Shiro named as new Heir

A new Line of Succession was today confirmed by the Senate, with Shiro Mephistopheles installed as the new Heir. The now Crown Prince Shiro – one of this year’s Consuls – has led the Senate since April, and previously served both in Parliament and in Cabinet. Upon the ascension of Emperor Aggelos I this Sunday, His Imperial Majesty’s first Imperial Decree called on the Senate to confirm a new Line of Succession. Prior to this confirmation, Lord Michael Simpson was technically Heir for several days, having been second in line before the new Emperor’s ascension. However, he had previously made it clear that he would not wish to accept the Throne unless entirely necessarily. Another reason to form a new Line of Succession comes from discussion in the top levels of government regarding prospective constitutional amendments. One of these amendments, which will likely be proposed before the end of the year, would remove the requirement for the Monarch to be a practicing Christian, replacing it with a requirement for the Monarch to respect the national religion rather than to necessarily adhere to it. Assuming that this amendment passes, the eligibility criteria for Monarch will significantly widen, and so some dignitaries previously not included have been considered by the Senate. The new Line of Succession now stands thus: The Senate has been empowered to make changes to the Line of Succession – with the Monarch’s approval – since 2020. This function was previously exercised by Parliament itself.

Line of Succession overhauled

The Senate has voted to completely overhaul the Line of Succession to the Throne, replacing the previous list of the Emperor’s relatives with a list of five trusted statesmen. This dramatic change was made at the behest of Emperor Jonathan I himself. The beginning of the year saw several members of the Line of Succession removed on the basis that they would be unlikely to accept the Throne and hard to contact at short notice. Today’s more radical change has been implemented on the grounds of the same principle, on the understanding that none of those previously in line to the Throne were interested in actually ascending it in anything more than name should they be called upon to do so. Five individuals were put forward by the Emperor and, after discussion in the Senate, confirmed as a new Line of Succession, namely: The Constitution requires a reigning Monarch of Austenasia to be a Christian, a requirement fulfilled by all the members of the new Line of Succession except for Adam I. The previous heir, the Emperor’s sister, will now be known once more as Princess Caroline rather than as Crown Princess. Were he not already titled as an emperor, Aggelos would have assumed the title Crown Prince as the new Heir to the Throne. Those in the Line of Succession are not only to be called upon should the Throne become empty, but are also able to take on responsibilities such as being appointed a Counsellor of State to assist the Monarch. This change marks a move towards a more realistic approach to the Empire’s long-term future, with an active and committed future Monarch more likely to be found among those already dedicated to Austenasia than among relatives of Jonathan I, most of whom are aunts and cousins who are not even Austenasian.

Austenasian state visit to Adammia

Wednesday 4th October saw Emperor Jonathan I and Empress Hannah represent Austenasia in a state visit to the Empire of Adammia, where they were hosted in the Adammic capital. The imperial couple were met by Emperor Adam I of Adammia in the British city of Wakefield, from where they were driven to the Adammic capital of Imperial City. Adam I was accompanied by his mother Emperor Mother Jayne and grandfather Lord Reginald Hall. Jonathan I and Empress Hannah were given a guided tour of Imperial City’s sites of historical and cultural interest before sharing a meal with the Adammians. Emperor Adam I gifted the Austenasian delegation with a signed copy of a history of Adammia, which will be placed in the Imperial Library of Austenasia. In return, Adam I was gifted handmade soaps patterned with the Adammic flag. The two Emperors used the meeting as an opportunity to sign the Charter of the Association of British Micronations (ABM), an organisation which will plan and promote diplomatic summits for small nations of British origin. The ABM will be governed by a board of trustee nations, which will have Austenasia and Adammia as permanent members alongside Lundenwic, as per agreement reached at a trilateral meeting in 2021. Wednesday’s state visit also saw Empress Hannah sign a treaty of mutual recognition with Adammia on behalf of her independent Principality of Wildflower Meadows. This makes Adammia the third nation – alongside Austenasia and the Grove – to have official diplomatic ties with the Principality.

