford (despite their reliability) when a Roller or a Bentley was revved and ready out there on the long and winding driveway? Well, it seems one Australian, albeit a 'Pom', is keen to do just that. Despite bags of mail from Brits disenchanted with the shenanigans of the current Royal Family, Michael Abney-Hastings has no desire to appear on their postage stamps. Nor has he any intention of knocking on the gates of Buckingham Palace to demand entry. He's happy in Jerilderie and plans to remain there. Why? Because, as he told a mighty curious international media:

'As much as I love England, I honestly feel in this day and age Australia should be standing on its own feet in everything, and that means we have to be a republic.'

Would, however, Councillor Michael Abney-Hastings of Jerilderie Shire Council consider an upgrade to President of Australia?

Yes, that's him. He's just one of many people who could claim the throne for whatever reason. It's no secret that the present Queen is in no way the most direct descendent of the first King of a united England. There are probably thousands of people ahead of her on that score.

'As much as I love England, I honestly feel in this day and age Australia should be standing on its own feet in everything, and that means we have to be a republic.'

 

It's interesting to note that, despite his apparent right to the throne, and his tenure of a SCOTTISH title, Michael still refers to the nation of his birth as ENGLAND.