Autobiography

_______________

  

 

Hi to all!

 

Well I am Andrew Siddle I guess. I was born in a small town called Padiham which is in the County of Lancashire, UK. I'm from a  family with three children. Two boys and one girl originally. My birth was on the 17th day of February 1966 and I was baptised at All Saints Church in Lancashire. Nothing especially exciting about Padiham. Just a small quiet town. very quiet; and small.

 

I've been a property consultant , and paralegal, since first starting with sales all the way back in the year 1983. I am also an ex member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. I originally joined the RICS , having obtained a fully exempting Land Administration degree at East London University when I was living in West Ham back in the mid 1980's.

 

The University was previously known as  East London Polytechnic in the 1980's  , North East London Polytechnic,  and also East London Technical College back in the 1960's.

 

When I was there Mike Chitty F.R.I.C.S., was course head and all of the RICS General Practice degree courses were taught at Duncan House in Stratford, East London. Duncan House went on to be the Department of Legal Studies later.

 

As my interest is more in land law, and regulatory matters, I switched to the Institute of Paralegals later on. I am therefore listed on the  UK Professional Paralegal Register as being a housing and property/land law specialist. This Register, to promote U.K. professionalism, was  started in circa 2015/2016 in the UK. Since 1983 I have worked on consultancy projects that have included:-

 

 

* Country Park Land Development in Northamptonshire for Northamptonshire County Council. This included work, as Development Officer, towards the development of Brixworth Country Park and also the Brampton Valley Way rural country parks.

 

* Land law research as one of the many contributors to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. This was through a Public Policy Research Unit. The research was carried out at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies which is an advisory policy research centre. It provides quality policy research to both H.M. Government  departments and the private sector. It is part of the University of Birmingham at the Edgbaston campus.

 

* Paralegal document writing including Deeds of Trust, Wills, bespoke tenancies and licences.

 

* The creation, and management, of a new lettings and property management agency in Birmingham City called Britannia Property Services in the year 1993. This was in conjunction with a scheme run by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

 

* Project management for bespoke property and land projects.

 

* The creation, and management, of a small property and land owning  Trust Company. 

                                                                                                     

* New Home Sales closing everywhere and anywhere between Ely, in  Cambridgeshire , and Alfreton in Derbyshire.                                                                                                              

* Creation of bespoke property investment portfolios for investment clients in the West Midlands.                                                                                                                                   

 

Socially I have been married twice and have had four children so far. Two of them died and my eldest natural daughter, Tina, carried on to start her own family. Tina my eldest  daughter  was born close to Park Road Junior School in Kettering, Northants, at a ground floor flat on Park Road. She was later moved to Rushton Road in Desborough, Northants. Then when she was older she moved over to South Normanton in Derbyshire and has her own family and children now. She changed her name when she moved out of Northants and up to Derbyshire.

 

My youngest daughter , of my four children, still lives around Northants. She was also given the name of Tina. Tina , my youngest natural daughter by the same name, was born in Kettering area and also frequented Rushden town, Northants, a lot. I intend having further children by adoption due to the death of my first son back in the early 1980's at some stage. 

 

In between a marriage to Tina of Northamptonshire, and a marriage to Lalla of Morocco, I was also briefly engaged to Jo Coplenad whose family came from County Cleveland, UK. This amounted to a period of time socialising, and many pub and theatre/cinema visits, but other than that not much. I made a very good social calendar taxi driver for her I am told.

 

I have been a Roman Catholic since the early 1980's and was first confirmed to the Roman Catholic faith at St. Joseph's Church (Our Lady of All Victories), Coventry Road, Market Harborough. St. Joseph's ceased to remain as a church a little later on in time following the death of the local Catholic priest.. However St. Joseph's School carried on next door to the original  Catholic Church Building. Due to my second marriage , and African family members from both my first and second marriages, part of my family are also Islamic.

 

My hobbies include long distance walking, good ale, good restaurants, and poetry writing. I have been writing poetry since 1983 and have published three poetry books. These were published through createspace who are the publishing arm of Amazon Books International. The books are available for purchase on this website or through www.amazon.com and www,amazon.co.uk. Also select high street book shops such as Barnes and Noble in the USA and Blackwell's Books in the UK. An ebook version of all of the books is now also available through OsmoRa Publications of Quebec in Canada.

