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The Kingdom of Lovely is the name of a largely internet-based micronation that claims as its territory the flat in Bow, London, of producer and comic writer Danny Wallace. Wallace's conception of the micronation, during the winter of 2004-2005, was filmed for the 2005 BBC television series How to Start Your Own Country. As of 07 December 2005, Lovely had over 52,000 citizens registered on its website.

The country

Danny Wallace claims the title of King of the micronation situated in East London, but citizens of Lovely (who become citizens through entering their details on the micronation's website or its section of the BBC website) are invited to declare a room in their own house (or indeed the entire house itself) to be an embassy for the country, by taking a photograph displaying Lovely's flag within their dwelling.

Lovely's flag, coat of arms and motto were designed by London-based design studio Pentagram. The pixellated coat-of-arms is intended to reflect the internet-based nature of the micronation, as did the studio's final flag, a pixellated Union Jack. Wallace, however, preferred a different flag proposal, featuring a blue stripe and a red stripe at erratic angles on a white background - that is, the same colours as the Union Jack, but positioned off-centre in an eccentric fashion. The Latin motto is Die dulci freure (sic - the correct Latin is fruere), meaning "Have a nice day".

The country's unit of currency is the Interdependent Occupational Unit (IOU). The currency is based on the English-language phrase, "Time is money" - that is, IOUs are exchangable for an amount of the recipient's time, e.g. paying a citizen for 5 minutes of washing up. Currently, each member of the micronation's official messageboard receives one tenth of an IOU for each post made. No actual way to make use of these accumulated IOUs has yet been announced to the public, however.

During the run of How To Start Your Own Country, additional material was broadcast to digital TV viewers after each episode in the style of a national broadcaster named 'Citizen TV'. This was presented live by Danny Wallace and featured news, a special guest (usually a member of Danny's government) and Wallace conversing with citizens who had called in. A memorable moment occurred when Danny fired his foreign minister Rich live on air for lack of activity.

Danny attempted to submit a song of his own composition, Stop The Mugging And Start The Hugging, as the Lovely entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The contest's scrutineer Svante Stockselius met with Danny and was sympathetic to his cause, but informed him that Lovely could not enter the Contest as it has no national television or radio station of its own and therefore could not join the EBU. Danny then submitted his song to the BBC in an attempt to receive their backing, but the BBC judges were unimpressed.

History

Danny originally tried to start a nation by "invading" Eel Pie Island in London using a DUKW landing vehicle with the help of his friend Jon Bond, Lovely's Minister of Defence, who once worked as a security guard at Tesco, making him the closest thing Danny had to an "army". However, the Metropolitan Police were contacted by some perturbed locals, warding Wallace off. After seeking help, and gaining ideas from many, including the claimed leaders of Sealand, the author Erwin Strauss and Dennis Hope, who claims to own the moon, Danny declared his flat to be a sovereign nation on 1st January 2005 and he set about populating the micronation. The country remained nameless for several weeks after it declared itself independent, and thousands of suggestions for names were put forward online. Danny chose his two favourites, 'Home' and 'Lovely', and let his citizens decide the winner by online vote. The country was officially named on 2nd September 2005 at an invitation-only gathering of citizens held in Leicester Square.

Government

The Government of Lovely largely consists of friends of King Danny who were recruited at a meeting held at a London pub. Other ministers were chosen by a public vote on the website or awarded their positions as a reward for particularly hard work on behalf of the nation. Hardworking citizens can also be rewarded with the Order of Excellence of King Danny (OED), an accolade similar to a British OBE.

• King Danny I - King
• Jon Bond – Minister of Defence
• Mike Gayle – Minister of Home Affairs
• Kieran – Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Nathan – Minister of Finance
• Nerys – Minister for Ladies and That
• Wag – Minister without Portfolio
• Dan – Minister of Arts and Culture
• Ambassador Evilina1 & Ambassador Tony - Goodwill Ambassadors
• Jap3 - Poet Laureate
• Lord Rich – Former Minister of Foreign Affairs

The country is currently trying to establish a Parliament and has several active Political Parties such as the PoE, the RV,FFF and the Glories.

National Anthem

Yesterday was dark and dingy,

My tempererament was rather whingy,

Thing's had got me wonderin',

Why I lived in London,

Anyway - my days were grey,

Now I welcome all and sundry,

Everyone can join my country,

Listen if you're near them,

Maybe you can hear them say...

You've got to...

Teach the world to sing,

Danny Wallace is the king,

For justice and politeness,

Are the laws that he will bring,

Where the order of the crown,

Is to frown upon the frown,

We done a constitution,

And we even wrote it down...

Although our nation may be small,

It's the nicest of them all,

A land of opportunity,

Where crime's against the law,

Every subject do you part,

With your hand upon your heart,

A kingdom-come-democracy to start...

Everyone is just the same,

It doesn't matter who you name,

Anyone can be a Dame, or Sir, or Lord,

People gather round completely,

Listen as I tell you sweetly,

All across our nation,

Join the recitation with me...

You've got to...

Teach the world to sing,

Danny Wallace is the king,

For justice and politeness,

Are the laws that he will bring,

Where the order of the crown,

Is to frown upon the frown,

We done a constitution,

And we even wrote it down...

Although our nation may be small,

It's the nicest of them all,

A land of opportunity,

Where crime's against the law,

Every subject do you part,

With your hand upon your heart,

A kingdom-come-democracy to start...

You've got to...

Teach the world to sing,

Danny Wallace is the king,

For justice and politeness,

Are the laws that he will bring,

Where the order of the crown,

Is to frown upon the frown,

We done a constitution,

And we even wrote it down...

Politics

The Fluffy Friendly Federation is a political party registered with the Parliament of Lovely. The Fluffy Friendly Federation usually refers to itself by its abbreviation: FFF. The FFF have attracted a wide number of members from across Lovelies political spectrum. Unfortunately, the FFF has faced many turbulent times where several opponent parties such as VIVA, have tried to sabotage its policies and create rifts. The FFF is vocal about its policies. Some of this party's policies are as follows:

1. Loves everything to be fluffy and is against anything spikey.
2. Wishes the stability of the Kingdom of Lovely.
3. Condemns any attempt to destabilize the Kingdom of Lovely through any means.

The FFF's current president is Alan Brown. As president, Alan Brown is an active member of FFF and struggles hard to bring the FFF into the fold of the Kingdom of Lovely's parliament. He frequents the forums of the Kingdom of Lovely under the name of "Barc0de" and lobbies for representation, equal opportunities and other important measures.

See also

• Join Me
• Yes Man

External links

• Lovely's official web site
• Official Messageboard
• Danny Wallace's official web site
• Unofficial Citizens Required Wiki
• Lovely's official foreign office
• Lovely Football Association
• The Official FFF Party Site
• The lovely parliment website

• Micronations