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Greatest Dad Ever Claims Desert Territory as 'Kingdom' So Daughter Can Be Princess

Jeremiah Heaton and his seven year-old daughter, Princess Emily, show the flag
Jeremiah Heaton and his seven year-old daughter, Princess Emily, show the flag / AP
July 15, 2014

Meet Jeremiah Heaton of Abingdon, Va., the greatest dad ... ever. 

His seven-year-old daughter, Emily, is obsessed with princesses. Nothing remarkable there, both of my daughters were pretty into princesses at that age. (My oldest is a teenager but is still known to seek out 'Little Mermaid' clothes when visiting the House of the Mouse in Anaheim.)

But Heaton did a whole lot more than the average dad would do. Most of us would dutifully take our little girl to the Disney store and shell out way too much money for some cheesy princess dress and a fake crown. Not brother Heaton. My man went to Africa, planted a flag and claimed a land as his kingdom. Yes, he did.

Take a look at the new Kingdom of North Sudan (formerly the region called Bir Tawil):

AP
AP

800 square miles of desolate, uninhabited desert on the border of Egypt and Sudan. Ownership of the land, as Heaton discovered after extensive research, has been in dispute between the two North East African nations for over a hundred years. It stayed unclaimed until recently when Heaton traveled over 14 hours by caravan across the desert and planted his flag (co-designed by himself and Princess Emily).

"I feel confident in the claim we’ve made," Heaton told the UK Telegraph. "That’s the exact same process that has been done for thousands of years. The exception is this nation was claimed for love."

Shelia Carapico, professor of political science and international studies at the University of Richmond, told the Telegraph, "it was not plausible for someone to plant a flag and say they have political control over the land without legal recognition from neighboring countries, the United Nations, or other groups."

Yeah, whatever Shelia, you clearly hate fatherhood and little girls for that matter.

"I wanted to show my kids I will literally go to the ends of the earth to make their wishes and dreams come true," Heaton told the Washington Post.

And I thought I was a cool dad for getting my kids an Xbox One.

Princess Emily Heaton
Princess Emily Heaton / AP