Abingdon, Virginia: A Virginia man says he has claimed a kingdom in the Middle East so his daughter can be a princess.
Jeremiah Heaton told the Bristol Herald Courier that he recently trekked to a small, mountainous region between Egypt and Sudan called Bir Tawil. No country claims the land.
Jeremiah Heaton and his seven year-old daughter, Princess Emily, show the flag. (AP)
Heaton says he planted a flag designed by his children there so that he could become a king — and more importantly, so his 7-year-old daughter Emily could be a princess. They named the area the Kingdom of North Sudan.
Princess Emily Heaton, 7, smiles as she talks about her father's birthday present.Princess Emily Heaton, 7, smiles as she talks about her father's birthday present. (AP)
Shelia Carapico, a professor of political science and international studies at the University of Richmond, says Heaton would not have political control over the land without legal recognition from neighbouring countries, the United Nations or other groups.
The land shown on a map (AP)
Heaton says he hopes to get Sudan and Egypt to recognise the kingdom.
