Dukes & Earls of Hutt River Principality

Dukes & Earls by the hundreds - but none in Australia is genuine. While the push to turn Australia in to a republic -thus severing its ties with royal family in London is gaining ground, thousands of well-to-do Australians are proud of their titles & enjoy wearing medals and ceremonial robes.

It hardly matters that these titles are not the real thing and that the robes are not the genuine articles. All that is required to join the ranks of the privileged is 250 Australian dollars .This entitles citizenship of the Hutt River principality, a wheat farm covering 75km-about the size of island of Hong Kong. The land is 450km north of Perth, the capital of state of Western Australia, but is not shown on any map, neither is its claim for sovereignty recognized by the federal govt. in Canberra or the west Australian govt. Yet more than 40000 tourists descend on the "principality' each year to obtain its visa & snap up the bank notes, coins & postage stamps it issues.

Leonard Casley ,a farmer founded the Hutt River principality in 1970 in protest against the low wheat quota allocated to him by authorities. At the same time he gave notice of seceding from Australia. Henceforth he called himself Prince Leonard . He had a flag designed & a 'national anthem' written which includes the words "the land where dreams can all come true... this land I call my own " to make them come true he & the 40000 citizens of Hutt River most of whom live as expatriates on the gold coast, a cluster of holiday resorts on eastern sea board, want to buy an island near Australia which they hope United Nations will recognize as a sovereign state. John Cumming a private investigator who calls himself Lord John Cumming & has been appointed 'defense minister' by prince Leonard expects this to result in the principality obtaining fishing, shipping & banking rights. Its administrative centre has also been shifted to the gold coast where its managed by Kevin Gale, a former sugar plantation worker miner & taxi driver. Gale, now a broker dealing with oil company known as Prince Kevin of Hutt River . On ceremonial occasions he wears a crimson cloak & a silken sash & the more showy one from his big collection of medals. Principality takes up most of his time & his official functions include the bestowing of titles.

The men of Hutt River becomes earls dukes barons marquises, the women duchesses, marchionesses, baronesses & dames. Kevin Sarre, businessman, was elevated to Lord Kevin Sarre and appointed minister for immigration . Ian Perkins , a real estate agent ,became Lord Perkins . Prince Kevin ,who described himself as Prime Minister, carries the additional titles of Baron Clare ,Viscount Kyalite , Duke of Farhaven and Grand Duke of Hibernia . However his wife, Princess Dorothea , does not mind being called Dot.

Hutt River citizens have their titles printed on business and credit cards, with astonishing results. When travelling abroad they are automatically offered hotel suites instead of ordinary rooms and airlines move them to seats in first class. When Prince Kevin visited Singapore the management of the Ming Court Hotel took a look at his business card and gave him a penthouse suite , put a chauffeur -driven car at his disposal and asked him to judge a baby show .The day he checked out he was told there was no bill-it was all on the house.

Hutt River aristocrats have expensive tastes and live in the fast lane. They drive expensive cars and wear gold watches .Many used to belong to Lions and Rotary clubs, so supporting charities has become second nature to them. All of them simply adore titles.

'WE have a lot of fun with them" said Ian Orton, proprietor of Ortons cocktail academy who is known as the earl of Geilston. Novelist Colleen Mecculloch the author of international best seller Thornbirds, who calls herself Baroness Colleen, admitted to dressing up in robes which she says, feels "great in the age of jeans and T-shirts at conformity”. Publican and television rugby commentator Chris Handy, who was 'Knighted and became Sir Christopher, said: we might be a small group but we form a formidable force of contacts and friends around the world.

Originally published by Gerald Stewart

(From my collection of news paper clippings )