 

Some people may wonder why a man would suddenly start to write poetry and poetry books? Well the reason is quite simple! My first love in life , Tina Braybrook, was a great poetry lover.  It's the one thing she used to sit and read and become emotional about. In her college days she studied English literature at Tresham College of Further Education in Kettering, Northants. On one particular occasion her study group were asked to present a poem and read it out in front of the class then explain why that particular poem was chosen.  She dedicated the poem to me and and said " .........my boyfriend who I love dearly" in front of the whole Kettering class. The whole lot jeered at her and shouted for her to stand down. There after I have always written poetry though my first attempt was back in 1983. Most of my friends at the time remember my " The Inner Self" poem. I remember them mostly saying " what are you on about?" I didn't really have many drinking pals , or friends , who I had anything in common with back in my teenage years where I was.  Certainly nobody who was especially interested in poetry and my attitude was "well why would they be!. Not a problem!"  Probably why I didn't mind leaving the area and travelling about for work. I didn't miss them. I prefer to be with people who think like me.

 

I hold the title of Lord of the Manor of Sydal which is a Lancastrian Feudal title. I have held this title since 2009/2010. Feudal Lord of the Manor Titles  do not allow the prefix of Lord and the interest is mainly in the history rather than owning a Lordship title. A feudal Lord of the Manor title normally goes in brackets after the name. i.e Andrew Siddle (Lord of the Manor of **********).I was born in Lancashire hence the Lancastrian Lord of the Manor  of Sydal title is highly relevant to me. Lord of the manor titles with an unbroken line of ascendancy do allow for the use of the title Lord. However very few such unbroken lines of family ascendancy exist any more.

 

Our branch of the Siddle family is very old and the name has a history that first started around  the 6th century dark age Saxon period Albion but may be older. Albion being the original name for England prior to the 10th century. The country name England started to be commonly used, it is thought, at around 925 ACE. Certainly  England was commonly in use, as the country's name, following on after  the community settlement legal agreement known as the Danelaw Land Settlements Agreement. Rural areas carried on using the country name Albion long  long after this year though. In fact Al-bion or Al-Ban is a country name that is older than Britannia.  Britannia, in legend, was first started upon the arrival of Brutus of Troy to Britain.

 

The name Siddle indicates a family that Originally started in the Wessex regions of the south and were then being pushed up to the north west and north east areas where the surname Siddle is now very well known. Our family have also always held a close affinity to America which was mainly because of a maritime merchant navy history of parts of the family in previous centuries. This has led to the situation whereby some of our family are British Born and some American born. My father's father Reginald Siddle lived in Darlington City, County Durham; but much of his family were originally based around maritime Plymouth through working in the Merchant Navy. Many used to spend as much time in the USA as they did in the UK due to freight shipping work.

 

Ignoring the Siddle part of the family my Great Great Grandfather Captain Robert Newman skippered the infamous Tiberius grain barque out of New York Harbour, America, back in the 1800's. This is the barque that disappeared without a trace , never to be found again, having left America and set out to sea. Robert had family in Sunderland, Britain, probably family in America and his daughter Sarah was also born in Alexandria in Egypt. This is a report from the time of the disappearance of the Tiberius from New York City:- 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The Dundee Courier & Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Monday, May 26, 1862

==============================================================

 

Loss of Grain-Laden Vessels - The barque Tiberius, 475 tons, which sailed, grain-laden, from New York for Sunderland on 14th Feb., has not since been heard of, and the time which has elapsed, leaves very little room for doubt that both vessel and crew have perished. The vessel was commanded by Captain Robert Thompson Newman, Bishopwearmouth, but it is believed that none of the crew who sailed in her from Sunderland started on the return voyage. The Tiberius was the property of Messrs. Gourley, of Sunderland, and was built on the Wear in 1854. There are three or four more vessels belonging to Sunderland amissing on the homeward passage from New York, and the total number reported lost and missing on the same voyage since November last will not be under sixty sail, all grain laden.

