“Principe de Trindade”: that was how the American James HardenHickey was received at parties and events in New York, around 1895. "Trinidad", in English, is a Brazilian island 1140 kilometers from Vitória, in Espírito Santo . It has the size of 400 football fields, enough for James' project to house his kingdom, in a setting of beautiful beaches with turquoise blue water. James was born in San Francisco in 1854, in the middle of the Gold Rush, and had been raised in Napoleon III's Paris, which led him to be a staunch defender of the monarchy. So much so that he founded a newspaper to publicize the cause. He also became a famous writer in his time, involved in many polemics, sword fights and, of course, romances. His dream, however, began to fade when England occupied the island and led Brazil to enter the dispute for the territory.

Obs.: for years I researched this extraordinary story, very little known and which, surprisingly, has not yet been made into a movie in Hollywood. On the internet, there is a lot of superficial information repeated and hidden in little accessed sites. I looked for American newspapers from the 19th century, documents from the time and I even visited Trindade Island twice to describe for you a more faithful account of James Aloysius HardenHickey.

Best regards
Élcio Braga