This Dad Claimed Unclaimed Land Just to Make His Daughter a Princess
When Emily Heaton asked her father if she could be a real princess, Jeremiah Heaton did not laugh it off. He told her yes. Emily was six at the time and serious about her question. Jeremiah, a mine-safety company owner from Abingdon, Virginia, began researching whether there was any land on Earth that no country officially owned.
That search led him to a remote stretch of desert called Bir Tawil.
The 800-Square-Mile Gap No One Wants
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Landsat 8 / OLI
Bir Tawil is located between Egypt and Sudan and covers roughly 800 square miles of arid land. It exists because of a long-standing border dispute dating back to British-drawn boundary lines in 1899 and 1902.
Each country uses a different border map. Under one version of the border, Bir Tawil belongs to Sudan. Under the other version, it belongs to Egypt. However, accepting ownership of Bir Tawil would require accepting the border line that gives the other country control of the far more valuable Hala’ib Triangle. Because neither country wants to give up its claim to Hala’ib, both avoid claiming Bir Tawil.
Jeremiah focused on Bir Tawil as a possible solution to his daughter’s wish.
An 8,000-Mile Journey
In June 2014, Jeremiah traveled from Virginia to Egypt. He drove 200 miles to Charlotte, North Carolina, boarded a $1,600 flight to Munich, then continued to Cairo. From there, he drove six hours south along the Red Sea before heading into the desert.
On June 16, 2014, Emily’s seventh birthday, he climbed a hill in 110-degree heat, drank six bottles of water, and planted a flag in the sand.
The blue flag featured four stars and a crown. The design came from his children. The top star represented his wife, Kelly. The three smaller stars stood for Justin, Caleb, and Emily. The crown symbolized Jeremiah, who declared himself king.
He proclaimed the land the “Kingdom of North Sudan” and declared Emily an official princess.
A Kingdom Without Recognition
Jeremiah announced his claim publicly and said he submitted requests to Egypt and Sudan. He later expressed interest in seeking recognition from the African Union.
Experts pointed out that planting a flag does not create a sovereign nation. Recognition from other countries or international bodies such as the United Nations would be required. That recognition never came.
Back in Virginia, Emily began wearing her tiara and answering to “Princess Emily.” She reportedly wanted her kingdom to become an agricultural hub that could help feed starving children in Africa.
Bir Tawil remains desert terrain with no established infrastructure. Jeremiah framed the act as symbolic rather than strategic. He said he wanted his children to know he would go to the ends of the earth for them.