Kingdom of Redonda

Kingdom of Redonda
Motto: Floreat Redonda
Status	Current
Membership	Less than 100. (Population of island itself is zero, not counting goats.)

A view of Redonda from the island of Nevis, with Montserrat faintly visible in the distance.

The Kingdom of Redonda is a name for the micronation aspect of the tiny uninhabited Caribbean island of Redonda.

This islet is situated between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat, within the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain, in the West Indies. The island is currently legally a dependency of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. The island is uninhabited, and indeed is more or less uninhabitable since there is no source of freshwater, and most of the island is extremely steep and rocky, with only a relatively small area of grassland at the top.

Redonda also is, or appears to be, a micronation which may, arguably and briefly, actually have existed as an independent kingdom during the 19th century. The title to this supposed kingdom is still contested to this day in a half-serious fashion. The "Kingdom" is also often associated with a number of supposed aristocratic members, whose titles are given out freely by whoever is currently the "King". Currently there are a number of different individuals in several different countries who claim to be the sole legitimate "King" of Redonda, but these claims appear to be substantially of the nature of tall tales or humorous hoaxes.

The idea of the kingdom appears to originate with M. P. Shiel, 1865-1947, an author of fantasy fiction. He claimed that in 1865, his father Matthew Dowdy Shiell, from the nearby island of Montserrat, proclaimed himself to be the rightful, and supposedly legal, "King" of the island of Redonda in order that he might establish his son as the rightful heir to the throne. This story, as first recounted by the son in a promotional leaflet for his books, may be partly or entirely fictional.

History of the "Kingdom"

The history of the "Kingdom" of Redonda is shrouded in doubt and legend, and it is difficult to separate fact from fiction.

M. P. Shiel, an author of works of fantasy fiction, was the first person to ever mention the idea of the "Kingdom of Redonda" and that was in 1929, in a promotional pamphlet for a reissue of his books. [1]

According to one of several different versions of the story, his father, Matthew Dowdy Shiell, a banker from Montserrat, claimed the island when his first son, Matthew Phipps Shiell, was born. Supposedly the father felt he could legitimately do this, because it appeared to be the case that no country had officially claimed the islet as territory. Shiell senior is also said to have requested the title of King from Queen Victoria, and as legend has it, she granted it to him as long as there was no revolt against colonial power. ^[2] The son (originally named Matthew Phipps Shiell but later known as M.P. Shiel) was supposedly crowned on Redonda at the age of 15 by a bishop from Antigua. [3]

However, the whole story appears to have originated decades later with the son, M.P. Shiel, a fantasy and science fiction writer best known for his 1901 novel The Purple Cloud, and so it is possible that some, or most, or possibly all of the story of his being made king of Redonda, may in fact be pure invention.

In any case, again according to one version of the story, M.P. Shiel in later life gave the title, and the rights of his work, to the writer John Gawsworth (Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong), who seems to have sold the title several times, due to permanent bankruptcy. Gawsworth in turn is considered to have bestowed the title, and the rights to his and Shiel's work, to Arthur John Roberts.

This fact is disputed by John Wyn Tyson who claims to have been bestowed the title by Gawsworth. Tyson was crowned King in 1967 and ruled until he abdicated in favour of King Bob the Bald in 1989. Wynne Tyson consequently went on to pass the literary executorship to Javier Marias of Madrid in 1997 [4]

A quote from King Juan II himself (according to King Robert the Bald):

The legend is and should remain a pleasing and eccentric fairy tale; a piece of literary mythology to be taken with salt, romantic sighs, appropriate perplexity, some amusement, but without great seriousness. It is, after all, a fantasy.[5]

Williamson ruled Redonda from his home in Antigua until he died in 2009. He then passed the crown to Michael Howorth a fellow writer on the condition that as with all true Kings he should be an active writer, and visit the island and there raise his standard.

Michael Howorth a travel writer and a superyacht specialist flew to the island on a helicopter loaned to him by the owner of the superyacht Allure Shadow and there raised his standard. He adopted the title: King Michael the Grey in a moving coronation ceremony later that day.

However, this particular claim to the title lies along the lines of literary executorship and presumed Kingship- yet again split and traceable back to the publisher Jon Wynne Tyson and his involvement with Sheil as his literary executor. Wynne Tyson later went on to publicly renounce his assumed Kingship of the island on a BBC Radio 4 [6] documentory "Redonda, The Island with too many Kings" broadcast May 2007 and thus appearing to invalidate all consequent claims.

Arthur John Roberts in fact resigned his title witnessed and documented on October 26th, 1989 and named William Leonard Gates as his successor to the title of King of Redonda which still remains to this present day.

List of "Kings"

Historical "Kings"

• Matthew Dowdy Shiell, 1865 - 1880
• Matthew Phipps Shiell¹, 1880 - 1947 (styled as King Felipe)
• John Gawsworth², 1947 - 1967 (styled as King Juan I)
• Arthur John Roberts, 1967 - 1989 (styled as King Juan II)
• William Leonard Gates , 1989 - present (styled as King Leo)[7]

British "Kings"

• William Leonard Gates, 1989 - present (as yet not deceased & styled as King Leo) [8]

American "King"

• Olen Atkins, styled as "King Alexander the Wise"

Spanish "King" in Madrid

• Javier Marías

The Spanish writer Javier Marías, one of the current claimants of Redonda, tells the story of his "coronation" in Negra espalda del tiempo (published in English as Dark Back of Time). He operates a pet publishing house under the name of Reino de Redonda ("Kingdom of Redonda"), and has created a literary prize with the same name. The reward is several thousand euros and a Redondan duchy.

Several Spanish and foreign artists and writers have been granted Redondan "titles" by Javier Marías, including Pedro Almodóvar (Duke of Trémula), Francis Ford Coppola (Duke of Megalópolis), Alice Munro (Duchess of Ontario), J. M. Coetzee (Duke of Deshonra), Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Duke of Corso), Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Duke of Tigres), A. S. Byatt (Duchess of Morpho Eugenia), and António Lobo Antunes (Duke of Cocodrilos).^[9]

An Italian claimant

For information on an Italian claimant to be "king": one Giancarlo Ezio Noferi, who styles himself HRH Giancarlo Ezio I of Montedoglio see: [10], [11]

External links

• The Redonda Legend: A Chronological Bibliography
• The Redonda Foundation, operated by "King Leo".
• Kingdom of Redonda, operated by "King Robert" aka "Bob the Bald"