 

(The American Civil War was between 1861 and 1865 and very strange things were happening with freight shipping between America and Britain at the time)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Back in the 1980's I also worked as an occasional Armed Emissary for section 6 of the UK Intelligence Services who are based at Vauxhall Cross in London. Section 6 undertake all intelligence work abroad where as section 5 take care of intelligence operations within the UK. Accordingly most of my work was abroad for my active armed emissary period between 1985 and 1992. "occasional" means exactly that!  I was mainly used for my experience and knowledge of firearms, and explosives, on an as and when required expenses paid basis.

 

I hold the  title of Knight Bachelor which was awarded to me back in the 1980's, carried out by Prince Philip, following a sword tapping ceremony. On this occasion the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) was standing in for the Queen. This being because she was unable to attend as her time was booked elsewhere. My election to this title was by the SIS section 6 division of Secret Intelligence Services who are based at Vauxhall Cross, London. The Knighthood gives the title  of Sir Andrew on all occasions. The reason for the application for the basic knighthood was to secure Diplomatic Immunity from Prosecution which the working version of Knighthood possesses under International Law. This allowed me to work abroad whilst carrying firearms without arrest.

 

The Knight Bachelor title is the lowest of all titles of nobility and back in the 1980's the Secret Intelligence Services used to issue block applications to the crown to secure immunity from prosecution to undertake missions abroad as a job for various members of their staff. The SIS Knight Bachelor Title should not be confused with either the Honorary knight Bachelor Title issued by the Queen that has it's own temple property to visit; or that of the Religious Orders of knights. Knight Bachelor applicants do not need to be part of a religious order as the knighthood is for their work abroad when on a mission only. My original Knight Bachelor title was re-affirmed for passport control issues in the year 2003. It should be noted that the post nominal letters KT stand for Knight of the Order of the Thistle and not the Knight Bachelor title. Knight Bachelor has the post nominal letters Kt. In other words capital K and lower case t . Otherwise falsely claiming to be a member of the Order of the Thistle , KT,  could be criminal because this is a religious order for which the Monarch is patron.

  

My intelligence work missions were armed and I was allowed to carry my own personal Beretta Revolver for operations abroad. My role was in armed work and also the use of explosives, and even hand grenades, in one particular mission. for the resolution of international incidents and problems. Such incidents included bribery , suspected treason, blackmail, kidnap, and military intelligence matters. For the military intelligence side.

 

Twice I also had use of hand held  rocket launchers. At the time a new innovation had been developed which would be considered  pretty much "old hat" in more modern times. The innovation was a new type of hand held rocket launcher that would do the minimum of damage to the fabric of a building. So in essence the rocket would create a fireball upon reaching it's target which would incinerate people while not doing too much damage to brick walls and concrete pillars. I remember the testing of the new device  at Vauxhall Cross Military Intelligence head quarters, London, in the 1980's. This new weapon was a much needed addition to the Military Intelligence armoury.

 

I had security clearance to access military bases, in the UK, to investigate procedure complaints by members of the Armed Forces. I had been assigned to the Royal Marines in Kent, as a reserve, by SIS at Vauxhall Cross . This being because I was needed for a few Uk based military intelligence matters. In order to show that I had received the same training as all others SIS, and the Royal Marine Reserves in Kent, arranged for me to do the training and course assessment for the All Arms Commando Green Beret award. I also undertook  Officer training in London.  I had 7 years of working with firearms and in that time , whether in a Royal Marines uniform or in plain clothes for Mi6, I saw more and more deaths all of the while.

