Hutt River Province & Prince Leonard

In 1994 Someone was selling fake royal titles of the principality of Hutt River Province -- and right under Prince Leonard's nose too!

Now no doubt you're asking where the blazes Hutt River Province is and who is Prince Leonard.
Well, he's an Aussie, and Hutt River Province is what he chose to call his homeland after he seceded from Australia. Some years ago he had a disagreement with the government Down Under, so he declared his land no longer part of Australia and named himself prince of this new country. He rules HRP along with his wife, Princess Shirley.

The Principality of Hutt River is situated 595 km north of Perth, Western Australia and is about 75 square km in size, consisting of some 18,500 acres of land.



Hutt River is an Independent Sovereign State having seceded from Australia on the Twenty First Day of April 1970 and is of comparable size to Hong Kong (not the New Territories).

The Principality consists of undulating farmland well covered in places with a wealth of shrubs and glorious wildflowers.

H.R.H. Prince Leonard, a keen supporter of both the Arts and Conservation, has named parts of the Principality with such identities as Lake Beginning, Mount Secession, Lake Serenity and Wild Boar Gorge. His town site, Nain, has been developed with many buildings to provide facilities for the tourists who visit in their thousands each year.
These facilities include The Administration Building containing the Government Office and Post Office, Tea Rooms with Swimming Pool and a charming Inter-Denominational Chapel as well as the arcade housing the Memorabilia Dept. and Historical Society displays.

It is perhaps of interest to note, that Western Australia was actually never proclaimed by Captain Stirling as British Territory, as was required of him under his Letter Patent.


He only Proclaimed a Settlement (the Swan Settlement) in Western Australia.

They have their own currency (which is apparently worthless). But tourism is booming in HRP as many people stop by to visit this country within a country.

Prince Leonard and his principality were in the news in 1994 because some imposter was peddling "fake" HRP titles through a direct mail campaign. For a mere $10 Cdn, this con artist would provide anyone with documentation that proclaimed the bearer related to Prince Leonard and thus in the line of succession to the throne. Quelle scam.

Australians have always been known for their independent spirit, but Leonard George Casley has carried his a lot farther than the government expected. It has been almost 20 years since Casley protested a government-imposed wheat quota of 1,647 bushels for his 18,500-acre Western Australia farm.
When he claimed the dollar returned on such a small crop would hardly pay the interest on the loan due for two of his four tractors, his complaints fell on deaf ears. He then "seceded" from the Commonwealth of Australia and has since been ignoring every government order to cease and desist.
Australian authorities made the mistake of addressing him on occasion as "The Administrator" of his self-proclaimed Principality of Hutt River Province. It was a slip of the official pen that Casley claims is equivalent to de facto recognition.
Since "secession," Casley has proclaimed himself a prince. He's bestowed honors, titles and knighthood, issued proclamations and edicts, designed a flag, printed postage stamps, and issued both coins and currency that he claims to be "legal tender" in the principality.


The Australian Governments response to all this is typically that HRP is a private farm and that the Prince is nothing but a businessman.
On occasion, HRP is mentioned in parliament. Sometimes there may be a negative connotation with allegations of opportunism.
Australian postal services officially will not send letters to HRP, however, the reality is that letters addressed to the province do arrive, and letters sent with HRP stamps also leave the country. At times HRP did not pay taxes, and certainly Department of Territories internal government documents posted on the HRP website indicate that the province is not bound to pay taxation.
The Australian government generally appears to avoid any legal challenge to the HRP. While HRP builds its own buildings (without any Australian government approval), offers company registrations, car licences, sells coinage, philately and even runs its own University, many of these activities would seemingly draw the ire of the Australian government on any Australian citizen. However the Australian government has so far not interfered with HRP sovereignty in these matters, and appears to avoid any legal stoush with the HRP.



http://www.hutt-river-province.com/


This man deserves my applause today.