The Royal Showman

  He moves at a slower pace these days courtesy of advanced emphysema but Leonard Casley, still puts on a good show.The self-styled Prince Leonard of Hutt notches 40 years this week since he declared secession from the Commonwealth of Australia of his 7,500 hectare farm north of Geraldton in the Mid West of WA.It was a bold move brought on by what the amateur lawyer believed were draconian wheat quotas, robbing him of more than 90 percent of a bumper harvest."I exercised the international law of titles to form the self-preservation government: if anyone wants to know if we succeeded with the secession, we simply say that we're still here," Mr Casley, told ABC TV's Landline program.In four decades he estimates a couple of million tourists have visited the Hutt River Principality. These days around 40,000, mostly young backpackers make the trek each year to have their passports stamped and to hear the 84-year-old's set piece routines.  

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