Not our own Princess Kate, but 7-year-old Emily has very recently become the princess of a newly declared country in Africa, after travelling there in her father’s caravan
Virginia father, Jeremiah Heaton, travelled for 14 hours by caravan to keep the promise he made that Emily would one day be royalty. Having trawled the internet in search of unclaimed land, he came across a stretch of land between Egypt and Sudan that was left unclaimed after a border dispute between the two nations. The kingdom covers 800 square miles and is said to be one of the last pieces of unclaimed land in the world. Heaton then sought permission from Egyptian authorities to visit the unpopulated area.
Whilst there on Emily’s seventh birthday, he planted a blue flag with crown seal and stars to represent the family, designed by the Heaton children, and began the process of laying claim to the land. Despite several bids being placed for the land, Heaton believes that he had the upper hand by actually travelling to the site.
The land is know by locals as Bir Tawil but has been renamed ‘The Kingdom of North Sudan’ by the Heaton family. The Virginian miner claims that planting a flag is a legitimate claim to the land set by a historic precedent. Sheila Carapico, a professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Richmond, disagrees. Carapico argues that the claim would need to get approval and legal recognition from neighbouring countries, the UN and other groups for it to be binding.
The Heaton children show no signs of being spoilt and self-centred as one may initially think, however. Heaton has said that they have discussed what they, as a nation, could do to help and Princess Emily has said she wants to ensure the children in the region have enough food. Heaton has also expressed an interest in improving agriculture in the area, highlighting that ‘A lot of technology has gone into agriculture and water’ and that ‘these are the things [the kids] are concerned with.’ He hopes that positive relations can be established through these efforts with Egypt and Sudan.
All of a sudden our caravan trips seem very unproductive.