 

When I was doing my Land Administration degree in London I was also sent off on  occasional armed emissary work in between academic terms. To study for a degree as a student in London ,  while  sometimes  being sent off with instructions to shoot down an enemy of the state from Vauxhall Cross - London is weird. A very weird experience in life! I even did a uniformed beach assault with the Kent Royal Marine Reserves having been taken abroad by submarine with the Kent Reserves one summer. We knocked out a gun emplacement on a beach over in the east Mediterranean! The submarine picked us up at Southampton and after the campaign we were dropped off at the Kent coast. Quite a few  were blown apart and died on the beach as sitting targets. At that time I was a reservist Major , based with the Royal Marine cadets head quarters of Kent, on a summer Reservist campaign abroad. So they made me responsible for the success or failure of the wiping out of the gun emplacement.  We succeeded and the gun emplacement was abandoned letting us pass. The mortality rate of landing on a beach in front of a foreign gun emplacement unit is horrendous. Sitting ducks! Strange memories! I had no innocence by the time I started my degree in London and that is sad really.

 

In 2012 I received an honorary United States of America Master of Arts degree in criminal law and ethics following my previous experience working with Secret Intelligence Services in London, UK. The degree was mostly work experience based but with an assessment module as well . This was followed by a Washington DC (District of Columbia) affidavit/apostilization from a United States public notary, authenticating the degree for the United Kingdom, in the year 2013. Also the authenticating signature of the United States Secretary of State of the time, John Kerry, plus the seal of the District of Columbia. I was delighted to be awarded  a United States law degree. Firstly because I wish to stay proactive and employable for many many years ahead. Secondly because it is a recognition for legal issues that I used to deal with such as "D" notices whilst with Mi6 in the Uk. A "D" notice is a press gagging order which involves legal  paper work, and a meeting with the Defence Press and Broadcasting committee (DPBC), to agree the scope of that which has to be banned from publication to the public.

 

The geographical areas that I covered whilst working for Mi6 , as an armed intelligence Emissary, included Africa, Spain, Scotland, Northern France, Italy and the USA as Sir Andrew Siddle Kt. Also a small number of projects in the Uk using the rank of  Major as assigned to Kent Royal Marine Reserves. The reason for the Major rank was to enable me to enter military bases on SIS issues.

 

The Kent Royal Marine cadet force have moved head quarters since the late 1980's. Back in the late 1980's I was listed for one year as being commanding Officer of the Kent Royal Marine Cadets. This being from our little prefab hut H.Q. in Kent.This was a time when I was actually also doing armed service abroad as well. Both with MI6/SIS plain clothes armed missions and as a uniformed Royal Marine Reserve often in summer months. Accordingly I was hardly ever there during my year as Commanding Officer of the  Kent cadets due to national service abroad. I think in all honesty the cadet force probably preferred having a C.O. who was absent and had an easy year without me being there all of the while.

 

I was also trying to complete my degree in Land Administration in East London  as a mature student. How I ever managed to do it is beyond my comprehension because I was so busy and so many different organisations were wanting my time. My time with the Royal Marine Reserves followed on from initial training with the Air Training Corps who are the Royal Air Force cadet force. This I had been doing between the ages of 12 and 17. So I already had experience with foot drill, rifle drill, and firearms use going all the way back to the age of 12 years old. Achieved with 1084 Squadron of the RAF Cadets Air Training Corps.

 

Back in the 1980's I did a considerable amount  of kidnap release work . This led to a lot of interest from the press and television.  I used to appear on B.B.C television chat shows following missions abroad.  American news coverage also included an on the road interview with me on a motorbike heading towards New York City in the USA.  A mobile studio camera aimed from the rear passenger window of a car was used to film an interview with me. Having filmed me once  they came back at a later stage again. The second time my motorbike had developed a punctured tyre and I was pushing it on foot for several miles to the nearest American town. The sun was blisteringly hot and I was miles from anywhere on the highway in the countryside. The camera crew drove by pulling faces at me and jeering for fun. The same in northern France where due to a tip off a French news  company came over with cameras. It got to the stage that I was used to television and camera crews. This being the case it had to stop because it was completely unacceptable to have this level of publicity due to the risk of death that the media publicity was creating. I remember sitting  trying to work out the statistical odds of me dying whilst on an armed mission before going on the next one assigned.

