Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun (born Michael Edward Lord; 22 July 1942 – 30 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 rightful monarch of England instead of Queen Elizabeth II. From February 1960 until November 2002, he held the courtesy title Lord Mauchline.
Loudoun was born in England and educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, but emigrated to Jerilderie, New South Wales, as a teen, where he was a rice farmer and family man. In Australia, he used the name Michael Hastings. He was the heir-general of George Plantagenet, the younger brother of Edward IV of England. If Edward IV had been illegitimate and the crown of England had descended by male-preference primogeniture before 1500, then George (and his heirs) would have been monarchs of England.
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Early life
Abney-Hastings was born in Sussex, England, to Captain Walter Strickland Lord and Barbara Abney-Hastings, 13th Countess of Loudoun, under the name Michael Edward Lord. He later lived at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, and his name was legally changed via deed poll to Michael Edward Abney-Hastings in 1946. As a youth, he was educated at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, before moving to Australia when he was 18 years old.