“True Heir” To The British Throne Dead At 71
Did you know that some historians don’t think that Prince William is the rightful heir to the British throne? That it might have been some other guy? Well, rightful heir or not, that guy just died in Australia.
According to some historians, Mike Hastings, the 14th earl of Loudoun, is the rightful heir to the British crown. Why? Something about being descended from the House of York, and documents uncovered by a historian that hint toward King Edward IV, ruler from 1461 to 1483, might have been illegitimately sitting on the throne, reports Newser. If true, then Edward’s younger brother George should have inherited the throne, making Hastings the man who would be king.
Instead of fighting for the throne like a season-long arc of Game of Thrones, Hastings moved to Australia in 1960 in search of adventure. He became a forklift driver and died in a small New South Wales town Thursday at the age of 71. Interestingly, he never really expressed much interests in usurping the throne – or much interest in the throne at all, notes the AFP. “I reckon I might send Lizzie (Queen Elizabeth II) a bill for back rent. The old girl’s family have been living in my bloody castle for the last 500 years,” he joked in an interview when asked about seizing the throne.
His son Simon, who now becomes the 15th earl of Loudoun, also appears in no hurry to try to seize the throne. “It’s something that I’ll have to look into in the near future,” he said sarcastically before his father’s funeral.