 

Following on from riding a motorbike across the United States to New York City having completed an MI6 armed project; I was booked in to a hotel in New York City. Whilst there I decided I would need a hire car for various reasons; because I still had things to do.  I got my hire car contract nicely signed and was shown exactly how everything worked in the car and was then left to get on with it by the car hire firm. I managed to have one drive out to test the car and then something happened. I was sitting in the driver's seat viewing a suspicious car about 100 yards/91 metres behind . It had stopped in a weird manner in almost the middle of the road. I watched and watched again. Nothing seemed to happen so I decided to open the car door and get out. As soon as I opened the driver's door the car behind revved to full acceleration , thrust forward, and ripped off my driver's door. It was literally ripped off it's hinges and flew up in the air.  Well now; I wasn't killed but that seemed to be the end of the driving.  I have never really sorted out whether there was an insurance scam or an American Intelligence officer trying to prevent a British Intelligence Officer undertaking further travel.  Either way that was the end of the driving for that time.

 

At one stage I was granted a street observation assignment in London by Military Intelligence. This coincided with my first wife Tina finishing an acting contract. Can't remember whether it was for in the UK , for the B.B.C,  or somewhere in the USA. I ended up sitting in a semi vacant London property in order to observe a particular street armed with a semi automatic rifle. She was with me for a little while, as a visiting spouse, as the event was supposed to be not high security and just mundane street observation work. Little did I know that somebody had us targeted from elsewhere over the road.

 

Half way through the morning one day I saw a red circle light appear on my first wife Tina's clothing. The red circle moved around and it was so obvious that it was a laser sight which I had seen in practical use many times already.  Especially as I was used to using the same type of laser sight system. I shouted at her to duck down. She said "what" followed by "don't you talk to me like that" . I shouted to her a second time and she moved forward just in time to miss about three bullets which smashed through the window and appeared to also be from a semi automatic rifle the same as mine. We were not killed , the situation was resolved, and the person responsible for the attack on our observation post dealt with.

 

The property where the bullets were fired from was a London apartment. On my side of the road I had the choice of about three different weapons to use. All of them had been issued by the SiS Military Intelligence firearms armoury. Not all of these weapons issued  to me were firearms. I had the choice of other types of military weapon as well. Apparently there were about four to five people in the apartment that tried to open fire on me over the road. They were all over the road in their property looking at where I was.  Not one of them left the property alive.

 

As part of my Intelligence work operations in the Uk I was invited to visit Holyroodhouse Palace, in Scotland, by HRH Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother . This was as an Armed Intelligence Emissary in the late 1980's. In fact I have slept over at Holyroodhouse Palace, Scotland, on two occasions. Both times as the guest of Queen Elizabeth the Queen mother and strictly visiting for armed emissary work reasons. I used to be given a bedroom, to the first floor, to the right of the property in one of the tower wings to sleep in.

 

At Holyroodhouse Palace an incident occurred in which  a supposed security guard drew a commando knife whilst within view of the Queen Mother. I shot the man dead using a Beretta Revolver that I had in my suit jacket as part of my job. The Queen mother thereafter sent me several letters, and telephoned me, and always on the best possible terms. The shooting was in the press worldwide. At the time of the incident I held 100% diplomatic immunity from prosecution to use firearms and protect the Queen mother as an Mi6 armed Emissary.

 

For those who don't remember the Queen mother she was the wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth the II. After the death of her husband she spent much of her time living in Scotland. I last heard from her in the mid 1990's. She later died on the 30th March 2002.

 

To talk to she was a fun loving person and had a naughty habit dating back to the death of her husband King George VI. Her husband George VI had always been partial to a large good quality cigar. After his death she missed the man so bitterly that she carried on keeping a large box of best cigars where ever she was. Every now and then she used to light one up and take a couple of puffs on the cigar herself then laugh. It probably gave her a sense of comfort and a feeling that her husband was still alive and in the same room in some way. I shared a cigar , after she lit it up, about three times whilst visiting her at Holyrood House Palace, Scotland,  back in the late 1980's. I think she used to light the thing and then just imagine her dead husband whilst walking around the grounds. The palace , in Scotland, is a very lonely place for a widow to be wandering around. Her full name was Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon and she was born on the 4th August 1900.

