Kingdom of Scone

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Kingdom of Scone
Flag of Scone.jpg

Official language(s) English
Demonym Sconnish
Government Parliamentary Monarchy
- King King Erik
- Prime Minister Spencer M Dayton
Legislature Parliament
- Type - Unicameral
Established 1 March 2014

Official Website

The The Kingdom of Scone is a miniature kingdom governed by a monarchy and a parliament patterned after the British Crown and the Parliament at Westminster. Complete with a king, a prime minister, parliamentarians, and other personages of noble rank and title, the Kingdom of Scone is a community dedicated to recreating, in miniature, the social, political, and ceremonial dynamic of a kingdom, with the UK as their model.

Although the Kingdom shares many characteristics of a micronation, it does not generally consider itself to be a micronation and prefers the self-descriptive term miniature kingdom.

History

Origins

The Kingdom of Scone was conceived of and designed by Sir James Murphy, in the year 2008, while he was actively involved in a micronation known as the Glennish Empire. The project was originally called "Sconeland," and developed as a concept for an Anglophile kingdom with Celtic influences modeled after Great Britain. Sconeland quickly became married to the Kingdom of Hanover, a venture which James had launched in 2002. Together, Hanover and Sconeland formed a polity styled "The Glennish Kingdoms of Hanover and Sconeland."

Independence

Sconeland would eventually come into being as an independent miniature kingdom, however, on 1 March 2014 when the unified Glennish Kingdoms were dissolved. Sconeland was rechristened as the Kingdom of Scone.

When Scone became independent, it formed its own parliament. At the time of independence, the Lord Lieutenant over the Sconnish realm, James Richard Edward George, became James, King of the Sconnish on 17 March 2014. Since then, the Kingdom of Scone functioned as a community of citizens, government ministers, and nobles with their own parliament and various institutions of state.

Reign of King James

King James giving his abdication speech

King James' reign was necessarily a reign of firsts. He was ceremonially installed as first King of the Sconnish on 17 March 2014. His inaugural rites consisted of an auto-coronation followed by a Throne Speech opening the very first Sconnish Parliament. James authored the Charter of Scone, enacted by that first Parliament, and much of the early legislation to follow. King James directed the creation of the Kingdom of Scone's public infrastructure, establishing her social media. James also presided over the installation of the first Sconnish Government led by the first Sconnish Prime Minister (and first democratically-elected Sconnish public official), the Earl of Rockcliffe.

Scone's first king would go on to establish the Sconnish Peerage and the Sconnish Honours System, which included the Order of Scone, the Order of the Sconnish Poppy, the Order of the Imperial Star of Glennain, the King's Army, the Royal Navy, the rank of Sconnish Banneret, and the Hereditary Knight of Murchaidh. James would also lay the foundations of the Sconnish gentry by creating the ranks of Baronet and Laird. During the course of his inaugural reign, James published Honours Lists several times a year signifying his intention to decorate subjects and foreigners alike with the various honours which he had established.

The bulk of cultivating the Sconnish community, as it exists today, happened directly under the reign of King James, either as fully-formed practices and traditions, or as the groundwork for future progress.

Regency and Abdication

In April 2018, the Royal Court announced that Prince Edward, the Prince Royal would be acting as Regent of Scone for an undetermined length of time while King James retired from public life and affairs of state. The Regency Period was scheduled to start on 21 May and continue indefinitely.

On 17 September of that same year, after four months of regency, King James announced his intention to abdicate the throne. The instrument of abdication was signed that day and took effect on 1 October.

Reign of King Edward

At noon on 1 October 2018, the Prince Royal ascended the throne as King Edward. Sconnish citizens generally lauded the transfer of power and celebrated the new king. During the reign of the new king, he continued his work with the college of Tartannac; an institution he created when he first joined the kingdom, having a keen interest in heraldry and vexillology. He also introduced two new orders of chivalry into Scone: The Most Honourable order of the Glennish Empire and The Most Noble Order of the Baronial Eagle.

Ultimately, the reign of King Edward came to an end on 5 March 2020 after less than two years on the throne.

Reign of King Erik

Prior to King Edward's abdication, his designated successor declined to accept the position. In response, a bill was proposed in the Sconnish Parliament to nominate Nathan Brown, the Duke of Walsingham as the new king. This was met with near universal acclaim, as Nathan had served as Prime Minister for several years and was generally regarded as a competent and dedicated member of Scone's government.

He ascended to the throne as King Erik on 6 March 2020. Grand Duke Travis sent his congratulations and a message of welcome to King Erik the same day.

In October 2021, Westarctica's Duke Van Valkenburg, Spencer M Dayton, was elected as the new Prime Minister of Scone.

Relations with Westarctica

King James receiving the Order of the Snowflake in 2017

The Kingdom of Scone has historically had excellent diplomatic relations with Westarctica. In 2015, Grand Duke Travis became the first foreign royal invited to speak on the floor of the Parliament of Scone. His Royal Highness provided a video address to the Sconnish people praising them for their democratic practices as well as the quality and character of their monarch, King James.

In 2017, a delegation from Westarctica led by Grand Duke Travis visited Sconnish North America for a state visit with King James.

On 21 December 2019, the Grand Duke met with Scone's Ambassador to Westarctica, Willamina, Earl of Dowington, for a diplomatic visit in Bakersfield, California. At the meeting, the Earl was invested as a Knight Commander in the Order of the Snowflake in recognition of his long diplomatic service.

Sconnish Ambassadors

Since 2015, it has been tradition for the King of Scone to appoint an ambassador to represent the government in the court of the Grand Duke.

The list of Ambassadors from Scone to Westarctica:

  • Position Vacant (2020)
  • Willamina, Earl of Downington (2018)
  • David, Marquess of Lindenlea (2017)
  • Lucy Rose, Countess of Stirlington (2016)
  • Sir Joseph Kennedy (2015)
  • Nathan Brown, Marquess of Walsingham (2015)

External links