A Wiltshire earl failed to turn up to court to answer allegations he’d been doing 45mph in a 30 zone – as his daughter had been told to self-isolate.

The earl of Cardigan, David Brudenell-Bruce, 67, of Savernake Lodge, near Marlborough faces charges of speeding, driving without insurance and without a valid MOT.

He was allegedly caught doing 45mph in his Lexus RX300 in a 30mph zone on London Road, Marlborough, on November 17, 2019.

He had been due before Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

In a letter to the court, read out to magistrates on Saturday afternoon, the earl said a teacher at his daughter’s primary school had tested positive for coronavirus. As a result, his daughter and the family had been told they needed to self-isolate for 14 days.

The justices adjourned the hearing to December 1 at 10am.

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File picture of the earl of Cardigan Picture: DIANE VOSE

Eton-educated Bruce is a distant descendent of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII, and is the Hereditary Warden of the only privately-owned forest in England, the Savernake Forest.

In 2013, the earl ended up in court accused of assaulting trustee John Moore after losing a High Court legal battle to stop paintings being sold. However, he was cleared by magistrates.

That year he claimed he was so broke because he no longer had access to his own money that he had been forced to take up job as a delivery driver and was even on Jobseeker's Allowance.

Lord Cardigan was finally able to access his family's money again in 2017, when he won a High Court case to oust the trustees he had hired to manage it.

He is the father of Bo Bruce, the singer and former star of reality show The Voice.