The Queen of England, Elizabeth II, has won "squatter's rights" over the mud at the bottom of St Pierre Pill.

St Pierre Pill is the muddy creek, where the Chepstow and District Yacht Club have their moorings.

The queen came to the rescue of the club after Mark Roberts a controversial Cardiff businessman who owns the paper title "Lord Marcher of Magor", among others claimed that it gave him rights to the land.

He brought the case under the name Mark Andrew Tudor, Lord Marcher of Trelleck, one of the 60 "Lords to the Manor" titles he owns. The titles bought by Mr Roberts often date back to after the Norman conquest, when estates of land known as manors where handed to nobility, often in return for military service. However forget any romantic notions of chivalry and knights in shining armour these were ruthless warlords and the biggest hardest most ruthless of the lot was the king. Mr Roberts who I suggest is of the same ilk acquired (bought) the Lordship of Magor in 1997, which he argued dated back to the conquest of Wales by Edward I in the 13th Century. He insisted it gave him ownership of the mudflats, sand and the riverbed on the Welsh side of the Severn Estuary.

In the past, he has used the Trelleck title to claim ownership of common land at Peterstone, Newport, and demanded some residents pay for access to their own homes. Over the past year, he has been attempting to make contact with committee members of the CDYC. However, having been pre-warned of his predatory approaches in other areas his advances were avoided and word passed on to the Crown Estate Commissioners, who administer land owned in the name of the Queen, which includes the foreshore.

As a result, a whole bunch of distinguished High Court appeal judges got together in London, to examine legislation dating back to the 13th Century at the time of the Magna Carta. They decided that the Crown had been in unchallenged possession of the area for centuries and ownership must stay with the Queen. In effect, she had squatter's rights.

The CDYC committee is now considering if we should invite her to become a member of the club on the provision that she doesn’t clutter the place up with her warships. The membership fees are very reasonable but she will be expected to muck in when we have work parties. If she feels the need to acquire a new boat (the royal yacht Britannia having been sold off) one of our members has a nice little 17-foot dingy for sail.

So next time you visit St Pierre Pill beware, you might just have to curtsey and dip your ensign.