On Monday, Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw Bt QC appeared before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London with James Guthrie QC of the English Bar. They represented Norman Murray Pringle who is claiming the Scottish Baronetcy of Pringle of Stichill, which was created in 1683 by His Majesty King Charles II.
After the death of the 8th Baronet, Norman Hamilton Pringle assumed the title of 9th Baronet in 1920 following a formal Statutory Declaration made by his mother Florence Madge Pringle that he was the eldest son of the 8th Baronet Sir Norman Robert Pringle (1871-1919). The Respondent, Simon Robert Pringle, is the grandson of Norman Hamilton Pringle.
Norman Murray Pringle (the Applicant) contested that the succession ought to have passed to his father Ronald Steuart Pringle, the second son, on the grounds that DNA evidence proved Norman Hamilton Pringle was not the son of the 8th Baronet, and therefore his father was the eldest legitimate son of the 8th Baronet.
Links to:
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Case Details
An artist’s drawing of the hearing and blog