The Earl of Leicester returned to his roots when he spoke to members of Stoke Poges Society about his connection with the village.

The venue for the dinner where Tom Coke the eighth earl - there with his wife Polly - was guest speaker, was Stoke Park Hotel, Park Road, Stoke Poges.

He is a descendent of Sir Edward Coke, an English barrister, judge and politician, who is considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. He led the prosecution against Sir Walter Raleigh and the Gunpowder Plot conspirators.

The Cokes stayed the night at Stoke Park after he gave his talk and the following day collected their son from Eton College to take him home for the holiday break.

There is a monument to the Earl's ancestor in the grounds of Stoke Park Hotel, the Coke Monument – a Doric column with the figure of Sir Edward by Charles Rossi.

It is approximately 18 metres high and made of artificial stone. Sir Edward Coke was responsible for the Petition of Right drawn up in 1628 to curb the power of Charles I.