Emperor chairs GUM summit in London

Yesterday saw an international summit organised by the Grand Unified Micronational (GUM) held in London, chaired by Emperor Jonathan I. The GUM, founded in 2009, is the oldest and largest international organisation for small unrecognised independence movements and “micronations”. The Emperor took office as Chair of the GUM on 6 September earlier this year – the fourth time he has held the position – after winning a snap election called after the resignation of the previous Chair following a chaotic time in the organisation. Jonathan I was elected on a platform of restoring order to the GUM – a task which it is fair to say has been achieved – as well as on several specific pledges, foremost of which was organising an in-person summit before his term ended with the New Year. The GUM ordinarily conducts its meetings – formal sessions of official business being called Quorums – online, and has only held two in-person summits in its history. The first took place in July 2012, immediately following the famous PoliNation summit in London. Representatives of several GUM member states were gathered in one place, and took the opportunity to hold a physical Quorum. The second was a less spontaneous affair, held in Birmingham in 2019, and was organised by Adam I, Emperor of Adammia, the then Chair. It had been proposed for the Birmingham summit to inaugurate a tradition of annual meetings, but this hope was dashed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With life now returning to normal, Jonathan I was able to organise yesterday’s summit, and chair the third in-person GUM Quorum. The summit was held at Grove Vale Library in East Dulwich, London. Four GUM member states were represented in person: Austenasia (by Jonathan I), Adammia (by Adam I), and also the Serene Beaconite Republic (by James Frisch) and Elmwycke (by Larry Martin). Also in attendance was Lord Mike Lewis, Prime Minister of Lundenwic, a nation which is no longer a GUM member but has been in the past and is interested in re-applying for membership. A higher turnout was expected, but some prospective attendees had to drop out, including the Emperor’s Vice-Chair, Newton von Uberquie. The minimum number of delegations required for a Quorum meeting to take place is eight; with only four member states present, a “hybrid” Quorum was held, with the summit meeting being livestreamed and delegations able to participate online. The formal Quorum meeting held during the summit addressed some routine votes on membership issues, and also discussed a possible replacement for Diplomabear (a toy animal posted between different countries on a “diplomatic tour”) and campaigning regulations for future GUM elections. The summit also saw two presentations, one on early Adammic history and its legacy, and one on the flag of Elmwycke. Emperor Jonathan I is the only person to have been present at all three in-person Quorums, and Adam I and Lord Lewis the only other two people to have been present at more than one.

Jonathan I and Princess Hannah marry

Emperor Jonathan I and the now Empress Hannah have been married in two ceremonies over the last few days. The couple were legally wed in a Church of England ceremony on Saturday 5th November, and their marriage was then celebrated according to the rites of the Orthodox Church on Monday 7th. The decision to hold two ceremonies was taken by the couple in order to emphasis equal respect for both of their respective religious traditions. The Anglican service, held on Saturday 5th, took place in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Beddington, the parish attended by the Empress and her family during her childhood. This was followed by a reception at a golf course conference centre by Oaks Park. The Orthodox service, held on Monday 7th, took place in the Church of Ss. Constantine and Helen, attended by the Emperor since he joined the Orthodox Church in July 2011. It was livestreamed by Emperor Father Terry in the official Austenasia Facebook group, and followed by a celebratory buffet. Both services were attended by many of the friends and family of the imperial couple, as well as various state dignitaries. Emperor Adam I of Adammia and King Calum I of the Grove – the former of whom served as one of Jonathan I’s groomsmen – attended both services, and the former Emperor Esmond III attended the Orthodox service. Lord Timothy, the Emperor’s cousin, was his best man, and his sister Crown Princess Caroline was another of his groomspeople. Lord John Gordon, former Prime Minister, had planned to attend as another of the Emperor’s groomsmen, but was unfortunately unable to make it due to illness. Congratulations have been pouring in from numerous well-wishers from across the globe. The Prime Minister, Lord William Wilson, designed an arms of alliance for the imperial couple in his capacity as Chief Herald, which was prominently displayed behind their table at Saturday’s wedding reception and referenced in the Emperor’s speech. The imperial couple first met on 11 November 2011, began a romantic relationship on 5 November 2015, and were engaged in September 2016. Their engagement lasted several years, due to the desire to complete their university degrees before focusing on wedding planning. The Empress has reigned as Princess of Wildflower Meadows since May 2016. As this position is that of a sovereign head of state, she will likely continue to go by Princess in various contexts.

