iPlayer & Mini-kingdoms

Well surprise, surprise. I guess the Beeb doesn't consider British Overseas Territories to be suited to enjoy their fine TV programming. Indeed, I am now iPlayer-less, or at least will be for the next seven months. I don't usually get a constant hankering for EastEnders, really. I just don't know why, this isle technically being crown-owned land, am I being denied my occasional indulgence of the finest British soap.

The BBC News app has also denied my live streaming of its namesake channel (it doesn't even give me an error message prompt, it just minimizes without playing) and I now have to, alas, contend myself with BBC World with an ever-increasingly American shift in coverage and other trashy American TV channels which show up to five back-to-back episodes of Wife Swap. (Guilty as charged!) Attempts to download the BBC iPlayer Global app have backfired too because it's only available on the US iTunes store.

In other more exciting discoveries, I noticed while driving around the island that there's yet another small rocky island not too far away from Montserrat. It cuts quite an imposing figure, rising out of the sea with steep cliffs all around topped by an area of grassland that slopes rather steeply. Welcome to Redonda, a very small, uninhabited Caribbean island which is now part of Antigua and Barbuda. It is basically one very large rock, the remnant of an ancient volcanic core. Due to a lack of a freshwater source, Redonda itself is currently uninhabited, except by seabirds and, according to Wikipedia, a herd of feral goats that manage to survive on the poor grazing on top of the island.

Redonda rising out of the ocean.

Montserrat is the closest land to Redonda, which is situated between here and the island of Nevis. Originally spotted by Columbus who claimed it for the Spanish crown despite not setting foot on the island himself, it was subsequently made a British possession in the 1860s (why not?) but was handed over to Antigua and Barbuda when the latter become independent. Interestingly, however, Redonda has been claimed as a "kingdom" and is now considered a micronation. Who by, you might wonder. Here's an interesting blurb about Redonda's history as a mini-kingdom, extracted from Wikipedia's article about the Kingdom of Redonda.

"Redonda also is, or appears to be, a micronation which may, arguably and briefly, actually have existed as an independent kingdom during the 19th century. The title to this supposed kingdom is still contested to this day in a half-serious fashion. The "Kingdom" is also often associated with a number of supposed aristocratic members, whose titles are given out freely by whoever is currently the "King". Currently there are a number of different individuals in several different countries who claim to be the sole legitimate "King" of Redonda.

The idea of the kingdom appears to originate with M. P. Shiel, 1865–1947, an author of fantasy fiction. He claimed that in 1865, his father Matthew Dowdy Shiell, from the nearby island of Montserrat, proclaimed himself to be the rightful, and supposedly legal, "King" of the island of Redonda in order that he might establish his son as the rightful heir to the throne. This story, as first recounted by the son in a promotional leaflet for his books, may be partly or entirely fictional."

Another curious development that has since emerged (in 2007) was when a pub in Southampton attempted to declare themselves an embassy of the "nation" of Redonda, in order to gain diplomatic immunity from a nationwide ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces, including pubs. This was after the pub was granted status as a consulate of Redonda by the island's current king and the pub owner receiving a Redondan knighthood. Of course, this bold plan was eventually thwarted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, no less due to the fact that if the pub was classified as "foreign soil", it would be allowed to serve cheaper drinks because the pub would be exempt from VAT. You can read more about it on this online news article here.

Above is a map of the area on Google Earth to give you a clearer idea of where this fascinating micro-nation is actually located. Perhaps if I went over (by what means, I have no clue) and planted a Singapore flag there I could make it the first Singaporean colony - given how fickle the process of claiming territory seems to be. For the more musically-inclined, do check out Redonda's national anthem here. If you have a seaworthy vessel which you would like to enlist as part of the Royal Redondan Navy, you can download the application form here.

In other news, today I decided to go for a run around my immediate area just to have a look-see. One-and-a-half miles later I was completely shattered from what was possibly the most undulating run I have ever done in my life. Montserrat really is immensely hilly and certainly very punishing for a casual runner like me. At times the road was so steep I thought it might be less painful to jog backwards instead!