Principality of Seborga

Principato di Seborga


Flag	Coat of arms

Motto: Sub Umbra Sedi
I sat in the Shade

Anthem: La Speranza

Status

Current

Capital

Seborga

Official languages

Italian, Ligurian

Demonym

Seborgan

Government

Constitutional elective monarchy

Prince

Marcello I
(April 25, 2009 - )^[1]

Establishment

Traditional

954

Declared

1996

Area

Total

14 km²
5 sq mi

Membership

320

Currency

Luigino

Prince of Seborga

Incumbent Marcello I since April 25th, 2009
Style	His Serene Highness
Residence	Seborga
Nominator	The People of Seborga
Term length	7 years
Inaugural holder	Refounded (1963): Giorgio Carbone
Formation	1079 1963
Website	principatodiseborga.com

The Principality of Seborga is 14 km² located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about 35km (23mi) from Monaco.^[2] The principality is in coexistence with, and claims the territory of, the town of Seborga.

History

In arguing for the founding of Seborga in 1963, a Seborgan named Giorgio Carbone claimed, based on documents held at the Vatican, that during the Middle Ages the town had become part of the feudal holdings of the Counts of Ventimiglia. He insisted that in the year 954 Seborga became the property of the Benedictine Monks of Santo Onorato of Lerins and in 1079 the Abbot of this monastery was made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, with temporal authority over the Principality of Seborga.^[3]

On 20 January 1729, this independent principality was sold to the Savoy dynasty and became a protectorate of theirs. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna overlooked Seborga in its redistribution of European territories after the Napoleonic Wars, and there is no mention of Seborga in the Act of Unification for the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

The argument for Seborga's present-day status as an independent state is based on the claim that the 1729 sale was never registered by its new owners, resulting in the principality falling into what has been described as a legal twilight zone.

Government

Monarch

In the early 1960s, Giorgio Carbone, began promoting the idea that Seborga restore its historic independence as a principality.^[4] By 1963 the people of Seborga were sufficiently convinced of these arguments to elect Carbone as their Head of State. He then assumed the style and title His Serene Highness Giorgio I, Prince of Seborga, which he held until his death in 2009.

Carbone's status as Prince was confirmed on 23 April 1995, when Seborgans voted 304 in favour, 4 against, for the Principality's constitution and in favour of independence from Italy.^[5] Prince Giorgio I reigned until his death on 25 November 2009.^[3]

His successor Marcello Menegatto was elected on April 25, 2009 and crowned on May 22, 2009.^[6]

Title	Given name	Reign began	Reign ended
Prince Giorgio I	Giorgio Carbone	14 May 1963	25 November 2008
Prince Marcello I	Marcello Menegatto	25 April 2009^[1]^[7]	reigning monarch

The former Government Palace, used until 2009.

Claimant

In June 2006 a minor controversy arose when a woman calling herself "Princess Yasmine von Hohenstaufen Anjou Plantagenet", who claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne of Seborga, wrote to Italy's president offering to return the principality to the state.^[8] Her claim was contested by the then-prince, Giorgio I (Giorgio Carbone), who asserted that there were no credible sources supporting her,^[9] and said:

“Pah! No one’s ever even seen her as far as I know. I call her the ‘internet princess’.”

Economy

15c Seborgan coin

A local currency, the luigino, was issued from 1994 to 1996.^[10] The luigino is accepted inside the city as a sort of voucher (along with the legal currency, the euro, and before that the Italian lira); it has no legal value. The total value of luigini issued is not known.