Fraternitas gifted to New Virginia as stability returns

Monday 1st November saw the Austenasian Territory of Fraternitas ceded to the Commonwealth of New Virginia. Following the chaotic events in New Virginia earlier this year (link to the Adammic Express), leaders of the failed 29th of July Movement coup led their own territories in secession from New Virginia. This left the Commonwealth without any land from the original Duchy of New Virginia which amicably seceded from Austenasia in February last year. Upon last year’s said secession, Fraternitas – an uninhabited area of one of the Towns which formed the newly independent Commonwealth – was retained by Austenasia at the suggestion of the now Lady Admiral Kennedy, as a sign of the common heritage and enduring friendship between Austenasia and New Virginia. However, earlier this year, far from functioning as a sign of friendship, Fraternitas was used to stoke tensions between the two nations. Sophia Albina, a New Virginian politician who also held Austenasian nationality, attempted in various falsehood-laden statements to persuade the New Virginian government to unilaterally claim Fraternitas from the Empire and declare Austenasia an “enemy” and “threat”. This led to her being convicted of treason and stripped of Austenasian nationality. Although the New Virginian government distanced itself from Albina’s words and actions, discomfort with her suggestion that Austenasian possession of Fraternitas was in some way a colonial occupation led to the Austenasian government seeking to arrange diplomatic talks with New Virginia to discuss the future of the territory. Before such talks could be held, however, the 29th of July Movement announced their seizure of power. This led to a low-point in Austenasian-New Virginian relations, with the alliance between the two nations being formally ended. With the coup having failed, New Virginia has slowly but surely been rebuilt. Adam I of Adammia became Acting President, and oversaw a return to political stability and the organisation of a new presidential election. This saw Sir Sertor Valentinus elected as New Virginia’s new President, inaugurated on 19 October in an online ceremony attended by both Jonathan I and new Prime Minister Lord William Wilson. However, with the departure of so many of the revolutionaries, New Virginia was described by many as having been left a “rump state”. The acquisition of Fraternitas by New Virginia would once more give it land that was part of the former Austenasian Duchy of the same name. With the consent of Lady Admiral Kennedy, the Emperor passed an Imperial Decree in October ceding Fraternitas to New Virginia effective as of 1 November. Eager for a return to friendly relations with the Commonwealth, the decree was quickly approved by the House of Representatives. The Emperor’s Imperial Decree stated the following: “We can think of no better way for Fraternitas to fulfil the meaning of its name than by serving as a gift made in good faith by the Empire to provide the Commonwealth of New Virginia with a physical connection to the original Austenasian Duchy of the same name. Our Imperial Majesty reiterates and reaffirms our will for peace and friendship with New Virginia, and our confidence in the legitimate elected government of the same moving forward from the events of the past several months.” Although the Empire and Commonwealth have their differences, it is hoped that this donation of territory will not only remove a prospective source of conflict and undermine Albina’s claims of Austenasian hostility, but cement a friendly and co-operative relationship between the two states moving forward into the future.

