Freetannia comes to Milton Keynes!

The Mayor of Milton Keynes welcomes King Richard, Queen Daphne and the Royal Correspondent.

The joyful citizens of Milton Keynes yesterday welcomed Col. Richard Frobisher and his wife Mrs Daphne Frobisher, the Freetannian Royal Family, as they arrived on an extended diplomatic visit. And what a tumultuous welcome it was! The royal couple, accompanied by a BBC Freetannia reporter were taken on a whirlwind tour of downtown MK all the while accompanied by a tumultuous and impromtu carnival of dancing, flag-waving citizens. Here was a spectacle entirely reminiscent of the visits of the young Queen Elizabeth to the nations of the British Commonwealth!

Art is important to Freetannians and it is no accident that the royal visit coincided with the launch of the FringeMK festival. The Freetannian government has expressed an interest in Milton Keynes' 'Into Art' initiative and the royal couple were noted to have been particularly taken with a temporary art installation by local artist Mrs Smith.

Col and Mrs Frobisher are keen to establish cultural links with Milton Keynes and a tourism drive has been launched which will see some of Freetannia's rather eccentric citizens visiting the town and its public art over the next few weeks.

Notes on Freetannia:

In modern parlance the Kingdom of Freetannia may be described as a 'virtual micronation' – 'virtual' in the sense that it only exists when and where required, and 'micronation' referring to it's tiny size – though there are certainly plans for expansion.

King 'Dickie', a retired British Army colonel established Freetannia as a reaction to what he saw as a slipping of standards in modern society. Freetannia attempts to correct this by a return to 'traditional ways' though the state also occasionally 'cherry picks' items of modern culture now and then in order to keep up appearances as a modern nation – the odd rock concert is not unheard of.

The Freetannian calendar only has one year, permanently set at 1953 – the year Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.

The Freetannian national dance is related to English Morris Dancing and is known as the 'Curtain Dance'.

A favourite Freetannian delicacy is tea with fondant fancies.