Castle Staffa

Castle Staffa is located on the remote island of Staffa in the Scottish Hebrides and is the home of the 7^th Earl McGenius. The holder of the title Earl McGenius of Hebrides also holds the titles Lord High Sheriff of Iona and Protector of the Outer Hebrides. The 1^st Earl McGenius was the illegitimate son of the infamous Duke Royte of Jedburgh. The Duchy of Jedburgh was created for Julian Royte, a successful businessman who promised to use his vast personal wealth to finance a private army to defend the English border from marauding bands of Scottish rebels. The Duke famously defected to the rebels within a year of gaining his land and titles but was hunted down by his son and handed over to Earl Shrewsbury who, as High Sheriff of Shropshire, convened a special court to try him for treason. He was found guilty and subsequently hanged in the town square. The Duchy of Jedburgh was to have fallen to his illegitimate son, Clarence McGenius, as his sole heir. However, his son was so disgraced by the family name that he renounced the title and requested an alternative from the King. The King agreed and created the Earldom of the Hebrides from him and granted him permission to use his father’s confiscated wealth to build himself a home. The 3^rd Earl McGenius was said to have possessed one of Scotland’s finest legal minds and was appointed Lord High Sheriff of Iona and later Protector of the Outer Hebrides to enable him to hold court over the Scottish Isles in the name of the King. In January 2002, Earl McGenius gave formal notice to Queen Elizabeth II that he was proclaiming the independence of the Outer Hebrides and intended to take the title Prince McGenius of the Outer Hebrides. The British government rejected the claim and deployed a small peace-keeping force of 250 troops to prevent potential terrorist threats. Earl McGenius has applied to the European Court of Human Rights for a judicial review of the British government’s actions claiming the deployment of troops in the Outer Hebrides to be an illegal occupation of a sovereign nation. The British government have moved to have him declared legally insane and are reported to have offered him a post at the British Embassy in Lithuania. Earl McGenius is thought to have gone into hiding after an unsuccessful bid to claim asylum in Wales.