Court hears royal parentage claim

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/jersey/6080372.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A Jersey accountant who claims to be the illegitimate son of the late Princess Margaret is taking his case to the High Court in London.

Robert Brown wants to gain access to the wills of the Princess and the Queen Mother to try and prove his parentage.

The 51-year-old believes that he is the child of the Queen's sister and 12th in line to the throne.

Buckingham Palace, which has refused Mr Brown's offer of a DNA test, has declined to comment about the case.

Pictures 'inconsistent'

Mr Brown, whose mother is listed as Cynthia Joan Brown, admits that evidence of his royal connection is "limited".

But he points to pictures of Princess Margaret at about the time of his birth in January 1955, in Nairobi, Kenya.

He said: "All I can say is that the pictures of the princess during 1954 are inconsistent.

"Certainly in May of that year there are pictures of Princess Margaret where you could put your hand round her waist but throughout the year, the dresses are getting bigger."

He said that, about the time of his birth, it was reported that Princess Margaret was confined to bed with what was described as a "hacking cough".

Mr Brown, who has been trying for five years to prove his parentage, believes that could prove his claim.

If the claim were proved, he could come in the order of succession between Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips and Princess Margaret's son, Viscount Linley - depending on a legal decision on the rights of illegitimate children to succeed to the throne.