Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun

Biography:

Simon Abney-Hastings is an Australian Earl, and since 2012, through laws of succession, is the current holder of one of the oldest Scottish noble titles, Earl of Loudoun. Earl of Loudoun (c1633) is named after Loudoun in Ayrshire, Scotland. The Campbell’s of Loudoun are the oldest Scottish clan branch of the house of Argyll.
The Earl’s paternal grandmother Barbara, the 13th Countess of Loudoun, had a family seat in the House of Lords and campaigned steadfast throughout her long career for issues surrounding social justice and mental health. The current Earl advocates for these reforms.

The Earl is directly descended from, and heir-general of George, the 1st Duke of Clarence, Brother of King Richard III and King Edward IV. He is also an advocate for the Cause of Catholic Sainthood for The Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, the Duke of Clarence’s daughter who was beheaded by Henry VIII at the tower of London on 27th of May 1541 and then was later beatified by Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII as a Martyr for the Roman Catholic Church on 29th of December 1886.

The Earl of Loudoun’s first official royal ‘engagement’ as the most senior Plantagenet dynasty, was his attendance by invitation to the reinterment of King Richard III on March 26, 2015, at Leicester Cathedral in the UK. Richard III’s bones were discovered beneath a council car park in 2012.

The Earl holds several patronages and governorships, and he is a strong supporter of Scottish culture and the preservation of its history here in Australia.