United Royal Kingdom of Syana and all Her Crown Realms

United Royal Kingdom of Syana and all Her Crown Realms

Deus fideles defendit
Royal Anthem of Syana
Official language	English, Spanish
Capital	Tiyn
Demonymn	Syanese (official), Syanish
Date founded	February 25, 2009
Number of citizens	57 citizens (not all active; some honorary/hereditary)
Number of active citizens	17 - 20
Currency	Syanese Shilling
Government	Feudal and Constitutional Semi-Theocratic Monarchy
Current leader	Karolina II (as Queen) David Lowe (as Prime Minister)
Religion	Christianity (Syanese Catholicism)
Patron Saint	Saint Edward
National animal	Lion
National fruit/food	Bread
National drink	Red Wine

The United Royal Kingdom of Syana and all Her Crown Realms (Syana) is a micronation founded on February 25, 2009 by Queen Karolina I and currently ruled by her youngest daughter, Queen Karolina II, who has decided to try and build up the intermicronational image of the nation. A unitary state, Syana is a constitutional monarchy with some theocratic aspects to her government. She was originally founded to be something of a private joke for the Syanese Royal Family but within weeks of her creation grew to become a serious micronational endeavour as the first Queen came to learn more about the global micronational movement. To this date most Syanese citizens are members of the Royal Family or close friends of it but Queen Karolina II hopes to change this as the nation moves into the greater community, in particular seeking to harness the internet as a tool for population growth and national expansion.

History

Karolina I's reign

Formation and early days

The United Royal Kingdom of Syana and all Her Crown Realms was officially established on February 25, 2009 by Caroline Elizabeth Escarrà, as the Royal Kingdom of Syana. The Kingdom was created as an Absolute Monarchy with Caroline ascending to the throne as Queen Karolina I. The fledgling micronation was created as something of a joke for the new Queen's family, particularly for her young grandchildren, inspired by a friend who had read about micronationalism online. Shortly after the creation of her new Kingdom Queen Karolina I decided to research the concept of micronationalism in greater detail, surprised at the number of serious micronational movements across the globe. By mid to late March 2009 Syana had gone from being a private joke to a serious micronational endeavour. She began to persuade family and friends to get involved in the nation and take it as a serious project, and was pleasantly surprised when many people were intriqued by the idea and agreed to get involved.

Golden April

With interest in the nation having been much higher than anything Queen Karolina could have expected, April 2009 proved to be an important period in Syanese history as the Queen began the transition from true Absolute Monarchy to Feudal Monarchy, giving her family and friends the opportunity to become involved in the running and leadership of the micronation. The Queen created the current system of Syanese nobility and divided the claimed land of the nation up among numerous citizens, giving them titles and responsibilities appropriate for their involvement and capabilities. Most notably the Queen created the Five Principalities, semi-independent constituent countries of Syana, giving leadership of them to her five children. Syana became a unitary state with their establishment. She also created the first modern government offices, though their powers were limited compared to those they now exercise under her daughter's rule. Although no formal legislature existed at the time, Karolina introduced a handful of laws in late April.

Among the most important developments of April 2009, which the Syanaese government calls Golden April, was the creation of the Syanese Catholic Church. The proposal to create the Church was brought forward by it's first and to date only leader (Archcardinal) Henry Lord (an ordained minister), being formally approved by the Crown on April 8, 2009. Although the Church was originally intended to be independent, Karolina I declared Syanese Catholicism the official religion of the nation just four days after the creation of the Church and the Church itself became a vital part of the government over the coming weeks.

Abdication and succession crisis

As she continued to research the global micronational movement in greater detail, Karolina I realised that it was vital for Syana to move into the greater micronational community soon in order to establish diplomatic ties with other micronations. She studied the MicroWiki community in particular detail between April and May and soon came to the conclusion that she was not the best suited individual to lead the nation forward, believing that a younger and sharper mind would be required to ensure the success of Syana abroad. On April 29 she announced that she would be abdicating the throne to her eldest daughter, Crown Princess Royal Annemarie. Unexpectedly, Annemarie refused the throne, sparking a succession crisis between the four younger children of Karolina.

Two days after the announcement of the Queen's abdication two of her children, Princess Frances and Prince Edward, withdrew from the competition. Both Princess Elizabeth and Prince Ferdinand subsequently contested the throne in the hope of being deemed the rightful successor. The Queen decided that, rather than choosing the oldest of the two, the matter would be left to Annemarie in her capacity as the oldest child of the Monarch. The Princess Royal declared that Elizabeth should inherit the crown and on May 13, 2009 she officially ascended to the throne, adopting the regnal name of Karolina II in honour of her mother. Upon the ascension Queen Karolina I became Karolina, Queen Mother and to this day the former Queen remains active in the governance of the nation.

Karolina II's reign

Great Reform Act

When she ascended to the throne on May 13, the new Queen Karolina II thought it vital to further the reforms of her mother and move the nation from being an Absolute Feudal Monarchy to a Constitutional one, albeit one in which the Monarch remained the supreme ruler of the nation. On May 15, 2009 she ordered that the micronation's first real legislative bill, the Great Reform Act, be drafted to dictate the terms of this change in government. She declared the implementation of the act upon it's completion ten days later resulting in the establishment of the current system of government, including the tricameral parliament, the Privy Council, an elected Head of Government and the vital role of the Church in the affairs of the State. The Act also saw the micronation drop it's old name and adopt the current name of the United Royal Kingdom of Syana and all Her Crown Realms. Immediately after the act was passed an election was called by the Queen and political parties were registered. The first general election took place on June 3, 2009 for the lower house and Head of Government. The results were announced on June 5, cementing the reforms the Queen had introduced. Due to the vast majority of citizens being nobles or royals, most members elected to the lower house were not ordinary citizens as originally hoped.

