American Man Claims An African Land To Make His Daughter A Princess

A man from America has claimed a small patch of Africa, because his daughter wants to be a princess.

Jeremy Heaton told BBC Radio 5 live that he had travelled from Virginia with his flag to proclaim the area the "Kingdom of North Sudan".



The area lies between Egypt and Sudan, is 800 square miles of arid desert and doesn't belong to any country.

He says he has put official requests in with both nations but, as yet, neither have responded.

Mr Heaton told 5 live his daughter, Emily, took a "serious tone" and asked "if one day she would be a princess".

"Being a father, I knew she was serious in her request," he said. "I researched pieces of land that were unclaimed and was fortunate to discover it."

To celebrate her seventh birthday he made the journey to what locals call Bir Tawil to make Emily's "dreams come true".

The father of three says he was determined to show his children he'd go to "the ends of the earth for them".
 

When he arrived on 16 June, he planted the flag his daughter had designed in the ground and insists his claim is legitimate.

A territorial dispute between the two countries means the land is one of the last unclaimed areas on earth.

Now Mr Heaton says he'll try to reach out to the African Union for support.

He argues that over the years many countries, including the United States, were claimed by the simple act of planting a flag.

The difference, he says, is that they were usually acts of war, but in this case he "founded the nation in love for my daughter".

However unlikely it is that Jeremy Heaton will become the new King of North Sudan, he already has development plans in place.

Princess Emily, as she is now called by her family, has ordered her new land to become a centre for agriculture.

She now wears her royal crown at all times and says it's "very cool" being a princess but she doesn't know when she'll visit what she thinks is the world's newest country.



Egypt, Sudan and the United Nations will have to recognise the Kingdom of North Sudan before she's officially the daughter of a king.