Local aristocrat scores plum role at King Charles III coronation

Simon Abney-Hastings is the 15^th Earl of Loudoun, an ancient Scottish noble title, and a distant relative of the King.

The Wangaratta local, who was also this year's Brigadoon chieftain, will serve as Bearer of the Great Golden Spurs on May 6.

In a tweet, he said he was "delighted and sincerely honoured" to accept the invitation by the Crown to perform the Bearer of the Golden Spurs role.

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The Earl is directly descended from George Plantagenet, 1^st Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III, who was King of England from 1483-1485.

Because of this royal lineage some believe the Earl is the rightful heir to the British throne. This argument involves the claim that Edward IV of England was illegitimate.

The Earl's late father, Michael Edward Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, was a British-Australian farmer and Jerilderie councillor who died in 2012.

He came to believe in the family's claim to the throne in 2004, when a documentary crew arrived at his door in the New South Wales town of Jerilderie with the news that he was royalty, as part of the documentary 'Britain's Real Monarch'.

Some historians have claimed Edward IV was illegitimate because he was born of an affair while his father was fighting in France. This thesis claims George should have been king as the legitimate eldest son.

Michael Abney-Hastings was elected to Jerilderie council in 2004 and re-elected in 2008. He pushed for the buildings visited by Ned Kelly to be preserved to promote tourism.

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The Earls of Loudon have been the bearers of the Golden Spurs at coronations dating to King Richard I who ruled England from 1189 to 1199.

Gold spurs were first included among the English coronation ornaments in 1189 at the coronation of Richard I the Lionheart.

They symbolised knighthood and chivalry and their use in the coronation ritual derives directly from the ceremony of creating a knight, according to the Royal Collection Trust.

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During the coronation ceremony, the sovereign is invested with the ornaments.

Traditionally the spurs were fastened to the sovereigns' feet but since restoration they have simply been held to the ankles of kings or queens and then placed on the altar.

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