Illustrated by Mary Schafrath.Like many young girls and boys, Emily Heaton wants to be a princess.
And, the Virginia youngster was granted her wish on her seventh birthday just last month. That's when her father planted a blue flag with four stars and a crown in an 800-square-mile section of desert in southern Egypt, granting royal rights over the land to his daughter.
“As a parent you sometimes go down paths you never thought you would,” Jeremiah Heaton told the Washington Post.
Surely, the Egyptian people did not expect a self-proclaimed American king-and-princess/father-and-daughter duo to assume such titles in the stretch of desert between Egypt and Sudan. Though it's known to locals as Bir Tawil, Heaton and his family call it the “Kingdom of North Sudan.” But, no matter the name, King Heaton is confident that their sovereignty will be honored by the African nations.
No legitimate settlement has been made on the formal declaration of the Kingdom of North Sudan, but the flag is, indeed, standing proud. And, for Eddie Izzard, at least, that's enough to make the country legit.
We'll keep you updated on how the kingdom evolves. Maybe this will turn into some sort of Frozen-meets-Aladdin adventure, full of princesses in desert lands, longing for a life bigger than their tiny kingdom allows. We'll just have to wait and see. (The Washington Post)