National expansion

Shortly after the general election the Queen declared the beginning of an era of national expansion in which the nation will seek to reach out to other states and develop strong ties with them. In particular the Queen hopes to build strong alliances with ideologically like-minded nations and other Christian states, though she is open to negotiation with nations of any or no faith. On June 12, 2009 Parliament officially passed the Foreign Relations Act, opening Syana up to foreign affairs and establishing that the Syanese Crown and government would not seek to intervene in the internal affairs of other nations.

Government

Government power in the United Royal Kingdom of Syana and all Her Crown Realms is divided unevenly between the Crown (the Monarch), the nobility, the Church and elected leaders. The government is officially a Feudal Constitutional Monarchy with Theocratic elements. As a unitary state, Syana is divided into five Principalities (each ruled by a leading member of the Royal Family) united under the Crown. The term The Six Crowns is commonly used to describe the combined authority of all the Principality's rulers and the central government.

Crown and Monarchy

The Head of State and supreme leader of Syana is the Monarch, currently Queen Karolina II. Excluding the Syanese Catholic Church, the entire government is subordinate to the supreme political authority of the Monarch who rules until abdication or death and cannot be indicted by any authority, including the Church. The actual power of the Monarch is legally vested in the Crown, an institution synomynous with the Monarch themselves. Syana functions largely as an Absolute Monarchy in the sense that the Crown's power is virtually boundless and has only a few restrictions, albeit crucial ones. These restrictions, introduced by the Great Reform Act, are:

1. The Crown may not veto the result of any general election or deny a legitemately elected candidate their office;
2. The Crown may not reject any bill passed by the House of Commons if said bill is constitutional and has received more than two-thirds of the vote;
3. The Crown may not dissolve a government or Parliament unconstitutionally without a public referrendum in support of such dissolution;
4. The Crown may not declare war without permission from the Church and may not revoke it's Royal Charter;
5. The Crown has no direct power over the Church or it's holdings outside of those powers laid out in national law;
6. The Crown may not reject a Prime Minister who has been elected with a two-thirds majority of the Parliamentary vote;
7. The Crown may not dissolve any of the Five Principalities without the approval of said Principality's ruler;
8. The Crown may not illegally interfere in the judicial process;
9. The Crown may not reject the election of the Archcardinal of Syanese Catholic Church;
10. The Crown may only select the successor to the throne with the approval of the Church

Nobility

Syana became a Feudal State and unitary state under Queen Karolina I, which required the creation of a comprehensive system of nobility and Aristocracy. All titles of nobility are awarded by the Monarch and the Monarch only - each noble is an administrative official charged with supervising a specific part of Syana's territorial holdings/claims. Many Nobles are also members of the government or Royal Family, boosting the power of the nobility and many government offices have distinctly aristocratic titles. A noble title can be revoked by the Monarch but otherwise lasts for life. All descendants of a noble are automatically entitled to use the titles of Lord and Lady but do not inherit any of the power, responsibilities or special aristocratic property of their noble ancestor(s).

Parliament

Her Royal Majesty's Most Supreme Houses of Parliamentary Representatives, simply known as the Parliament of Syana is the tricameral legislature of the nation. It is subordinate to the authority of the Crown but remains the principle lawmaking organ of the United Royal Kingdom, as well as the organ responsible for the election of the Prime Minister. It's three houses are Her Royal Majesty's Most Excellent House of Lords and Ladies, Her Royal Majesty's Most Esteemed House of Commons and the Her Royal Majesty's Most Serene Bishopic Council. For more information on the Parliament, see the article Parliament of Syana. For a list of all laws passed by Parliament, see Syanese Acts of Parliament.

Political parties

The House of Commons is dominated by political parties and as such they play an important role in the governance and lawmaking process of the nation. At the last general election there were five political parties in Syana. These are, in order of popularity, the:

• Conservative and Royalist Party
• Christian Democratic Union
• Liberal Party
• Party of Syanese Democrats
• Syanese National Labour Party

The Conservative and Royalist Party forms a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Union, with the former being officially endorsed by the Crown. Both of these parties are centre-right, whilst the Democratic and Labour parties form a minority centre-left coalition. The Liberal Party is part of neither coalition and stands alone between the two blocs.

Privy Council

Her Royal Majesty's Right Honourable Privy Council (the Privy Council) is the executive branch of the government, headed by the Monarch. Members of the Privy Council are usually ministers in charge of a specific aspect of national governance such as foreign affairs, though some are also advisors and clergymen. Members of the Privy Council are appointed jointly by the Monarch and their Prime Minister at the time, though the Monarch has the final say on all appointments. The Church is also allowed to appoint it's own representative to the Council without scrutiny by either the Monarch or the Prime Minister. This representative is known as the Cardenal Ejecutivo (Cardinal Executive) and they have a number of duties within both the State and Church, being one of the five principal members of the College of Cardinals of the Church.

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Syana is the co-leader of the Privy Council and the Head of Government. They are elected by the House of Commons after a general election and help with the general running of the nation. Under the system of government implemented by the Great Reform Act the Prime Minister serves chiefly as a deputy to the Monarch who deals with the implementation of government major policy and the development of lesser policies. It is the Monarch's discretion as to how much power the Prime Minister is actually awarded outside of their capacity as the elected leader of the nation and the highest elected representative. The Prime Minister has the power to legally represent the nation in foreign affairs at the discretion of the Monarch. The current Prime Minister is David Lowe.