Kingdom of Redonda | |
|---|---|
| Micronation (unrecognised entity) | |
| Location | Redonda |
| Area claimed | 0.864 km2 (0.334 sq mi) |
| Claimed by | Various, includingM. P. Shiel |
| Dates claimed | 1929–present |
TheKingdom of Redonda is amicronation associated with the tiny uninhabitedCaribbean island ofRedonda.
The island lies between the islands ofNevis andMontserrat, within the inner arc of theLeeward Islands chain, in theWest Indies. Redonda is part of the country ofAntigua and Barbuda. The island is just over one mile (1.6 km) long and one-third mile (0.54 km) wide, rising to a 971-foot (296 m) peak. In September 2023, the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve was established, covering nearly 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land and sea,[1] making it the largest marine protected area in the region.[2] The island teems with bird life, but is more or less uninhabitable by humans because there is no source of freshwater other than rain, and most of the island is extremely steep and rocky, with only a relatively small, sloping plateau area of grassland at the summit. Landing on the island is a very challenging process, possible only via the leeward coast on days when the seas are calm. Climbing to the top of the island is also very arduous. Despite these difficulties, from 1865 until 1912 Redonda was part of a lucrative trade inguano mining, and many thousands of tons ofphosphates were shipped from Redonda to Britain. The ruins associated with the mineworkings can still be seen on the island.[citation needed]
Various parties claim Redonda as a micronation. An account told by the fantasy writerM. P. Shiel in 1929 claimed that Redonda was established by his father as an "independent kingdom" decades earlier in the 19th century, and that he had become king in 1880.[3] The title to the supposed kingdom is still contested to this day in a half-serious fashion. The "Kingdom" is also often associated with a number of supposedly aristocratic members, whose titles are awarded by whoever is currently the "King". There are a number of individuals in different countries who claim to be the "King" of Redonda.[citation needed]
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The early history of the "Kingdom" of Redonda is uncertain. There is no known evidence, documentation, or third party verification of Shiel's story.[4][self-published source?]
M. P. Shiel (1865–1947), an author of works of adventure and fantasy fiction, was the first person to give an account of the "Kingdom of Redonda," in 1929, in a promotionalpamphlet for a reissue of his books.[5][self-published source?]
According to Shiel's story, Shiel's father, Matthew Dowdy Shiell, who was a trader and Methodist lay preacher from the nearby island ofMontserrat, claimed the island of Redonda when his 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 of Redonda fromQueen Victoria and according to the legend, it was granted to him by the British Colonial Office rather than by Victoria herself, provided there was no revolt against colonial power.[6]
The son (originally named Matthew Phipps Shiell but later known as the writer M. P. Shiel) claimed he was crowned on Redonda at the age of 15, in 1880, by a bishop from Antigua. However, as M. P. Shiel's recounting of this story never saw print until 1929, it is possible that some, most, or all of the story of his being crowned King of Redonda is pure invention.[4]
Shiel cites two different names for the bishop who performed the coronation: the Reverend Dr Mitchinson and the Rev. Hugh Semper.[4] These men were both genuine clerics in the Caribbean during this period. Whether Shiel had a faulty memory or couldn't keep his invented story consistent is unknown. In "About Myself" Shiel writes that he attempted to impose a tribute tax on the Americanguano miners, but the request was refused. There has been no independent evidence provided of any such demands.
Several of Shiel's works of fiction concerned various aspects of monarchy. One of his detective heroes is called Cummings King Monk. In Shiel's 1901 end-of-the-world storyThe Purple Cloud, the protagonist Adam Jeffson, the last man on earth, establishes himself as monarch of the devastated globe, while Shiel's novelThe Lord of the Sea (1901) has Richard Hogarth, another Overman figure, coming to dominate the world. In 1899, Shiel wrote about visiting Redonda in his adventure novelContraband of War.
In later life, Shiel gave the title, and the rights to his work, to his chief admirer, London poet and editorJohn Gawsworth (Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong), the biographer ofArthur Machen, who was the realm's Archduke. Gawsworth (1912–70) seems to have passed on the title several times when the writer was low in funds.[4] Gawsworth's realm has been facetiously termed "Almadonda" (by the Shielian scholarA. Reynolds Morse (1914–2000)) after the Alma pub in Westbourne Grove,Bayswater, London, where "King Juan" frequently held court in the 1960s.[7]
Gawsworth had also apparently promised to make Max Juan Tonge Leggett, the first son of his friends Charles and Jean Leggett, his Redondan heir if they gave the child (born in the late 1950s) his royal name of Juan.[4]
Some researchers accept that Gawsworth bestowed the title on his friend the publican Arthur John Roberts in 1967, by "Irrevocable Covenant".[4] Prior to this the late writerDominic Behan (1928–89) also claimed Gawsworth transferred the title to him in 1960. It is also said that Gawsworth handed on the throne to one Aleph Kamal, whose peers[clarification needed] include the novelistEdna O'Brien.
