Charles Beauclerk, 15th Duke of St Albans

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 writer, historian 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.

Early life

Burford was born on 22 February 1965, the only son and second and last child of Murray Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (1939-2026), 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. St Albans’ parents divorced in 1974, when he was nine years old. His father married Cynthia, Lady Hooper the same year and they divorced in 2001. He then married Gillian Roberts in 2002. His mother married Paul Pellew, 10th Viscount Exmouth in 1975, and William Coleridge, 5th Baron Coleridge in 2021.

From birth, he was styled as Lord Vere of Hanworth ≠by courtesy and Earl of Burford after his father succeeded his father as 14th Duke of St Albans in 1988. He was educated at Eton College, Sherborne School, Hertford College, Oxford and University of Wales Trinity St David.

Politics

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, leaping past Deputy Speaker Terence Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham, 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. 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." He was escorted out of the House and politely told by General Edward Jones, the Black Rod, to leave.

Reactions

His actions led to criticism and comment, especially from Labour Party MPs. Angela Smith, future Leader of the House of Lords, who introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 in 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." Alistair Campbell, the Downing Street press secretary and official spokesman of prime minister Tony Blair, said the protest “sounds to me like a desperate act of a spent force of conservatism.”

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour MP Shona McIsaac, asked Tony Blair, “What is the Government's view on the rather noble antics of Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, the Earl of Burford, who seems to think that he has a divine right to rule simply because he is descended from Nell Gwynne? Does my right hon. Friend believe, like the Earl of Burford, that abolishing the voting rights of hereditary peers is an act of treason; or was it a great day for democracy and another manifesto pledge fulfilled?”

Blair responded, “I am tempted to say that the gentleman in question represents the Conservative Party’s view of a reformed House of Lords, but that might be unfair to the Conservative Party. I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. It was a great day for democracy yesterday when we finally ended the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. What is extraordinary is that the Conservative party is still fighting to the last ditch to defend them.”

William Goodhart, Baron Goodhart, a life peer and campaigner for upper house reform, quoted T.S. Eliot and said “This is the way the world ends - not with a bang but a giggle."

Matthew Parris said, “It was a rare, spirited moment in what is otherwise a rather depressing. We need a few daredevils. We need a few nut cases. We need an Earl of Burford or two,” on Sky News.

Nigella Lawson said in The Guardian, “ I don't blame… [Beauclerk]..turkeys don't, as a rule, vote for Christmas. Why should he be anything but dismayed at the Government's reform of the House of Lords? He gets up one morning, a man due to inherit the right to legislate in this country, he goes to bed a bearded nobody; what a swift transition from master of the universe to loser of the universe. Wouldn't you be angry? But while I understand his panic and fury - although I dispute the patriotic altruism on which he would have us believe it is solely based - I despair at the popular reaction to it. If he is really a hero for our times, as is mooted in some corners, then God help us all. Not that one has to go into the high monarchist camp to see accounts of the leaping lord as so stoutly admirable..But how we do love a nob. We warm to this display of aristocratic verve: we may not agree with his politics but we, in the mean little dark corners of our heart, feel the force of his sentiments.”

Oxfordian theory and writings

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. Beauclerk regularly lectures on Oxfordian subjects in the United States.

Career and publications

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.

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." With his wife Sarah, he wrote the book Take Physic, Pomp!, published in 2020.

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. During this time, he was based at Hagger’s residence of Otley Hall. Hagger later became an Oxfordian and served as Secretary of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust.

Political positions

St Albans supports a more direct democracy, with the introduction of legally binding national referendums. He believes MPs should not vote according to a party whip but strictly based on the dictation of public meetings, surveys and constituent polls, arguing the whipping system was undemocratic. . Geoff Southall said the Democratic Party embodied neutral centrism by returning power to the public. The party argued that the traditional "whipping" system in Westminster was undemocratic. Their proposed MPs were constitutionally forbidden from voting along "party lines" and were instead required by internal party bylaws to vote purely based on localized constituent polling. He opposes devolution and the creation of the Scottish Parliament and Senedd.

He, along with Nicholas Hagger, supported Brexit long before the 2016 European Union membership referendum. He opposes the abolition of the British monarchy and reform of the House of Lords.

Personal life

In 1993, Burford met Canadian actress and singer Louise Robey at a lecture he was giving on the Oxfordian theory in Beverly Hills. They were married on 29 December 1994, at St Winifreds Church, Manaton, Dartmoor. They had one son before divorcing 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 B. 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.

Titles, styles and honours

22 February 1965 - 8 October 1988: Baron Vere of Hanworth.
8 October 1988 - 22 April 2026: Earl of Burford.
22 April 2026 - present: His Grace the Duke of St Albans.

References

External links

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.