 

Also in Scotland I was involved in taking airborne spore readings on Gruinard Island before the area was decontaminated. This was one of my first jobs for Military Intelligence having signed the Official Secrets Act and confirming that I was not allowed to tell anybody of my activities for the first twenty years having completed each task given. Gruinard Island was used as an experimental bomb testing site just after World War Two. This followed on from a period of time when there were reports in London that Germany were about to unleash a chemical weapon to wipe out large parts of the United Kingdom population.  Gruinard Island was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and used to test a bomb that was Britain's answer to the German threat. So was developed and tested the Anthrax Bomb. Designed to wipe out millions of people by infection with Anthrax. The bomb was designed to spread anthrax spores over hundreds and hundreds of miles of land after explosion.

 

My time on Gruinard Island was spent wearing a face mask at all times to prevent breathing in any airborne spores. Two years later the whole area was decontaminated , to try to make it safe again, by a private contractor. However my time on the island whilst taking airborne spore readings with a meter was very very sad. Various people kept turning up and without a mask became instantly infected with Anthrax. There is no known cure for Anthrax and those who do not wear a face mask die, within a couple of months of infection, or live the whole of their lives with breathing and lung problems. There is no cure. A helicopter pilot from air ambulance turned up without a face mask and was instantly infected. Various civilians turned up and were instantly infected. A protest group turned up saying " Anthrax infection is a lie- it is a cover up" and the whole lot were instantly infected. People were lying on the beach slowly dying. People were lying on their backs crying and finding breathing more and more difficult with each day that passed. A man who had decided to live on the island had gone completely mad, without a face mask, and was attacking anybody who came near to the ruined house that he was living in.

 

Air Ambulance did their best to clear the island of people infected but the casualty rate was horrendous. Many  deaths occurred  of stupid people who were willing to ignore the Ministry of Defence warning signs and land on the island. Two years later the whole island was cleared of spores by a private contractor in the 1980's.

 

Before decontamination the air was clear for most of the year as the bomb spores lie in the ground . But once a year, in a specific season, the spores take to the air and are carried. That was the time when the island was completely unsafe for anybody. Treatment of the land and clearance of  the Anthrax spores was carried out in the year 1986. Gruinard Island was later sold back to the original owner for £500 after all Anthrax Spores were cleared. For those that contracted Anthrax as a result of visiting the island there remains no known cure for Pulmonary Anthrax. Those who did not die will have had Anthrax infection , and potential breathing problems, for the entirety of their life/lives. The UK medical profession work on the basis that they can manage the worst of the symptoms of Pulmonary Anthrax, using medications, but never cure it.

 

After my duties in Italy I got back to the United Kingdom in a very dishevelled state. Especially After having been thrown into the sand naked 5 miles from the Italian coast, and abandoned there, by a military style Italian four wheel drive vehicle. I had severe sun stroke and was as brown as a Sahari Bedouin nomad due to the strong sun in the Italian countryside. By the time I reached the British Embassy in London I also had a full black beard. In fact on the flight back from Italy to Heathrow I was beaten up outside the toilet because I hadn't washed for a week and was smelling worse than manure.  On reaching the British Embassy in London I was accused of being a foreigner and the Embassy staff kept trying to direct me to a private legal firm who help foreigners find British Naturalisation in the UK.  Eventually I refused to move from the British Embassy front door, door step, until the staff agreed to arrange for me to be arrested!  That is what I wanted as I could finally get a bath, shave, and something to eat.

 

I got out of Italy by using gambling winnings to head for the nearest city having no longer got a debit card for a cash machine, Unfortunately my first rail trip to that city was stupid because there was no airport in the city I chose. I had to get a taxi to drive me half way across the Italian countryside, to where there was an airport, and then finally see airport control where I arranged for myself to be arrested by the Italian police again whilst we negotiated an option to enable me to get back to the UK. Because of the fact that I had not been able to wash for a week or two whilst on the road in the Italian countryside I was smelling all of the while. On the bright side the operation was a success and having worked with the Italian police, and court system, I was even granted Italian Diplomatic Immunity for my stay. This meaning that I then had both United Kingdom Diplomatic Immunity and Italian Immunity as well.

