This island kingdom is best left to the birds
If you happen to be sailing between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat, you’ll pass close to a barren, rocky island ringed by cliffs that rise from crashing surf to heights of 1,000 feet. Though it might not look like much, it’s claimed that the island of Redonda is the home of the Caribbean’s only remaining monarchy. Christopher Columbus made note of the island as he sailed past on his second voyage, and named it Santa María de la Redonda, meaning Saint Mary the Round.
Having no potential for settlement, the islet was largely ignored until the British annexed it to Antigua, with the intention of harvesting the valuable deposits of phosphate-rich guano (aka bird poop) that covered the slopes. A mining colony was established on the inhospitable landscape, and harvesting operations continued until the start of the First World War. At the peak, some 200 workers lived on Redonda, but today it lies vacant, with broken cisterns, rusting machinery, crumbled barracks and a hint of an old post office–all weathered remains of the past mining community.
The tale of Redonda’s monarchy begins with a trader from Montserrat named Matthew Shiel, who laid claim to the island in 1865 so that his newly born son, Matthew Phipps Shiel, could be known as the King of Redonda. His figurehead sovereignty was said to be recognized by the British when they took control of the island. In later years, this title would be passed on not by heredity, but to a succession of literary figures, who ruled their kingdom from afar, preferring the pubs of London to the sunbaked slopes of their fiefdom. The current king goes by the title of Michael the Grey, though there is some dispute as to the order of ascension, with several laying claim to the throne. Various other titles and knighthoods were dispensed to cronies of the kings over the years, but the only subjects his highness presides over these days are flocks of sea birds, an assortment of lizards and a herd of goats.
