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Jeremiah Heaton
Jeremiah Heaton plants his flag on a hill in Bir Tawil.
Jeremiah Heaton plants his flag on a hill in Bir Tawil.

I claim this piece of Africa for my daughter, Princess Emily

This article is more than 9 years old
A father from Virginia has claimed an uninhabited bit of Sudan as a 'kingdom' for his seven-year-old offspring. Are white people actually still allowed to do this kind of thing in the 21st century?

Jeremiah Heaton interview: 'I couldn't let her down'

Sure, Will Smith repurposed Bill Withers' classic Just the Two of Us as an ode to his son Trey. And yes, even more recently, Jay Z included both the heartbeat and cries of his baby daughter Blue Ivy Carter on the track Glory, released a few days after she was born. But do both these acts of fatherly Hollywood magnanimity and largesse not fade into insignificance when compared with the actions of one American father, who "claimed" an African "kingdom" so his daughter could be a "princess"?

You read that right. A Virginia father, Jeremiah Heaton, flew to Africa for the express purpose of claiming the 800 square miles that make up Bir Tawil, a desert territory that falls between the borders of Egypt and Sudan. Heaton travelled for 14 hours in a caravan in order to plant the flag (designed by his children) on the soil of Bir Tawil, an act that he reckons makes his claim more legitimate than previous attempts made online. The children have decided to name it the "Kingdom of North Sudan". His daughter, "Princess" Emily, seven, has said she wants to ensure children in the region have enough food (Bir Tawil itself is uninhabited).

'Princess' Emily Heaton
Daddy's little princess: Emily Heaton of Bir Tawil. Photograph: David Crigger/AP

The immediate question for the rest of us has to be: "Are white people still allowed to do this kind of stuff in 2014?" Heaton has said: "I feel confident in the claim we've made. That's the exact same process that has been done for thousands of years. The exception is this nation was claimed for love."

If ever there were a deed that exemplified the term "white privilege", surely this is it. It is almost as if Heaton and his children have never watched the Disney classic Pocahontas, in which the Native American princess sings to would-be coloniser John Smith: "You think you own whatever land you land on."

But if you want to make your child feel special and loved – as Heaton wanted to do – surely a princess makeover would suffice. When did the phrase "daddy's little princess" pass from vaguely creepy societal saying into a literal thing? It also begs the question: where next for Emily Heaton? What can you get a child after you've "given" them a country of their own? A Build-a-Bear party with six of her friends will not slake her inevitable thirst for power now. Nothing will. There is nowhere else to go on the gift-giving scale. What have ye wrought, Jeremiah Heaton?

More on this story

More on this story

  • 'ICC should drop charges against Kenyatta – for now'

  • American plans to use 'his' piece of Africa for advancement of science

  • The Brics development bank can release Africa from World Bank tyranny

  • Nude photographs of the Dinka: art or exploitation?

  • Africa's oldest protected wilderness - in pictures

  • Hundreds of Ghanaian football fans claim asylum in Brazil

  • Okwiri Oduor wins 2014 Caine Prize for African writing

  • Aid to Africa: donations from west mask '$60bn looting' of continent

  • Nadine Gordimer used last interview to condemn South Africa's secrecy bill

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