Self-appointed monarchs of Redonda include/included Michael Lawler in 2010,Marvin Kitman andWilliam Scott Home. Scott Home's claim to the title was, he says, based on ESP and reincarnation.[4]
Publisher, author and environmentalistJon Wynne-Tyson, however, claims that Gawsworth, prior to dying in 1970, bestowed the kingship on him with the literary executorships, although the writer Iain Fletcher was the joint literary executor for Gawsworth.[citation needed]
Jon Wynne-Tyson subsequently visited Redonda in 1979, on an expedition organized by thephilanthropist and Shielian publisher A. Reynolds Morse. Wynne-Tyson ruled as King Juan II until abdicating in favour of the novelistJavier Marías ofMadrid in 1997, transferring the literary executorship of Gawsworth and Shiel along with the title.[8][9]
Arthur John Roberts' title was subsequently inherited by William Leonard Gates, whom Gawsworth had given the title of "Baron L'Angelier de Blythswood de Redonda". From his home atThurlton, Norfolk, Gates, who was known as King Leo, presided over a group known as "The Redondan Foundation", not be confused with "The Redondan Cultural Foundation" set up by Paul de Fortis (see below). Gates died on 2 January 2019 and his crown passed to Queen Josephine.[citation needed]
As in Gawsworth's reign, meetings of these rival groups have been held at theFitzroy Tavern inFitzrovia, central London. King Leo 'reigned' as king for thirty years, since 1989.[10] Williamson, who lived on Antigua until his death in 2009, set himself up as the rival "King Robert the Bald".[11]
In 1988, Londonclergyman Paul de Fortis established "The Redondan Cultural Foundation". De Fortis promoted a new king, Cedric Boston (born onMontserrat in 1960). Boston claimed the Redondan throne in 1984, winning the allegiance of a number of Gawsworth's peers.[12]
On the question of the Kingdom of Redonda, Wynne-Tyson has written:
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.[13]
Various people have been given a "peerage" status in Redonda. Generally, these were writer friends of Shiel's and Gawsworth in the early years of the Kingdom. They includeArthur Machen,Oliver Stonor,Edgar Jepson,Thomas Burke,Victor Gollancz,Carl Van Vechten,Arthur Ransome,Lawrence Durrell,Gerald Durrell,G. S. Fraser,Michael Harrison,John Heath-Stubbs,Dylan Thomas,Henry Miller,Julian MacLaren-Ross,Philip Lindsay,Rebecca West,John Waller,August Derleth,Stephen Graham,Dorothy L. Sayers,J. B. Priestley,Eden Phillpotts,Stephen Potter,Martin Secker,Frank Swinnerton,John Wain, andJulian Symons. This practice has continued with later kings; examples include the artistStephen Chambers, ennobled in 2017.
Wynne-Tyson, Javier Marías, Bob Williamson, William Gates and Cedric Boston were all interviewed in theBBC Radio 4 documentaryRedonda: The Island with Too Many Kings, broadcast in May 2007.[14]
On 11 September 2022,Javier Marías died in Madrid. It was reported that Xavier I had namedJuan Gabriel Vásquez[15] as his successor, however, Vásquez later clarified that an official naming ceremony had never taken place.[16]
In August 2022, Spanish writer Javier Diéguez visited the island of Redonda and left some books by Javier Marías,M. P. Shiel, andJon Wynne-Tyson as a tribute to Javier Marías and the previous monarchs of Redonda.[17] Diéguez's book 'Redonda' narrates his journey to the island and serves as a posthumous tribute to Javier Marías.[18]
Original claims:
Later claims:
In 2007, the Wellington Arms pub inSouthampton, England, attempted to declare itself anembassy of Redonda, in order to gaindiplomatic immunity from a nationwideban on smoking in enclosed workplaces, including pubs. This ultimately failed when theForeign and Commonwealth Office pointed out thatHis Majesty's Government recognisesRedonda as a dependent territory ofAntigua and Barbuda which, accordingly, is not entitled to establish a separate embassy or high commission in the United Kingdom.[19]
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