Relations established with Lundenwic at London meeting

A treaty was signed yesterday establishing mutual recognition and formal relations between Austenasia and Lundenwic at a multilateral meeting in central London. Emperor Jonathan I met Lord Mike Lewis, Prime Minister of Lundenwic, as well as Emperor Adam I of Adammia. Adam I is also currently serving as Acting President of New Virginia after last month’s failed coup in said nation. The three national leaders met at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, gradually making their way to Kensington over the course of the afternoon. Lundenwic was founded in December 2013, and has a population of fifteen. Its land claims are bordered by south-west London. Despite only entering into formal diplomatic relations yesterday, Austenasia has held informal friendly relations with Lundenwic for some time. Lord Lewis visited Wrythe as a tourist in December 2016, took part in Austenasia’s tenth anniversary celebrations along with Grand Duke Julian of Lundenwic in September 2018, and joined both emperors at the June 2019 GUM Birmingham Summit. Over the course of yesterday’s meeting, Austenasia, Adammia and Lundenwic all agreed in principle to the creation of an organisation to promote the interests of small nations and unrecognised independence movements in the British Isles. This idea was put forward by Austenasian Prime Minister Lord John Gordon in November last year, and its promotion made a priority of the Austenasian Foreign Office. More details of the prospective organisation will be forthcoming as discussions progress. The location of Speaker’s Corner was chosen to commemorate the tenth anniversary – off by only ten days – of the 2011 Intermicronational Summit. This summit, which likewise had Speaker’s Corner as its initial meeting place, saw fourteen politicians and diplomats gather for the first multilateral in-person meeting of members of the “MicroWiki community”.

New Virginia balkanises after failed coup – Adammic Emperor becomes Acting President of rump Commonwealth

An article from the Adammic Express on recent events in New Virginia.

PM White: New Virginian government “not legally dissolved”

New Virginia’s elected Prime Minister, Sir Simon White, together with other leading New Virginians, have come out in explicit opposition to Thursday’s “29th of July Movement” revolution supported by President Brooklyn Kennedy. Prime Minister White released a statement yesterday afternoon New Virginia time, countersigned by Deputy Prime Minister James Frisch, Speaker of the House and First Ambassador James Stewart, Adam I in his capacity as President of the Senate, and local governor Lord William Wilson (who is titled as a ceremonial co-founder of the nation). In their announcement, they argued “that the Revolution is an unlawful insurrection, that the President has abused her emergency powers, and that Parliament and the government were not legally dissolved. We stand for the Constitution of the Commonwealth of New Virginia; we stand against the great peril the 29th of July Movement places the Commonwealth in. We will be releasing a comprehensive argument against the Revolution, ideally in a week or two; thereafter, an alternative path forward will be presented […] Long live the Commonwealth!” A “24th of July Movement” has therefore been formed, composed of the elected Prime Minister and other supporters of the constitution in opposition to the revolutionary “29th of July Movement” calling for its overthrow. President Kennedy responded by calling them “reactionaries”, a label which White rejected, and asked whether they planned to put down the revolution by force. The Prime Minister stated that the 24th of July Movement “isn’t a movement about stopping the Revolution by force” but “through good reasoning”, and that they “hope a rebuke will help you [i.e., Kennedy] to realize that you have not considered the voices of all New Virginians, only your narrow focus on those with socialist mindsets.” White further called for a constitutional convention to be called to resolve the crisis and its underlying causes.

