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Emperor Jonathan I celebrates ten years on the Throne
It was ten years ago today – 20 January 2013 – that His Imperial Majesty Emperor Jonathan I ascended to the Austenasian Throne.
To mark this momentous occasion, today’s Imperial Ascension Day – an annual public holiday – has been declared the start of a Decennalia year, during which various celebratory events will take place to observe the tenth anniversary of the Emperor’s first year on the Throne.
Emperor Jonathan I has published an Imperial Edict thanking those who have supported him in his reign and recommitting himself to the promises made at his coronation.
The Edict also contains a small honours list. The Emperor’s cousin Lord Timothy has been made Archduke of Gallia, and three other imperial rulers – Quentin I and the deputy monarchs of Imvrassia – have been given Austenasian dukedoms.
To further mark today’s jubilee, His Imperial Majesty also donated coins of historical emperors to the Imperial Numismatic Museum.
The first major Decennalia event is an online chess tournament which will take place tomorrow, in which twenty people are expected to take part.
Jonathan I is the fourth Emperor of Austenasia, and the only one to have reached this milestone of ten years on the Throne.
He became Emperor upon the abdication of his immediate predecessor Declan I, having been Heir to the Throne as son of Austenasia’s founding Monarch, Terry I.
His Imperial Majesty will address the Senate on this momentous occasion later today.
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.
New Mascot of the Order of the Bullmastiff appointed
After a vacancy lasting the better part of five years, a new Mascot has been named for the Order of the Bullmastiff.
Penny, a bullmastiff born in April 2020 who is owned by a family friend of the Imperial Family, was named to the position by Emperor Jonathan I earlier today.
The Order of the Bullmastiff is an Austenasian order of chivalry, and the only one to have a Mascot.
The bullmastiff is the national animal of Austenasia, and as such the Mascot serves almost as the ceremonial embodiment of such.
When the Order was founded by Emperor Terry I in January 2009, the Imperial Family had a pet bullmastiff, Rose, who was named Mascot of the Order. After Rose’s death in 2014, she was succeeded as Mascot by the Imperial Family’s other pet bullmastiff, Edd, and after his death in 2017, the position was taken by Rose’s daughter Lily (who did not live with the Imperial Family).
However, upon Lily’s death the following year, the position fell vacant.
Provision had been made for this, with a dog of another breed able to be appointed Honorary Mascot to fill the vacancy. The first Honorary Mascot was Cleo, family pet of the Emperor’s fiancee Princess Hannah. After Cleo’s death last year, a second Honorary Mascot was named as Ralph, family pet of former Prime Minister Lord John Gordon.
Now that a new Mascot has been found in Penny, the two shall serve concurrently. Ralph shall continue to hold the position of Honorary Mascot for the rest of his life, but no replacement will be appointed while a Mascot proper remains in office.
Although born in Cheshire, Penny was exported over to in Spain, where her owners currently live. She comes from a prestigious showing pedigree, with her father having won Best in Breed at Crufts in 2018.
Penny also has familial connections to each of the Imperial Family’s two pet bullmastiffs, being the great-x3 niece both of Rose and of Edd.
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.
Imperial Geographical Society returns to Woldingham
The Imperial Geographical Society (IGS) has conducted an expedition through woods and farmland south-west of the British town of Woldingham.
The expedition re-traced the route of a previous expedition, held in 2014.
The expedition was planned and led by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, who was joined by twelve other people, including the Imperial Family, Princess Hannah, Lady Boxall (the former Dame Rosalind), and the former residents of Zephyria.
Although Princess Hannah has been on two IGS expeditions in the past, this was the first time that she had joined one of the larger May excursions. It was also the first time that the former Lord Marshal William had joined an IGS expedition since the very first, in 2009.
Re-tracing the steps of the 2014 expedition, the participants were able to compare aspects of the route to their encounter eight years ago; for example, a well-known viewpoint was partially obscured by new tree growth, and various landmarks noted along the way in 2014 were no longer there this time round.
The IGS, since 2009, has customarily launched an annual expedition at the start of May exploring an area of countryside in Surrey.
Due to restrictions on gatherings in the United Kingdom implemented as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the annual May expedition could not go ahead as usual in 2020 and 2021 (although May 2020 did see an IGS expedition in North America).
However, with all legal restrictions in the UK now lifted, the annual expedition was able to be resumed. With thirteen participants in this expedition, it was larger than the original 2014 one, which had ten.
After the expedition, Emperor Jonathan I and his parents joined Princess Hannah and John of Zephyria for refreshments in a garden centre café on the way back to Carshalton.
A video of today’s expedition will be uploaded shortly.
The Emperor and Emperor Mother recover from coronavirus
Emperor Jonathan I and Emperor Mother Margaret have recovered from Covid-19, having both tested positive last weekend.
After testing positive on Sunday 27th February, His Imperial Majesty tested negative on the evening of Saturday 5th March. Although he contracted cold-like symptoms during the first few days of infection, these symptoms soon abated.
Emperor Mother Margaret, who also tested positive on Sunday 27th and displayed cold-like symptoms, has likewise recovered.
Emperor Father Terry was unwell with Covid-19 the previous week, but his recovery began about the same time that his wife and son developed symptoms. The Emperor Father remains well and has tested negative.
