It was with great saddness that His Majesty heard of the passing of His Tremendousness Giorgio Carbone, Prince of Seborga.  His Majesty believes that Prince Giorgio has been among the best examples of a micronational leader and Seborga is indicative of what a micronation can become..

It has not escaped Our attention that the obituary in the Telegraph for His Tremendousness Giorgio was found in the Home > News > Obituaries > Royalty Obituaries section.

His Tremendousness Giorgio claimed the sovereignty of Seborga (pop. 364) from the Italian government in 1963 taking the title His Tremendousness. Prince Giorgio produced documents from the Vatican archives to prove that the village was never the property of the House of Savoy and therefore not part of the Kingdom of Italy after 1861. He insisted that Seborga had been a sovereign state since 954, a principality from 1079, and minted its own coins after 1666.

The villagers of Seborga, enchanted by the Prince's quirkiness elected His Highness to represent them.  He won 304 of the possible 308 votes and was re-elected in 1995.

The prince's flag-bedecked black Mercedes limousine was briefly impounded by Italian police when he sported a Seborgan license plate. But for the most part, Italy has taken a hands-off attitude as long as Seborgans paid their taxes.

"We pay taxes like all other foreigners who work in Italy," His Highness told reporters in 1997.

The Princeship is an elected position thus there is no heir to the throne. The current secretary of state is suspected to be named regent pending a new election.

We share this great loss with the people of Seborga and wish the the brightest of futures.