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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.
Queen Elizabeth II dies aged 96
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died after a reign of 70 years.
Emperor Jonathan I has announced an Empire-wide state of mourning to last until the Queen’s funeral.
For the first four and a half years of the Empire of Austenasia, its entire population also owed allegiance to Queen Elizabeth as sovereign of the United Kingdom, with which all Austenasians up to that point were dual citizens.
Even today, due to the various dual nationalities of all Austenasians, Elizabeth II was the joint sovereign of over a quarter of the Austenasian population (27.6%; 29 out of 105).
Elizabeth II is now succeeded as monarch by her son Charles, formerly Prince of Wales, who met Crown Princess Caroline in March earlier this year.
Shortly after learning of her death, Emperor Father Terry led a formal toast to the Queen’s memory in Parliament Hall.
Furthermore, Lord John Gordon, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has suspended all parliamentary business.
Full and official tributes to Queen Elizabeth II will be released by the Austenasian Throne and government in due course.
Born on 21 April 1926, Elizabeth II became Queen upon the death of her father King George VI on 6 February 1952. As well as reigning over the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II held the thrones of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and ten other Commonwealth Realms.
Crown Princess Caroline meets the Prince of Wales
A meeting of two heirs to the throne took place on Wednesday 9th March as HIH Crown Princess Caroline met HRH The Prince of Wales in London.
Prince Charles visited St Luke’s Church in London, part of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), to hear about the Refugee Response programme.
Refugee Response, run by HTB is working to support refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Her Imperial Highness, who works at HTB and has helped with the programme, met Prince Charles during his visit to the church.
Emperor graduates with Theology MA
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Jonathan I yesterday graduated from the University of Chester with a Masters degree in Theology.
The award of his degree followed a year of study from 2018-19 in Chester, culminating in his authorship of a 20,000 word dissertation on the authorship of the Johannine books of the New Testament.
The graduation ceremony took place at Chester Cathedral, and was also attended by the Emperor’s fiancée Princess Hannah, Emperor Father Terry, Emperor Mother Margaret, and Crown Princess Caroline. The Emperor’s aunt, Princess Julie, joined the group afterwards for a celebratory meal.
Emperor announces changes for 2020 in Christmas broadcast
His Imperial Majesty the Emperor used his annual Christmas broadcast to announce that February 2020 will see a general election and the secession of New Richmond and Terentia from Austenasia.
He has also revealed exclusively to the Austenasian Times that the Town of Augusta will be joining them, and was not mentioned in his broadcast due to a mistake.
The three towns will create a new Commonwealth of New Virginia, to be recognised as an independent state.
New Richmond is the most populated single town of the Empire, with 15 inhabitants, and is home to the current Prime Minister, Lord Admiral Kennedy.
Augusta – which was part of New Richmond before becoming its own town in June this year – has three inhabitants, and Terentia has six.
New Richmond and Terentia both originally joined Austenasia in 2013. It is understood that their desire to leave Austenasia and create their own country is primarily due to the growth of their own local identity and culture during this time.
With the impending departure of the incumbent Prime Minister’s hometown, a general election has been called for 12 February 2020.
At the time of writing, the Whig Party is expected to put forward Lord John Gordon and the Fatherland Party Lord Dionisiy Tezdzhan-Smahin as candidates. Applications for candidacy will be confirmed by the Emperor by 15 January.
The Christmas broadcast was published this morning on YouTube, and can be heard here. Jonathan I has broadcast a Christmas message every year since his ascension to the Throne in 2013.
Other than the publication of the Emperor’s Christmas broadcast, the Imperial Family celebrated Christmas Day by attending a morning church service at Carshalton Methodist Church and later opening presents and enjoying a Christmas meal at the Imperial Residence.
The Imperial Family was joined at the church service by members of the extended Imperial Family as well as the former residents of Zephyria.
Although most of the Imperial Family is Methodist, Emperor Jonathan I joined the Orthodox Church in 2011. He attended a service at his own church yesterday for Christmas Eve, but often attends the morning Christmas Day service at the Methodist church with his priest’s blessing in order to spend time with his family at Christmas.
During this year’s service, Jonathan I and Crown Princess Caroline were invited to light all five of the Advent candles to mark the beginning of the service.
Christmas wishes have been sent to and received from numerous foreign national leaders by cards and e-mails.
Expedition of the Imperial Geographical Society to Box Hill
The Imperial Geographical Society (IGS) earlier today conducted an expedition to Box Hill in Surrey.
The expedition traversed valleys and woodland around Box Hill on its way to the viewpoint at the top of the hill itself, which commands a spectacular view of Dorking and the surrounding countryside.
