Weirdest...

IN SEARCH OF AUSSIE ROYALTY IN A MOST REGAL VEHICLE

THE PREMISE, AT LEAST on the face of it, seemed reasonably straightforward. It’s 2016, and the new Bentley Bentayga is touted as being fit for royalty. The illustrious British brand is, after all, official supplier to her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth. So naturally we felt compelled to have the regal SUV tested by our own royalty – if only we could find any. Turns out there is royalty in Australia, you just have to look very hard. After much searching, author Stephen Corby and photographer Thomas Wielecki found an elusive royal family living in the Hutt River Province, a parcel of land the size of Hong Kong tucked away in a remote corner of Western Australia that’s been hived off from the rest of Australia since 1970. Straight from the strange-but-true files, Corby wrote, “People tend to assume the whole thing is an elaborate scheme to fleece tourists, or avoid tax, but the truth is more a tale of one man’s irascible reaction to a clash with bureaucracy.” Corby explained that 91-year-old Prince Leonard – formerly plain-old Len Casley – got in a spat over wheat quotas on his land, and when it spiralled to the point where the government was preparing to reclaim his farm, Len found a way to put it beyond reach. He declared it a sovereign state and effectively removed it from Australia. The Principality has its own coats of arms, its own money and stamps, and even its own national anthem. The one thing lacking? An official vehicle fit for Aussie royalty. Sorry – Hutt River royalty, who are most definitely not part of Australia. Naturally Corby urged Len – sorry, Prince Leonard – to have a punt in the $461,000 Bentley, and his Highness was impressed by the effortless shove that comes from a 6.0-litre W12 making 447kW and 900Nm. So could he be persuaded to buy one as the official royal vehicle for the principality? When Len – sorry, Prince Leonard – learned his magnetic royal vehicle signage wouldn’t adhere to the Bentley’s aluminium panels, it was a reluctant “no sale”.