WHEN a dad promised his seven-year-old daughter she would be a real princess, he wasn’t kidding.

Jeremiah Heaton travelled to a remote desert region of Africa to claim a disputed stretch of land in his daughter Emily’s name.

In a move that is either an inspiring display of paternal love or a case of major over-indulgence, Mr Heaton planted a flag in the unclaimed piece of land sandwiched between Egypt and Sudan after making a promise to Emily that she would one day be royalty.

After reaching the desert region of Bir Tawil in June, the father-of-three from Virginia planted a flag his children had designed, and made the first steps towards claiming the land.

On his return Mr Heaton and his wife made a crown for their daughter and asked friends and family to refer to her as Princess Emily.

Her kingdom covers about 1300km sq of desert that has never been claimed by Sudan or Egypt.

Mr Heaton found Bir Tawil, one of the last unclaimed pieces of land on the planet, after searching for how he could fulfil his promise to Emily.

Several attempts to claim ownership of the region have been made online, but Mr Heaton believes that by actually travelling to the site and planting the flag gave his claim an edge.

It took Mr Heaton 14 hours to travel by caravan through the desert before he could plant the flag, which has a blue background and a seal and stars representing the family.

He may have completed his journey in June, but it began at the start of the year when he was chatting to his young daughter.

“Over the winter, Emily and I were playing, and she has a fixation on princesses. She asked me, in all seriousness, if she’d be a real princess someday,” Heaton said. “And I said she would.”

Princess Emily, who sleeps in a custom-made castle bed, is showing signs of being a generous ruler, and said that she wants to ensure children in the region have enough food.

Shelia Carapico, professor of political science and international studies at the University of Richmond, said the family’s claim will need to be recognised by the other African nations.

She said it was not plausible for someone to plant a flag and say they have political control over the land without legal recognition from neighbouring countries, the United Nations or other groups.

In addition, she said, it is not known whether people have ownership of the land, regardless of whether the property is part of a political nation.

当一名父亲承诺将自己七岁的女儿变成真正的公主时，他并不是在开玩笑。

为圆女儿的公主梦，美国弗吉尼亚州男子耶利米·希顿竟不惜远赴非洲，在埃及与苏丹之间的一片无主沙漠，插上3名子女设计的“国旗”，并宣布成立北苏丹王国。

据希顿称，去年冬天他与女儿艾米丽在家中聊天，自小就做“公主梦”的艾米丽非常认真地问：“我将来会否成为真正的公主？”

希顿爱女心切，称她终有一天会达成愿望。为了这一承诺，希顿立即上网寻找世界各地的无政府领土。最终希顿找到了苏丹与埃及之间的比尔泰维勒（Bir Tawil），这里1300平方公里的沙漠尚未被任何国家认领。

于是，在今年6月16日艾米丽7岁生日这天，希顿取得埃及同意后，乘坐大篷车取道该国长途跋涉14个小时来到这里，插上3个子女设计的“国旗”，并宣布建立北苏丹王国。

希顿称：“我想让孩子们知道，为了实现他们的愿望，我愿意走到世界尽头。”

回到家以后，希顿与妻子为女儿制作了一顶皇冠，并要求朋友和家人从此称她为艾米丽公主。

真以为自己当了公主的艾米丽目前睡在定制的城堡床上，并希望自己领地的小孩能够过上温饱生活。

虽然有多人在网上宣称拥有这块沙漠的主权，但他相信亲自来到这里并插上“国旗”会让他更具优势。但美国里士满大学政治与国际研究教授Shelia Carapico称，希顿一家若想对这块沙漠拥有政治控制权，需要获得邻国、联合国或其它团体的法律认可。

希顿打算先与非洲联盟接触，以便正式建立北苏丹王国，并说有信心可获得非洲联盟欢迎与协助。埃及与苏丹驻华盛顿大使馆皆未就此发表评论。

希顿说，他借由插国旗来宣称取得比尔泰维勒的行为完全合法，因为此举正是包括美国在内的其他国家当年取得领土的方式，差别在于过去这些扩张领土的历史是战争行为，而他则是基于对子女的爱。

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