Last modified: 2021-02-20 by rob raeside
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In June 1865 Matthew Dowdy Shiel (s.a.), an Irish merchant in Montserrat dedicated to shipping, was on the island of Redonda, which that at that time did not belong to any country. In celebration of the birth of his son, and with certain influence of the abundance of the alcohol, Matthew Shiel proclaimed the island for himself as a kingdom, and himself as King Matthew I. Seven years later Britain took possession of the island ignoring the claim of Shiel. Following the British annexation, several dubious events occurred. Matthew abdicated on 21 Jul 1880 in favor of his son, Philippe Shiel (Matthew Phipps Shiel) (b. 1865 - d. 1947), who was proclaimed king Felipe; he died 17 Feb 1947, leaving "the succession" - by testament to his literary adviser, the poet John Gawsworth (= Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong) as Juan I (b. 1912 - d. 1970). Juan I tried to sell the island to the Swedish royal family but was prevented by Britain. After the death of Juan I on 23 Sep 1970, the crown was demanded by Jon Wynne-Tyson (Juan II)(b. 1924) who claimed bestowed the kingship on him with the literary executorships by Gawsworth. Juan II reportedly transmitted the crown to Spanish writer Javier Marías (Xavier I)(b. 1951) on 6 Jul 1997. However, in 1984 the "nobility" recognized Cedric Boston (Cedric I)(b. 1960) as king. Juan II abdicated in favor of history professor William Leonard Gates (Leo V) on the 26 Oct 1989. At the moment there are as many as nine pretenders to "the throne" of Redonda, among them Bob Glen Williamson (Robert I "the Bald")(b. 19.. - d. 2009) a successor of Juan II, who assumes he inherited the "kingdom" on the death of Juan II. Robert I supposedly "acceded" to the throne in 1997 dying on 27 Aug 2009, which led to Michael J. Howorth (Michael the Grey)(b. 1949) to claim the crown on 11 Dec 2009. And in 1993 Matthew Phipps Shiel's granddaughter, Lancashire housewife Margaret Parry (f)(b. c.1954), came to the fore and was hailed as "Queen Maggie" of Redonda by various newspapers.
Source: https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Antigua_and_Barbuda.html#Redonda by Ben Cahoon
List of Kings
- Matthew Dowdy Shiel, 1865–1880
- Matthew Phipps Shiel,
1880–1947 (styled as King Felipe I)
- John Gawsworth, 1947–1967 or 1970
(styled as King Juan I)
- Arthur John Roberts, 1967–1989 (styled as King
Juan II)
-> William Leonard Gates, 1989–2019 (styled as King Leo)
-> and
since 2019 his wife, Queen Josephine
- Jon Wynne-Tyson, 1970–1997 (styled
as King Juan II)
-> Javier Marías, 1997– (styled as King Xavier)
- Bob
Williamson, 2000–2009 (styled as King Bob the Bald)
-> Michael Howorth 2009–
(styled as King Michael the Grey)
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
image by Antonio Martins, 18 February 2010
The first flag was adopted by John I in 1949.
Jaume Ollé, 28 October 2000
image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
Green-brown-blue, with rather light shades: light olive green-medium
brown-light blue.
Source: picture on the website of King Xavier:
http://www.javiermarias.es/2006/02/redonda-en-match-du-monde-lutopie-est.html
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
At
www.antiguanice.com,
we can read that one of the claimants tot the Redonda
crown, King Robert the Bald, died 27 August 2009. He was
succeeded by King Michael the Grey, who can be seen with the
Blue-Green-Maroon flag (and crown, cape and shorts).
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 14 January 2010
image by
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
In 1997 royal standard and (de facto) state flag was changed
by H.M. King Robert the Bald. The design was changed and Coat of
Arms added.
Jaume Ollé, 28 October 2000
The flag is white-light blue-dark brown-dark green-white. The coat of arms is
at the hoist.
Sources:
http://rusadvice.org/science/inventions/ostrov_lisogo_korolya_otkrivaet_posolstvo_v_prokurennoy_pivnoy.html
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-antigua-and-barbuda-antigua-island-bob-williamson-known-as-william-35428129.html
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
Image based on
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2289005.stm
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
Redonda is a desert islet of 1.6 square km (only 1.3 according
to Encyclopaedia Universalis) belonging to Antigua-and-Barbuda.
The Kingdom of Redonda was proclaimed on July 1865 by the Irish
negotiant Matthew Dowdy Shiel from Montserrat. He celebrated on
Redonda with a group of friends the birth of his first son (and
his ninth child). Rum helped him to proclaim himself King of
Redonda. The King abdicated on 21 July 1880 and his son Matthew
Philip was crowned as King Felipe by the bishop of Antigua. The
young King moved to London where he became a successful novelist,
and never saw again Redonda. When he died in 1947, the young poet
John Gawsworth became Juan I of Redonda and created an
"intellectual aristocracy", giving noble titles to
famous artists such as Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, Dorothy
Sayers and Dirk Bogarde. Juan I rapidly bankrupted (once again
because of alcoholic beverages) and tried to sell Redonda to a
member of the Swedish royal family, the transaction being
cancelled by the British authorities. He finally gave the title
to Juan II (Artur John Robert), who himself gave him to the
current King Leo V, the history teacher William Leonard Gates.
The Court lives in exile in London and meets in the Fitzroy
Tavern, Guinness being the official beverage of the Court. The
Kingdom release stamps, The Times of Redonda (official gazette).
The motto is 'Floreat Redonda!' (May Redonda flourishes!)
There are at least five competitors to Leo V, including Robert I
who wants to use the rock as a naturists' camp and an American
who wants to proclaim the Republic.
The flag is horizontally divided blue-white-blue (2:1:2) with a
golden crown in the upper blue stripe.
Source: Bruno Fuligni in Franciae Vexilla #16/62 [vfr], December 1999.
Ivan Sache , 19 December 1999
The flag reported by Vexilla Francia is absolutely unknown to
the current king. In a communication he describes the flag as
very close to the one I reported (but order of stripes was
changed three years ago by Decree of the king). He also explain
about the name of the North point of the island, that is named
Anton Gaudi Point, from the genial architect born in Reus.
Jaume Ollé, 23 October 2000
There are various pretenders for the kingdom of Redonda and
that is why various flags exist. This flag is King Leo's flag.
Bruno Fuligni (author of "L’Etat c’est
moi" [ful97]), 12 January
2004
red5.gif)
image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
The coat of arms are the arms of King Leo's line: http://www.redonda.org/
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
Blue-green-brown.
Dark colours as reported and drawn by by Antonio
Martins-Tuvalkin.
Sources:
https://www.thehoworths.com/2009/12/long-live-the-king-of-redonda/
https://caribbeansealife.com/2018/03/25/the-kingdom-of-redonda/
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021
A drawing of the flag on the website of Michael the Grey (http://www.kingdomofredonda.com)
has lighter colours.
Olivier Touzeau, 26 January 2021