Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford

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Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford (born 22 February 1965) is the eldest son and heir apparent of the Duke of St Albans.

Charles Beauclerk has been called an eccentric by some, but a better description might be a passionate polymath, a profound thinker, deeply knowledgeable in a widely diverse range of subjects from astrology to literature to history to mysticism and philosophy. From 1994 to 2001 he was married to a Canadian actress and pop singer, Louise Robey. From that marriage he has one son, James Malcolm Aubrey Edward de Vere Beauclerk, Lord Vere (born 2 August 1995).

In 1999, Beauclerk first encountered fame during a debate on the House of Lords Act 1999 concerning the amendment of voting rights for hereditary peers; he leapt onto the Woolsack, the Speaker's seat, in the House of Lords and proclaimed the bill treason to the life and culture of Britain. He is also known as the author of a highly acclaimed biography of his ancestress Nell Gwyn (published 2005).

Lord Burford also received limited fame for being the first ever candidate for the Democratic Party at the 1999 Kensington and Chelsea by-election (which was won by Michael Portillo).

Lord Burford is heir male of the Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, the illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn. He is the eldest son of Murray de Vere Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St. Albans and is also the heir of the family of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (hence the double surname), and has played a prominent role in promoting the Oxfordian theory that his ancestor wrote the works of William Shakespeare.