On their way up the hill, the expedition encountered a large bed of bluebells and some mysterious tiles embedded in the woodland floor.
Fourteen people took part in the expedition, including Emperor Jonathan I, the Emperor Mother, and Crown Princess Caroline. The route had been planned by John, former Baron of Zephyria.
This marks the twentieth expedition of the IGS, almost ten years to the day since its first was conducted on 4 May 2009.
A video of the expedition will soon be uploaded.
UPDATE – 3 October 2019: A video of the expedition can now be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKSUyeyNNWg
IGS Expedition to Dorking
The Emperor, Emperor Father, and Crown Princess earlier today embarked on the Imperial Geographical Society’s nineteenth expedition.
The Expedition travelled to the British town of Dorking. An initial plan to explore the town’s high street had to be cancelled due to a lack of parking spaces, and so the three instead went to a nearby pub for lunch.
While driving near the town, the expedition encountered a large statue of a cockerel, a famous local landmark.
The expedition was undertaken at the suggestion of Emperor Father Terry, primarily to give Crown Princess Caroline practice at driving her new car.
Despite the relatively uneventful trip, the expedition (and lunch out) was enjoyed by all.
Cool Barbie finale published
Main antagonist Dominus, played by Sam Legg.
Earlier today, Cool Barbie XV – The Final Battle was published on YouTube by Austenasian Television Productions (ATP), bringing to an end a series of short films which began in 2009 and had their roots in a home movie made in 2005.
The Cool Barbie series produced by ATP consisted of fifteen full episodes and three “minisodes”, set in a fictional world in which toys are alive and chronicling the eponymous Barbie doll’s encounters with various aliens and villains.
The majority of characters were played or voiced by Emperor Jonathan I and Crown Princess Caroline, but others have played minor roles, and in today’s final installment both Princess Hannah and Lord John Gordon provided voice acting for two minor characters.
The previous episode ended on a cliffhanger, with the antagonist Dominus having absorbed enough magical power to conquer Earth. Cool Barbie XV sees Cool Barbie (voiced by Crown Princess Caroline) and Commander Xeaphon (played in person by Jonathan I) work together to defeat the villain.
The Cool Barbie series is based on three home movies made between 2005 and 2008 by the now Jonathan I, Crown Princess Caroline, and their cousin Lord Timothy. Upon the foundation of ATP, the broadcaster remade the three original films and produced twelve sequels.
With the series now over, there are no immediate plans for any future Cool Barbie productions, although ATP has not ruled out the possibility of stand-alone specials in the future.
Imperial Geographical Society Expedition to Soria
The church built over the 6th century hermitage of St Saturio; one of the most iconic sites of Soria.
The Imperial Geographical Society (IGS) yesterday undertook an expedition exploring sites of interest in the Spanish city of Soria, and following part of the course of the Duero River.
The expedition, the members of which consisted of Emperor Jonathan I and his sister Crown Princess Caroline, is the first of the IGS to have taken place outside of the United Kingdom.
The Emperor has been living in the Spanish city of Soria since September with his fiancée Princess Hannah, and will continue to do so until June.
The Crown Princess visited the imperial couple from Tuesday to Friday this week, and on Thursday 12th it was decided to designate a comprehensive tour of Soria’s sites of interest as an official IGS expedition.
The main sites visited on the tour of the city were:
- An outdoor refuge for stray cats
- The ruins of the Convent of St Francis (17th century) and of the church of St Ginés (12th century)
- The churches of St John of Rabanera (12th century), Our Lady of the Hawthorn (16th century), and the Co-Cathedral of St Peter (16th century)
- The Hermitages of St Saturio and Our Lady of Miron (both 6th century)
- A hill behind the Hermitage of Miron from which a view of the ruins of Numantia (2nd century BC) can be seen
- The high street in central Soria
Rushymia to be re-established as Crown Dependency
The emblem of Rushymia.
An Act of Parliament was passed earlier today authorising land to be claimed on which to restore the former kingdom of Rushymia.
Rushymia was an entity existing under British sovereignty between 1995 and 2000 in the primary school attended by the now Emperor Jonathan I and Crown Princess Caroline.
The last of the kings to have ruled Rushymia abdicated without a successor. He left the right to his title to whoever could first retrieve a plastic bottle he placed high up a fence, a feat only achieved by Emperor Esmond III in October 2010.
The title King of Rushymia has been held ever since by the Austenasian Monarch, but in an entirely ceremonial capacity.
This Act of Parliament has authorised Rushymia to be re-established as a territorial entity, this time under Austenasian sovereignty.
No options have yet been announced as to possible locations for the Crown Dependency-to-be.
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