Charles Beauclerk, 15th Duke of St Albans
The Duke of St Albans | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk 22 February 1965 |
| Spouses | Louise Robey
(m. 1994; div. 2001)Sarah Davenport (m. 2017) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans Rosemary Scoones |
Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, 15th Duke of St Albans (born 22 February 1965), styled Lord Vere until 1988 and Earl of Burford between 1988 and 2026, is a British author and hereditary peer.
St Albans first came to public attention when he attempted to interfere in debate over the House of Lords Act 1999, decrying the bill as treasonable. He later became a writer and exponent of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship.[1]
Early life
[edit]Burford was born on 22 February 1965, the only son and second child of Murray Beauclerk, Earl of Burford, later 14th Duke of St Albans, and his first wife Rosemary Frances Scoones (born 1941). He is descended from Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, the illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn. He is also the senior representative of the House of de Vere.
From birth, he was styled as Lord Vere by courtesy and Earl of Burford after his father succeeded his father as 14th Duke of St Albans. He was educated at Eton College, Sherborne School and Hertford College, Oxford.
Politics
[edit]Burford first came to wide public attention during a debate on the House of Lords Act 1999 concerning the amendment of voting rights for hereditary peers. After listening to the debate while seated on the first step of the throne, as was his right as the eldest son of a peer, Beauclerk leapt to his feet, crossed the floor of the House, stood on the Woolsack (the Speaker's chair in the House of Lords) and declared the bill treason to the life and culture of Britain, insisting that hereditary peers should retain their right to sit and vote in the House.[2][3][4] He said, "This bill, drafted in Brussels, is treason. What we are witnessing is the abolition of Britain... Before us lies the wasteland... No Queen, no culture, no sovereignty, no freedom. Stand up for your Queen and country and vote this bill down."[5][6]
His actions led to criticism from Labour Party MPs. Angela Smith, future Leader of the House of Lords, said it was the "tantrum of a naughty child", adding that "While claiming to defend tradition, he clearly showed no respect for it; while decrying the will of the elected House to be 'treason', he showed no respect for democracy."[2]
On 14 May 2016 Lord Burford was the guest-of-honour at the Annual Dinner of the ultra-conservative Traditional Britain Group where he received a standing ovation.[citation needed]
Election candidate
[edit]Subsequently, as Charles Beauclerk he stood as the first-ever candidate for the Democratic Party at the 1999 Kensington and Chelsea by-election. Kensington and Chelsea was perceived as a very safe seat for the Conservatives. Beauclerk's campaign manager John Gouriet, head of the group Freedom in Action, said that "Lord Burford feels very strongly as a true patriot that the Conservative Party has failed completely to stop the revolutionary march of socialism in the last few months."[7] The seat was won, as expected, by the Conservative candidate Michael Portillo. Beauclerk received 189 votes (0.9%).[7][8]
Oxfordian theory and writings
[edit]Through his father he is related to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (hence the double surname), and has played a prominent role in promoting the Oxfordian theory that Oxford wrote the works of William Shakespeare. He also claims that Oxford was the real author of works attributed to other Elizabethan writers, including John Lyly, George Gascoigne and Thomas Watson.[citation needed] Beauclerk regularly lectures on Oxfordian subjects in the United States.[citation needed]
Books
[edit]In 2010 he published Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom: The True History of Shakespeare and Elizabeth, in which he espouses a version of "Prince Tudor theory" which holds that Oxford was the lover of Queen Elizabeth I, and that Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton was, in fact, their son. Beauclerk supports the most radical version of the theory, which adds the claim that Oxford himself was the queen's son, and thus the father of his own half-brother, having fathered him with his own mother.[9]
Beauclerk has also written a biography of his ancestor Nell Gwyn (Macmillan, 2005), which was the inspiration for the 2016 West End hit of the same name starring Gemma Arterton. Piano Man, his life of John Ogdon (Simon & Schuster, 2014), was shortlisted for the Spear Book Awards biography prize, and was described by Jeremy Nicholas in his review for Gramophone as "Perhaps the most riveting, intimate and revealing biography of a musician I have read."[citation needed]
In 1999 Beauclerk was employed as literary secretary for Nicholas Hagger in which capacity he made a selection of Hagger's poems. However, following his dramatic exploits leaping onto the Woolsack that year, he left Hagger's employ and the selection of 92 poems remained undisturbed for nearly twenty years. When Hagger rediscovered the collection, called Visions of England, he decided to publish them as he considered the collection provided a prophetic anticipation of a spirit of independence born out by Brexit.[10]
Personal life
[edit]In 1993, Burford met Canadian actress and singer Louise Robey at a lecture he was giving on the Oxfordian theory. They were married on 29 December 1994, at St Winifreds Church, Manaton, Dartmoor. They had one son before divoring in 2001:
- James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (born 2 August 1995)
Burford married his second wife, artist and designer Sarah Davenport, at Bestwood Lodge, Nottingham (former seat of the Dukes of St Albans) in June 2017. They have one daughter:
- Lady Thea Eirys Elisabetta de Vere Beauclerk (born 28 October 2022)
St Albans is a vice-president of the Royal Stuart Society, of which his father, the 14th Duke, was the governor-general from 1989 and his grandfather, the 13th Duke, was from 1976 and 1988.
References
[edit]- ^ "Peerages by Courtesy". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b "I do not presume to be able to...: 10 Nov 1999: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.com. 10 November 1999. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- ^ "What is the Government's view on...: 27 Oct 1999: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.com. 27 October 1999. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- ^ Watt, Nicholas (26 August 2009). "Jack Straw to outline Lords reforms but warns of 12-year delay". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- ^ Watt, Nicholas (27 October 1999). "Treason: Last Cry of The Lords". The Guardian.
- ^ "BBC News | UK Politics | One lord a-leaping". news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ a b Walker, Peter (4 November 1999). "Rebel peer challenges Portillo". The Independent. London. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
- ^ Watt, Nicholas (5 November 1999). "Leaping lord hits first hurdle in Portillo contest". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
- ^ McCarter, Jeremy. "Shakespeare: The Question of Authorship." Book review. The New York Times Sunday Book Review, 2 May 2010, p. B 10.
- ^ Hagger, Nicholas (2019). Visions of England: poems selected by the earl of burford. [Place of publication not identified]: O Books. ISBN 978-1-78904-048-7.
External links
[edit]- Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom: The True History of Shakespeare and Elizabeth, Book Review by Michael Delahoyde, Brief Chronicles, Vol. II (2010), pp. 237–243.
- Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom: The True History of Shakespeare and Elizabeth, Book Review by Christopher Paul, Brief Chronicles, Vol. II (2010), pp. 244–257.
Further reading
[edit]- The House of Nell Gwyn: the fortunes of the Beauclerk family, 1670-1974 (Donald Adamson & Peter Beauclerk Dewar)
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