Upon falling ill, the Emperor appointed Counsellors of State to exercise some powers should he be absent in an emergency. Although he has recovered, the appointments will stay in place until their planned expiry at the end of the month, as a precautionary measure in view of possible escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
The Emperor catches Covid-19
His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and his parents have tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus, developing cold-like symptoms.
Emperor Jonathan I tested positive for the disease on the morning of Sunday 27th February, after starting to feel unwell the previous evening.
The Emperor continues to display cold-like symptoms, and Emperor Mother Margaret has also tested positive for the virus.
Emperor Father Terry had tested positive a few days previously, and was likewise displaying cold-like symptoms, but has now recovered. Wrythe had previously been free of the virus since the start of the pandemic.
His Imperial Majesty continues to conduct governmental business, and has not stopped working on his duties as Monarch.
However, given – in his own words – “any unforeseen developments regarding the ongoing crisis in Ukraine may require a robust and immediate response from the Throne”, Jonathan I has appointed two Counsellors of State to exercise some of his powers if necessary should he be unavailable while resting or should his condition worsen.
Counsellors of State are dignitaries who the Emperor can authorise to exercise various of his duties and powers as Monarch in case of short-term unavailability or incapacity.
The Prime Minister, Lord William Wilson, has been authorised “to exercise all military functions of the Throne and any duty or power of such related to the administration or command of the Austenasian Armed Forces”.
Furthermore, in an emergency, Lord Wilson and fellow Counsellor of State Lord Michael Simpson have been given the authority to jointly give Imperial Consent to an Act of Parliament on the Emperor’s behalf should such be considered urgently necessary.
The appointment of Lord Wilson and Lord Simpson as Counsellors of State will last until the end of March, unless otherwise shortened or extended by the Emperor.
First post-pandemic tourists visit Wrythe
The capital city of Wrythe this afternoon hosted Ollie and Sebastian, two filmmakers interested in creating a documentary on Austenasia to be published on YouTube.
Ollie and Sebastian are the first tourists to visit Wrythe – not including a working visit from Attorney General Anthony Clark in June – since the COVID-19 pandemic saw restrictions on movement within the neighbouring United Kingdom brought into place last year.
The third and last lockdown in England officially ended on 12 April, but many restrictions remained in place until being lifted on 19 July.
Ollie and Sebastian are the first tourists to have visited Wrythe since August 2019.
They were met at Carshalton station by Emperor Jonathan I and Emperor Father Terry before being given a guided tour of Orly and other various locations of interest to the history and culture of Austenasia, culminating in their arrival at Wrythe.
The filmmakers were then introduced to Emperor Mother Margaret, and conducted an informal interview with the Emperor in the Imperial Residence before also being shown Wrythe Public Park.
A link to their documentary on Austenasia will be provided upon its publication. (UPDATE: The film can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HuurMwnAsM )
Carshalton Day marked with visit from Attorney General
Anthony R. Clark, Attorney General and Governing Commissioner of Amerdansk, visited Carshalton today by invitation of Emperor Jonathan I.
June 24th is Carshalton Day, an annual celebration both of the heritage and unity of the “Carshalton Nations” as well as the anniversary of the Liberation of Orly. The occasion was taken by the Emperor to give Mr Clark a guided tour of Orly, before they headed to Wrythe for a working visit to the Imperial Residence.
At the Imperial Residence, the Attorney General met the Emperor’s parents and the imperial pet cat Baby, and was able to view various objects of significance including the Imperial Regalia, King Alex’s Bottle, and Diplomabear, in addition to the Micronational Collection in the Imperial Numismatic Museum.
The Emperor and Attorney General were then able to have a productive meeting in regards to various issues facing the Empire, before Jonathan I walked Mr Clark to Morden station to depart.
As Attorney General since December last year, Mr Clark oversees the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for providing legal advice to the government.
His visit to Wrythe marks the first time a Cabinet Minister has visited the capital while in office – with the exception of the Emperor – since Countess Eritoshi the then Chief Ambassador visited Wrythe in early 2016.
It was around the same time, March 2016, that Mr Clark founded Amerdansk. He was initially known as Lord Anthony Clark, as Baron of Amerdansk, before it transitioned into a Crown Dependency. He stood in the February 2019 general election, managing to gain 5% of the vote even after dropping out, and was recently elected 33rd Chairman of the Grand Unified Micronational.
Emperor Father named Pater Patriae on 60th birthday
In celebration of his sixtieth birthday, HIH Emperor Father Terry has been granted the unprecedented title of Pater Patriae by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.
Jonathan I announced the bestowing of the title with the publication of an Imperial Edict this morning.
Pater Patriae, which literally translates to “Father of the Fatherland”, was a title originally conferred by the Roman Senate to individuals considered successors of Romulus. In recent centuries, the title has been used more widely to refer to the founding fathers of a country.
For Emperor Father Terry, the title will be translated “Father of the Nation.”
The unique honour was presented as a birthday present from the Emperor and People of Austenasia as a whole.
As such, supporting the Emperor’s decision to grant the title were the Prime Minister, the Consuls, and a vote of the House of Representatives.
The Imperial Edict conferred the title “in grateful recognition of his role as Father of the Nation as de facto co-Founder, first Emperor of Austenasia, and Head of the Ancient and Imperial House of Austen in addition to his other contributions towards the country.”
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