Legitimate question

In about 1986 the 13th Duke of Manchester moved from Australia to California where he married W. The couple had two children both born in the US state.

However it was subsequently discovered that the duke was still married to his first wife. His marriage to W was therefore bigamous and void. He separated from W in 2006/07 and the void marriage was dissolved in August 2007.

When they discovered that the marriage was bigamous the claimant trustees of the English and Irish settlements stopped providing maintenance for the two children.

The issue arose as to whether the children could be described as ‘issue’ of the duke’s father or as ‘descendants’ of the 1st duke.

The UK's Legitimacy Act 1959 s 1 provided that the offspring of a void marriage should...