STUART Hill, 65, moved onto Forvik by the Shetlands– 2½ acres of rock and grass – last June.

He has been living in the Shetlands since 2001 after capsizing a yacht 50 miles northwest of Forvik during an attempt to sail around Britain, an incident that led to him being dubbed “Captain Calamity”.

Mr Hill claimed that “Forvik owes no allegiance to any UK government, central or local, and is not bound by any of its statutes”.

He hopes to mint his own currency and make his own passports and has advertised for oil companies to bid for rights to explore his sea bed. A Forvik flag flutters on top of the island next to a tent – Mr Hill’s temporary residence.

As Her Majesty’s “steward” on the island – he is not, he insists, a head of state – he has written to the Queen inviting her to visit. She has yet to reply.

Better to just wait until his kind dies out. An ethnic cleansing. An ethnic cleansed…

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Posted: 18th, August 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Strange But True, Twitterings. Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0