Is there anything more royal than a lovechild? Hector Maclean tells Tatler about the ‘Bastard Aristocrats’ at the heart of his London Fashion Week collection

Hector Maclean is a descendant of Lady Susan Belasyse

Courtesy of Hector Maclean

As for the Maclean family heritage, their lore notes that they are descended from Lady Susan Belasyse (elsewhere spelt Bellasis), who was engaged to be married to James in the 1670s. One of her contemporaries, Gilbert Burnet, described her as a ‘lady of great life and vivacity, but very little beauty’.

Burnet also recounted how the marriage was forbidden by Charles II, who was already ticked off at his…