Kings and impostors of Redonda

Over the past 125 years, several individuals have claimed the micronation called the Kingdom of Redonda, with the title of king. An account told by fantasy writer M.P. Shiel in 1929 claimed that Redonda had been founded as an "independent kingdom" decades earlier, in the 19th century. The title of the alleged kingdom is still alive and well today among those who believe in its cultural and literary aspects. Indeed, the "Kingdom" is generally associated with aristocratic individuals, who link their name to this ephemeral kingdom over which they have no ownership or territorial rights. The Kings of Redonda have, over time, granted titles to various individuals, often linked to the artistic or cultural world. Over time, many individuals have claimed the title of King, but often with little historical basis or rights.

The first king of Redonda was Matthew Phipps Shiell, later known as the writer M.P. Shiel, who claimed to have been crowned in Redonda at the age of 15, in 1880, by John Mitchinson who had been deputy bishop of Antigua since 1879. 

Tradition, now well-known and the basis of the Kingdom of Redonda, has it that Shiell's father requested the title of King of Redonda from Queen Victoria and, according to legend, since no official documents exist, it was granted to him on the condition that there was no revolt against British colonial power.

This assumption is today the basis of the request presented by King José Juan I to Charles III, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of the other fourteen realms of the Commonwealth, to renew or at least accept with acknowledgement the ephemeral title of King of Redonda to the current last monarch. Briefly, we can recall that Shiel ceded the title and rights to his literary work to his main admirer, the London poet and publisher John Gawsworth (Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong), biographer of Arthur Machen. 

• Matthew Phipps Shiell, 1880–1947 ( Filipe I )
• John Gawsworth, 1947–1967 o 1970 (Re Juan I )
• Arthur John Roberts, 1967–1989 (Re Juan II)
• Jon Wynne-Tyson, 1970–2020 (Re Juan II )
• William Leonard Gates, 1989–2019 (chiamato Re Leone)
• Javier Marías, 1997–2022 (Re Xavier )
• Giancarlo Noferi1967-2013 ]] (Re Giancarlo Ezio I di Montedoglio )

  • Since 1967, Giancarlo Ezio I di Montedoglio, physician, anthropologist, writer, and Vicar General of the Order of the Templars of San Salvatore al Monte (Ordo Equestris Militiae Templi DV), has been the ruler of "Santa Maria la Redonda." Unlike other claimants to the title of King of Redonda, HRH Giancarlo Ezio I di Montedoglio also enjoys formal recognition of his role by the Micronational Professional Registry, as this legitimate Kingdom of Redonda is a member nation of the organization.

  • For various reasons, Giancarlo Noferi first made contact with the British politician Ian Fletcher, who sought to clarify the lineage of the throne of Redonda, which had been put up for sale to the highest bidder since 1958, when John Gawsworth placed an advertisement in The Times asking 1,000 guineas. Among the bidders was a member of the Swedish royal family who sent 50 pounds as a deposit. It was Ian Fletcher who then chose as his successor a Florentine gentleman deemed suitable for the investiture by his birth and cultural activity: Giancarlo Noferi, who lived in Florence.
  • Supporting the validity of the title of King of Redonda is the document signed by John Gawsworth in Florence during the visit, cited by several biographers of the writer, in the spring of 1969. On that occasion, as reported in some books, which do not mention Noferi, he indicates a Florentine admirer who covered John Gawsworth's living expenses.
  • Due to current claims, the Kingdom of Redonda lacks any territorial consistency, but its meaning, in the words of HRH Giancarlo Ezio I, lies not in the exercise of power and territorial privilege, but in the absolute value of freedom, the defense of the Christian roots of Western culture, the recognition of the self-determination of all peoples, and the social solidarity shown toward the less fortunate.

    In 1995, His Royal Highness Giancarlo Ezio I purchased a plot of land in the Pisan hills, now the official seat of Poggio al Vento, the sovereign's summer residence and home to the Crown Council and the Heraldic College. Here, the court meets with diplomatic, political, and institutional representatives of the states and micronations with which the Kingdom of Redonda maintains official relations.

    Among the Kingdom's charitable works, great emphasis is placed on projects with the Bolivian Chaco tribe, a work that now benefits from the local presence of Franciscan friars and the generosity of numerous benefactors. The Kingdom of Redonda has completed numerous educational and sanitation projects, and the construction of aqueducts and wells is also planned in the future. 

  • By 2010, Giancarlo Ezio I of Montedoglio's work on behalf of the island of Redonda had reached the point of involving other micronations in an attempt to gain some recognition from the UN. This was done by sending letters relating to geopolitical, ecological, and cultural issues, attempting to demonstrate how something so small and nonexistent from a territorial perspective, and bordering on international legal considerations, could be positively evaluated.

    Around the same time, a website supporting the activities of King Giancarlo Ezio I of Montedoglio had been launched, but a series of "incidents," especially threats, led him to close the website and keep a low profile regarding the activities of the Kingdom of Redonda.
  • In 2013, King Giancarlo Ezio I of Montedoglio, in Poggio al Vento in the province of Pisa, seat of the Crown Council and the College of Heraldry, abdicated to re Josè Juan I (Giuseppe Garbarino). The title was passed on, but with legal effect only after the death of Giancarlo Ezio I of Montedoglio, which did not occur until 2019.   

 - Giuseppe G. Garbarino, 2019 (Re José Juan I )

• • In the words of HRH Josè Juan I, the name under which he took possession of Redonda, it lies not in the exercise of power and territorial privilege, but in the absolute value of freedom, in the defense of the Christian roots of Western culture, in the recognition of the self-determination of all peoples, and in the social solidarity shown towards the less fortunate, without forgetting that the kingdom is a literary entity that creates an intellectual aristocracy, fully grasping the meaning of the Kingdom of Redonda and its tradition.

REFERENCES

https://www.wikiwand.com/it/articles/Regno_di_Redonda