Editing Principality of Seborga (section)

==History ==

[[File:Antica frontiera di seborga.JPG|thumb|left|The "frontier" post on the road approaching Seborga]]

The claim of sovereignty for [[Seborga]] was put forward in 1963 by a Seborgan former [[Floriculture|flower grower]] named Giorgio Carbone. He claimed to have found documents from the [[Vatican archives]] which, according to Carbone, indicated that Seborga had never been a possession of the [[House of Savoy]] and was therefore not legitimately included in the [[Kingdom of Italy]] when it was formed in 1861 during [[Italian unification]]. Carbone claimed that Seborga had existed as a [[List of historic states of Italy|sovereign state of Italy]] since 954, and that from 1079 it was a principality of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Sovereignty claims assert that Seborga was overlooked by the [[Congress of Vienna]] in its redistribution of European territories after the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="Klieger">{{cite book |last1=Klieger |first1=P. Christiaan |title=The Microstates of Europe: Designer Nations in a Post-Modern World |date=29 November 2012 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-7427-2 |page=177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CrfwGa4aCwYC&pg=PA177 |access-date=17 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Carbone promoted the idea of Seborgan independence as a principality, and in 1963 the town's inhabitants elected him as their putative head of state. Carbone [[False titles of nobility|assumed the style and title]] ''His Tremendousness (Sua Tremendità)'' Giorgio I, Prince of Seborga.<ref name=Telegraph /><ref name="italymag">{{cite web |title=Prince of Seborga fights on for 362 subjects {{!}} Liguria {{!}} ITALY Magazine |url=http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/liguria/prince-seborga-fights-362-subjects/ |website=The Telegraph  |access-date=17 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119012259/http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/liguria/prince-seborga-fights-362-subjects/ |archive-date=19 November 2010 |date=15 June 2006}}</ref> He formed a "cabinet" of ministers; minted a local currency, the [[#Currency|luigino]]; introduced a Seborgan flag, a white cross on a blue background; and established a Latin motto, {{lang|lt|Sub Umbra Sede}} (Sit in the shade). 
Carbone's campaign has generally not been taken seriously and is widely viewed as a ruse to attract tourists to the town, although his supporters in the town claim that their small state has been recognised by [[Burkina Faso]].<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="huffingtonpost">{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/anneli-rufus/seborga-the-micronation-i_b_5760864.html|title=Seborga: The Micronation Inside Italy Where Time Stands Still|date=11 September 2014|author=Anneli Rufus|publisher=HuffPost|access-date=5 May 2018}}</ref>

In January 2006, Carbone announced that he would [[Abdication|abdicate]] on reaching the age of 70, apparently as a result of a row over rebuilding the village centre, but he didn't and continued to hold the office until his death.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article718377.ece "Wanted: prince to rule village"], Richard Owen, ''The Times'', 24 January 2006</ref> Even so, this decision was the subject of a feature on the [[BBC World Service]] [[radio]] programme ''World Today'' on 25 January 2006.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/worldtoday/news/story/2006/01/060116_wtselect_wk3.shtml "The best of the World Today"], BBC, 16 January 2006</ref>

Giorgio Carbone retained his ceremonial position until his death on 25 November 2009 (age 73), due to complications due to [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]].<ref name=Telegraph/> The position of the Serborgan "monarch" is not hereditary, and since Carbone's death, elections have been held in Seborga every seven years among the town's 200 registered voters.<ref name="telegraph180832017">{{cite news |last1=Squires |first1=Nick |title=Radio DJ from West Sussex vies to become next leader of tiny self-declared principality in Italy |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/18/british-dj-west-sussex-vies-become-next-leader-tiny-self-declared/ |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=18 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111222517/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/18/british-dj-west-sussex-vies-become-next-leader-tiny-self-declared/ |archive-date=11 November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Carbone was succeeded by businessman Marcello Menegatto, who was elected on 25 April 2010 and crowned on 22 May 2010 as ''His [[Serene Highness]]'' (''Sua Altezza Serenissima'' or ''SAS'') Prince Marcello I.<ref>[http://seborgatimes.blogspot.com/2010/05/seborga-will-crown-his-new-elected.html Seborga Times], Article "Seborga will crown his new elected Prince: Menegatto I"</ref><ref name="telegraph-tremendousness"/><ref name="principe-biog">{{cite web |title=S.A.S. il Principe di Seborga |url=https://www.principatodiseborga.com/pds/s-a-s-il-principe-di-seborga |website=Principato di Seborga |access-date=28 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928091926/https://www.principatodiseborga.com/pds/s-a-s-il-principe-di-seborga |archive-date=28 September 2019 |language=it-IT|url-status=dead}}</ref> Menegatto was re-elected as Prince on 23 April 2017, after an unsuccessful challenge to the position by Mark Dezzani, a British-born [[Disc jockey|radio DJ]] who had lived in Seborga for nearly 40 years.<ref name="telegraph180832017" />

On 12 April 2019, Menegatto abdicated from his position,<ref>[https://www.principatodiseborga.com/pds/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Lettera-di-dimissioni-del-Principe-Marcello.pdf Letter of resignation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928091926/https://www.principatodiseborga.com/pds/s-a-s-il-principe-di-seborga |date=2019-09-28 }} on principatodiseborga.com</ref> and he was succeeded by his ex-wife, Nina Menegatto, who was elected by the town as ''Her Serene Highness'' Princess Nina on 10 November 2019.<ref name="telegraph-nina">{{cite news|last=Vogt|first=Andrea |title='Her Tremendousness' elected leader of self-declared micro-nation on hilltop in Italy |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/10/tremendousness-elected-leader-self-declared-micro-nation-hilltop/|access-date=11 November 2019|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 November 2019}}</ref>