 

About two weeks of my time in Italy were spent unconscious in an Italian State hospital. Paid for by the Italian State.This being because I had been bitten by a  snake in the countryside. A member of the Italian State police shot it dead for me and sucked the poison out of my leg. Thereafter I was also permitted to share the firearms practice range of the police in order to keep up my target skills in Italy. Upon finishing my mission in their country the local community police arranged the greatest honour for me. An Italian shopping centre was being refurbished, and renovated, including new walkways. So they allowed one shopping Mall walk to be named Siddle's Mile and proudly showed me. This is the greatest honour that any country can possibly bestow a foreign special agent or diplomat. Obviously the walkway  name was in the Italian language but it had a sign post with the Siddle name on when it was first named. So Siddle's Mile still exists in Italy somewhere for a hospitalised snake bitten foreigner.

 

My time in Africa involved me having to escape over the western Sahara from armed personnel trying to track me from further south. I was being tracked down by armed military in a jeep who had followed me up from African states a little further south. My first introduction to the Western Sahara was therefore to bury myself in the sand so that I could not be seen from their army jeep. I found an old military coloured rimmed green bush hat and put it over my nose. This being because my nose was the only visible piece of my body above the sand having buried myself.  Obviously my nose had to be above the sand so that I could still breathe. It worked; they shouted for me about ten times and then drove by the hat that was sitting on the sand in the morning sun.  

 

Having been befriended by a nomadic tribe of berbers, whilst in the Western Sahara Desert, and we all told tales of our cultures around the evening cooking fire. Eventually I ended up staying at the Palace of King Hassan II , of the Alaouite Dynasty,  under state protection from Morocco. Later I was adopted by the Bedouin Berbers as Moulay Hassan II of Morocco let me marry one of his daughter's from the berber side of his household. She was my second wife in life and used to send beautiful hand written letters over to the Uk to me; before our marriage. She later on sadly died at the Royal Palace at Rabat, Morocco, North Africa.

 

Life rolled on and then on again. Moulay Hassan, my father in Law , died on the 23rd July 1999. His first son Prince Mohammed, my brother in law, then went on to become King of Morocco having obtained a degree from France. Whilst his father was still alive. King Mohammed VI obtained his PhD in law with distinction on 29 October 1993 from the French University of Nice Sophia Antipolis for his thesis on "EEC-Maghreb Relations". At this time I was doing a Masters degree , in the Uk, with research into rural land access legislation under the broad heading of green tourism. I have degrees from East London University, Birmingham University, Canterbury University. Also a part assessment & part career experience degree from the USA in criminal law and ethics.

 

My father in Law Hassan II lived from  9th July 1929 until 23 July 1999 and was King of Morocco between 1961 and 1999. Whilst his wife  Princess Lalla Latifa Amahzoun (Lalla Hammou) was the natural mother of  King Mohammed Vi; King  Hassan II had more than one wife. It is the other side of the family that I was married in to. The other wife of King Hassan II during his long reign was Lalla Fatima bint Qaid Ould Hassan Amhourak who he married back in the 1960's. She was cousin to Princess Latifa Amahzoune (Lalla Hammou). In the official history of the Moroccan Royal Family no children came from his first wife. In the history of King Hassan II he actually had a daughter, but no son, from his first wife who died in the 1990's. This daughter became my second wife  over in Rabat, Morocco.  Since she is no longer alive she is never mentioned in Official Moroccan Royal history.  I last spoke to my father  in Law Hassan II in 1998. This was on the telephone and he instructed me that he was going to die soon for some reason as a personal prediction. His health was not good by that stage in time anyway. A year later he was gone in the month of July. I still retain the right to the title of Prince of Morocco should there ever be a problem with the reign of King Mohammed VI as was the wish of King Hassan II whilst alive. This was mainly as a security measure to help preserve the Alaouite dynasty from civil war and terrorism, in North Africa. The problem has become less since the pressure of King Mohammed VI to turn the Alaouite Royal House into a constitutional monarchy.

