Royal parentage claim court date

Mr Brown says he is driven by a fundamental need to know

A High Court date has been set to decide if a Jersey man who claims he is the illegitimate son of Princess Margaret can have access to her will.

Robert Brown, 51, says four years of research has led him to firmly believe the princess was forced to give him up as her "secret" son.

The executors of the wills of the princess and the Queen Mother have been summoned to appear on 24 October.

The Queen and her representatives have declined to comment on the case.

If Mr Brown were the son of the late Princess Margaret, he could become 12th in line to the throne - between Zara Phillips and Princess Margaret's son Viscount Linley.

"I am not going to give up. I'm driven by a host of memories and a fundamental need to know," he said.

The point is they've never, ever admitted or denied it Robert Brown

He says there was a mystery Privy Council meeting on the day he was born and there is confusion over the date he was born.

A Times announcement gives the date as 5 January 1955, but his birth was not registered until 2 February and the certificate was dated 4 June.

Mr Brown insists there is a public interest issue on the grounds of openness and consistency, and says he would not object to the wills being made public, if they had once been made private to protect an illegitimate child.