Earlier today, Emperor Aggelos I made a declaration of abdication, and was shortly thereafter succeeded on the Throne by the Heir, Crown Prince Shiro, who has chosen Alexander as his regnal name.

Aggelos I became Emperor of Austenasia in September last year. Monday 29th saw the first anniversary of his ascension to the Throne, on which in an address to the Senate, he announced his intention to imminently abdicate.

The official declaration of abdication was made this morning, with legislation soon being presented to Parliament to confirm the ascension to the Throne of the Heir, Crown Prince Shiro.

By giving Imperial Consent to said legislation this evening, he has ascended the Throne of Austenasia as His Imperial Majesty Emperor Alexander VI.

Austenasian emperors are numbered in succession to all previous monarchs to have ruled Austenasian land, and so the new Emperor has been numbered the Sixth in reference to Alexander V of Macedon, who reigned over what are now the Austenasian claims of Elmythia and Kaiomenia.

Alexander III of Scotland and Alexander III of Russia also reigned over current Austenasian land claims, but as per the Regnal Names Act 2018, in the case of “different sequences of monarchical ordinals for the same name due to differing historical monarchies having ruled over what is now Austenasian land, the highest sequence shall be adopted”.

In a poetic coincidence, Alexander VI also becomes the sixth Emperor of Austenasia.

The new Emperor joined the Austenasian Armed Forces in 2017, and the following year was made Minister of Defence, becoming a non-residential subject of the Empire at a time when said status was rather uncommon.

As head of state of Zenrax, Shiro oversaw increasingly close diplomatic relations with the Empire, also co-operating with Austenasia in the Grand Unified Micronational and via the Holy Roman Empire. In November 2023, the throne of Zenrax was recognised to hold the rank of Caesar.

Appointed Consul in both 2023 and 2024, he became a member of the Austenasian Senate, and has served as Princeps Senatus – the institution’s chair – since April 2024.

He has since served in various Cabinet roles (currently holding the office of Treasurer), and for two months last year was unofficially in place as Acting Deputy Prime Minister. Upon the ascension to the Throne of Aggelos I, the Senate named Shiro the next Heir.

During June’s coup attempt, Crown Prince Shiro called for calm, urging all involved to abide by the law, and refused to claim the Throne by force when invited to do so by the former prime minister Musgrave, effectively defusing the coup attempt.

The coup attempt was just one of several difficulties faced by Aggelos I on the Austenasian Throne. He also had to contend with ruling Imvrassia at the same time, as well as with forging his own style of leadership following the long reign of Jonathan I.

In his address to the Senate, Aggelos I stated his need and intention to “focus our attention on our responsibility to Imvrassia, with the exception of appropriate contributions to support our successor on the Austenasian Throne,” and reiterated his confidence in his Heir’s ability to rule the Empire.

The now Alexander VI is the first non-Christian Emperor to sit on the Austenasian Throne since Declan I in early 2013. This position was made possible by the recent Fourth Amendment, which changed the constitutional requirement for the Monarch to be a practicing Christian to instead be required to respect the Christian faith of the majority of Austenasians.

The new Emperor has publicly committed to this, and an ascension address issued this evening can be read below:

ASCENSION ADDRESS OF HIM EMPEROR ALEXANDER VI

God save the Emperor!