Coup underway in New Virginia

Chaos erupted yesterday in the Commonwealth of New Virginia as President Kennedy suspended the constitution in response to a declaration of “revolution” before joining it herself. Events began when Elizabeth Lewis published a poster in the “Announcements” channel on the official New Virginian Discord server. Headed by a picture of Karl Marx, this poster called for an overthrow of the constitutional order, the “building of a socialist… state and party” and “the deportation of dangerous right wing figures”, before declaring “Long live the New Virginian revolution”. A second graphic was then posted calling for the removal of Bradley of Dullahan, the Leader of the Opposition. President Brooklyn Kennedy responded by assuming emergency powers, using the authority granted to her by the Constitution to suspend it “for the time being”, and announcing that all powers of state would be exercised by the Presidency until New Virginia could “return to a state of normalcy”. Under ten minutes later, Kennedy made a second announcement, declaring her support for the “29th of July Movement” revolution. Claiming that the New Virginian parliament was “rife with reactionaries, racists, and elitists”, she stated that the “time has come for these men to be purged”. The President went on to announce that all political parties were immediately dissolved, and power would be held by a Revolutionary Committee comprised of three people appointed and chaired by herself. Sir Simon White, the New Virginian Prime Minister, refused to support the 29th of July Movement, stating “I cannot in good conscience support this insurrection. To outlaw reactionary partisanship is indeed a noble policy, but the outlawing of conservatism in general is utterly repugnant to this nation.” It is furthermore being reported that Adam I of Adammia, who also serves as President of the Senate of New Virginia, has called on the Constitution to be immediately restored and for a general election to be called, criticising the committee for its lack of democratic mandate. Adammia has announced that it has suspended relations with New Virginia, and Wyvern has indicated that it does not recognise the Revolutionary Committee as the legitimate government of the country. In Austenasia, meanwhile, Cabinet met online to discuss the situation, and the following statement was co-authored by Emperor Jonathan I, Prime Minister Lord Gordon, and Deputy PM Lord Wilson: “A hand of friendship, as always, is extended to the New Virginian people, but we cannot recognise an illegitimate government. If the situation has not been resolved with respect to the democratic rights and representation of all New Virginians within the next 36 hours, we will consider the New Virginian government to have fallen and therefore be incapable of maintaining diplomatic relations.” Talks had been in the process of being arranged between Austenasian and New Virginian officials to discuss the way forward following the events of last month. However, following the news of the ongoing coup in New Virginia, the House of Representatives met and voted on a motion calling for the Empire to withdraw from the alliance it still formally held with New Virginia. Independently, eighteen minutes later, the Revolutionary Committee likewise voted to sever the alliance. Bradley von Dullahan later announced the unilateral secession of Helinium – the New Virginian claim governed by himself – from the Commonwealth, interpreting the rhetoric used by Kennedy and the other revolutionaries as thinly-veiled threats against his own position. Lord William Wilson, who also serves as a local governor in New Virginia, said the following: “This coup is of a blatantly authoritarian nature, with a small cabal of politically aligned individuals surrounding the President. They have suspended their constitution and legislature, threatened the exile of political opposition, and used rhetoric of death to ‘capitalists’ and ‘reactionaries’.” He also accused the revolutionaries of seeking to turn New Virginia into an “echo chamber”. Kennedy and Lewis have objected to this summary of events, stating they were “not just removing people for disagreeing with us”. They pointed out that von Dullahan left of his own accord – although Lewis later commented that he “left before he could be kicked [out]” – and argued that he could not technically be considered a political opponent of theirs as they both hold non-partisan offices. Bradley of Dullahan provided the following exclusive statement to the Times: “For a long time Brooke [Kennedy] and Elizabeth [Lewis] have been dissatisfied with the partisan politics that they enabled through the creation of the now abolished political system. It actually worked fine and was stable. A true multiparty system was developing slowly, with in my mind at least another party in the make. However, the government cabinet, as foolish as they were, schemed with the President to declare a fake emergency to amend the constitution. Now it has come to pass, they used some random offensive argument to push through their ideas and abolished the whole lot. Not at all what the Prime Minister had in mind. They enabled the President by feeding her ideas that this was a good idea, and then when she took it a step further they were shocked and angry. However, my disappointment with New Virginia doesn’t end there. The entire justification of this inside coup (all members were government officials, so no “people’s revolution” at all) was on the basis of my person. They do not mention me by name, but every accusation they give is directly relatable to a warped and sickening view that Elizabeth has of me, which the President of the Commonwealth has adopted and used for the declaration. Its inaccurate, misleading, and highly offensive. The President of the Commonwealth of New Virginia and all her cronies in the so-called commission for the salvation of New Virginia and everyone who joined in on the revolution are traitors. The rightful head of government is Simon White. They destroyed a nation without giving it time to grow.” New Virginian Deputy PM James Frisch, who has refused to join the “29th of July Movement”, rejected the allegation that the government had “schemed with the President”,