The Principality of Wy is a claimed micronation in Australia that is located in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

suburb of

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

. It is an unrecognised community and has not been recognised locally or nationally. In 2004 Paul Delprat claimed to secede from Mosman and develop his own micronation in response to a lengthy dispute with the local council government. After 20 years of seeking planning permission, he lost his appeal in 2013.

History

In 1993 the Delprat family applied to build a driveway to their house over an unbuilt road, leading to a long-running battle with the

council that they eventually lost. Eventually, on 15 November 2004, Paul Delprat claimed to secede from Mosman, although not from Australia, claiming that he was a prince of the Principality of Wy. The community has been noted by international and local news outlets, including

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

UK'', ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) ''The Daily Telegraph'', also nicknamed ''The Tele'', is an Australian tabloid newspaper published by Nationwide News Pty Limited, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. It is published Monday through Saturday a ...

'', ''

The National (Abu Dhabi) ''The National'' is a private English-language daily newspaper published in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The newspaper is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and member of the ...

'' and the ''

Kuwait Times ''Kuwait Times'' is an English-language daily published in Kuwait. It is the first English language paper in the Persian Gulf region. History and profile ''Kuwait Times'' was founded by Yousuf Saleh Alyan in 1961. The 36-page broadsheet provid ...

''. However, there is still no local, national or international recognition of the community. Delprat attended the first Australian conference of micronation leaders on

Dangar Island Dangar Island is a forested island, in area, in the Hawkesbury River, just north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Dangar Island is a suburb of Hornsby Shire and as at the 2016 census had a population of 303, which swells dramatically duri ...

in 2010, which was sponsored by

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of ...

Contribution to the arts

The community is an active patron of art and sponsors an art prize. Representatives from the principality have also been invited to open exhibitions and give talks in the local community and throughout the state. Art reviews and articles have appeared in art society newsletters and are published on the Principality of Wy website in support of local and renowned artists. Private exhibitions are held within the principality by invitation and public exhibitions are open at the embassy in Georges Heights, featuring works by new and emerging artists.

In popular culture

Wy is a character in the Japanese web comic,

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

, and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series '' Hetalia: Axis Powers'' about

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

nations and micronations. Wy is depicted as a young girl of small stature who has been stated to be artistically gifted. On 13 September 2010, Prince Paul of Wy posted a painting on his blog of the character.Principality of Wy promotes world peace
/ref> While there was originally no direct reference to Hetalia in the post itself, it is likely that he was informed of the character's existence. Later, the post was updated naming the series itself.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Principality Of Wy Wy Wy 2004 establishments in Australia States and territories established in 2004