 

Mohammed Vi was in the United Kingdom after the death of his father King Hassan II in 1999. We had discussions about his future role as King which at the time he did not want to do as he preferred to start a career in the business community rather than become the new King. We all discussed the matter in depth and finally he took up his position at the Royal Palace at Rabat. So becoming the new King of the African Royal House of Alaouite.  I haven't visited Morocco, or the  Barbary  Coast in general,  since that time. In total I have stayed at the Moroccan Royal Palace in Rabat twice. The first time when crossing the Western Sahara desert after which King Hassan II gave me protection inside the palace. The second time was upon my marriage in Rabat.

 

The marriage in Rabat was photographed, and in the Media, and I adopted completely Moroccan style clothing for the event as was the correct thing to do in Barbary / Maghreb. As the marriage ceremony was formal I had to go to considerable trouble to be fitted with cloth and head gear considered as being suitable for the formality of the event. I remember trying on the newly tailored garments in the UK; but they were all produced in Morocco, by Moroccan tailors, who live there locally in North Africa. They did a good job for the marriage. My father in law King Hassan II commissioned and paid for the clothing out of the Crown account.

 

I have been married twice and my first wife in the early 1980's was Tina Braybrook ( Aka Tina Kerti). Tina was a fashion model , and actress in the USA and UK, who lived in  Northamptonshire, UK.  She was half African and half British as her natural father was born in Africa. In fact my partners, from both marriages, were of African originating families. I had known Tina since the age of 8 and in the beginning we loved each other so much that we couldn't bear to be without each other.

 

Because my first wife was a career model, and later on a film actress, we used to be invited to media receptions, and launches, which were often at expensive hotels in London. On one occasion I had been invited to a media reception at a west London hotel venue to attend with my wife Tina who had just finished a film acting contract and needed the promotion. It was a black tie do and we were all dress up up like penguins with the quintessential black tie.

 

The caterers had gone overboard with the food which was great quality. Upon entering one of my wife's supervisory staff from television decided to have a go at me repeatedly accusing me of having a fake marriage despite the fact that we managed two surviving children by the end of it! He was saying that it was a sham!. I picked a full bowl of pink blancmange up and smashed it over his head and dinner jacket. He went small for a short while and then flew into a rage.  I had already walked out of the hotel reception front door and he decided to follow.

 

The press were outside waiting for people to leave for them to photo and interview. The man shouted at me and came at me with intent to strangle me. The press gang were shouting and jeering and the flash guns started to fire ten to the dozen! I picked him up and used a move that I knew from my grandad Reg' Siddle who had been a physical Quakers Team (Darlington City Football Team 1920's and 1930's) , and Spennymoor United, footballer  and boxer in his day. It is called the slam.

 

I picked the television guy up in the air then slammed him down onto the hard concrete. The press were delighted and the Sun Newspaper who had already photographed my wife Tina for  page three model purposes more than once, and other newspapers, photographed the incident. We were both accused of staging an event to get my wife Tina another acting contract. She was awarded a brand new film acting contract after the publicity; but we didn't do it on purpose as the incident was genuine.

 

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

LATE 1980's PHOTOGRAPH OF MY FIRST WIFE TINA BRAYBROOK ( AKA TINA KERTI). THIS WAS PHOTOGRAPHED AT A SAFARI PARK PHOTO SHOOT IN THE USA WHICH WAS TO BE USED FOR A MUSIC INDUSTRY ALBUM COVER. ALSO  MYSELF ANDREW DAVID SIDDLE. TINA WAS GIVEN HER FIRST FASHION MODEL CONTRACT BY THE AGE OF FOURTEEN. LATER ON SHE WENT ON TO BE A FILM ACTRESS. THIS WAS MAINLY IN THE USA BUT WITH A FEW CONTRACTS IN THE UK WITH BBC TELEVISION ET AL. I ALSO STARTED WORK AT FOURTEEN DOING A SMALL PART TIME CATERING JOB FOR A WHILE UNTIL I MOVED INTO THE PROPERTY AND LAND INDUSTRY. MY WIFE WAS WELL KNOWN IN THE UK, IN THE 1980'S, BECAUSE THE SUN NEWSPAPER GAVE HER COVERAGE AS A PAGE THREE MODEL FOR A WHILE:-