AUSTRALIA: He's a bloke from the bush who enjoys a beer with his mates and voted for Australia to become a republic.
But according to an intriguing piece of research dug up by a historian in Britain, Mr Michael Abney-Hastings - known to his friends as Mick - should be King of England.
The historian, Dr Michael Jones, has uncovered what appears to be firm evidence that Edward IV, who ruled England in the 15th century, was in fact illegitimate.
If true, it means the entire line of succession leading down through the centuries to Queen Elizabeth II was founded on a lie.
Instead the crown should have passed from Edward IV's brother, the Duke of Clarence, through a series of obscure noblemen and women to Mr Abney-Hastings (62).
Born in England, Mr Abney-Hastings was educated at Ampleforth public school in Yorkshire before moving to Australia as a teenager and finding work as a jackeroo - Australia's answer to the cowboy.
The father of five, whose wife died last year, works on a 2,400- hectare rice farm outside the town of Jerilderie, 640 km south-west of Sydney, in New South Wales.
He earns around A$50,000 a year - a tiny fraction of the Queen's massive fortune - and lives in a modest, single-storey, weatherboard house.
Officially he is the 14th Earl of Loudon, in Ayrshire, Scotland, but he never uses it. As a local newspaper commented when news of his royal pedigree broke this week: "He kept his lineage secret in Jerilderie. It's bad enough being a Pom, let alone a titled one."
"King Michael" says he has no plans to march on Buckingham Palace to challenge the Windsors. Instead he favours the peace and quiet of Jerilderie - famous as the stamping ground of notorious 19th-century bushranger Ned Kelly. "I've no intention of chasing over there and laying claim to palaces and crown jewels. I'm quite happy in Jerilderie," the would-be monarch said, relaxing with a beer after a hard day's work spraying herbicide from a tractor.
The key piece of evidence was unearthed by Dr Jones in France, in a library in Rouen Cathedral.
The document shows that at the time of Edward IV's conception, his supposed parents, Richard Duke of York and Lady Cicely Neville, were more than 160 km apart.
Richard was fighting the French near Paris while Lady Neville was at court in Rouen. Dr Jones believes Edward, who reigned from 1461 to 1483, was the product of an adulterous liaison between the Queen and a lowly French archer.
Dr Jones's extraordinary finding was part of a documentary, England's Real Monarch, made by Britain's Channel 4 television network.
Mr Abney-Hastings, who speaks with a broad Australian accent, says he was astounded when a film crew turned up on his doorstep in June.
"I was surprised, all right. I knew we were related to the royal family in some distant way but I had no idea about the illegitimacy. The more I watch the documentary, the more I'm convinced that they're right and I probably should be the King of England," he said.
The documentary has earned him a degree of celebrity in Jerilderie, where he is president of the local historical society.
When he went to a friend's house for Christmas dinner he received a surprising reception. "They all stood up and sang God Save the King as I walked in," he said. Locals at the Royal Mail Hotel in Jerilderie, which was once held up by Ned Kelly and his gang, said they were shocked to learn that the widower could be the rightful heir to the British crown. One local said: "He'd probably make a better monarch than the idiots you've got over there now."