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Are You the King of Scotland?
Michael Stewart thinks he is, and hes got evidence to back it up. In his book The Forgotten Monarchy of Scotland he outlines his case, arguing: "I may not be able to unify the entire nation, but as the rightful Prince and High Steward of the Scots, and as the direct senior descendant of our Patriot King, Robert the Bruce, I can certainly help to encourage Scotlands traditional spirit of self-determination and independence." Basically, Prince Michael James Alexander Stewart, 7th Count of Albany, claims to be the real successor to the Stuarts, Kings of Scotland and then England until the House of Hanover ascended in 1714.
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Who is Michael Stewart? He was born in Belgium on April 21, 1958 and was raised at the Château du Moulin in the Ardennes. He had succeeded to the de jure Stewart throne in 1963, upon the death of his great-uncle, Prince Anthony James Stewart. Prince Michael thus became 7th Count of Albany, Count Stuarton, Duke of Kendal and Kintyre, 26th Lord High Steward of Scotland, and Head of the Royal House of Stewart. Prince Michael was son of Princess Renée Stewart, also Lady Dernley and Princess Royal of Strathearn. His father was Baron Gustave Joseph Clement Fernand Lafosse de Chatry, Comte de Blois.
Many dispute his case, and its a minefield for genealogists. But, as Stuart Fleming from the Scottish Genealogical Society points out, "Many Scots may have had a link to landed gentry so its worth investigating Burkes Peerage and the Scottish Dictionary of Biography (an early Whos Who), even if you're unlikely to inherit a stately pile, or even a Kingdom!"
Next in the Histories series here.
Thanks to Harper Collins, all rights reserved.
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