From TheBestLinks.com
Edward I of Biffeche was the king of the African kingdom of Biffeche, near the western tip of West Africa, from 1963 until 1997. He was an American business man from St. Louis, Missouri, not an African native of Biffeche. He succeeded the prior, native, kings of Biffeche (called petit Braks or Little Kings) when the Christian tribe of Sereer Biffeche were resettled to the town of MBoubene which is the capitol of the kingdom. They were promised support from the church and the government, but they were disappointed. They sought a new king, and their priest suggested that they choose the person who had helped them the most, Edward Schafer, a foreigner who had led a charitable committee to help them. They sent him a message and some ceremonial seeds, appointing him their king. He accepted. There was a flurry of publicity, and Edward got the approval of the U.S. and Senegal governments, to be King of Biffeche. Although he communicated with local chiefs and priests by mail, and got them aid and professional advice on crops and irrigation, he never physically visited his own kingdom. Edward I of Biffeche's activities and charities concentrated primarily on the Christian Sereer population, whilst his successor Ronald I of Biffeche has been accepted and active in all ethnic and religious groups in the kingdom. Edward designed a flag for Biffeche using the Kingdom's ancient traditional colours of blue and white, and he commissioned a prominent composer to write the Biffeche Anthem.
Because of a 1971 arrangement between the Kingdom of Biffeche and the Kingdom of Axim on the coast of Ghana, Edward automatically became the first foreign-born titular King of Axim as well, although he never visited that kingdom either. This was a legal "personal union" of the two kingdoms created according to the directions of Bishop Essuah of neaby Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana.
In his private life, Edward was a broadcaster and publicist. He owned the first television station in St. Louis, Missouri. He represented numerous charities in addition to the Committee for Biffeche. He never married and he had no children. He appeared on the television game show To Tell The Truth as King of Biffeche. For many years he hosted a radio news talk show on various radio stations, most recently Station KWMU until shortly before his death. He was very active in Catholic Charities in St. Louis.
Every December, Edward would hold court as king and preside over a royal benefit party at his home in Ladue, Missouri, raising money for Biffeche. He used his royal prerogative to create a small number of nobles and knighthoods in the Kingdom of Biffeche, and he awarded various medals and decorations. In his last year, Edward promulgated an Act of Succession appointing his Chancellor, the Duke of Orlamander, Ronald, Baron of Inneryne (in Scotland) to be his royal successor as king of both the Biffeche and Axim kingdoms. Ronald then became King Ronald I of Biffeche and visited Biffeche with his son (now Crown Prince Christopher of Biffeche) . The people mourned Edward whom they had never seen other than in photographs, and Ronald was acclaimed as king. The Biffeche people built a royal tomb for Edward in the town of Savoigne and the ashes of King Edward I of Biffeche were flown there from America after his death, and buried there in a royal ceremony attended by King Ronald.
References
Mail Order Monarch, Robert Goddard, Christian Science Monitor, Boston, November 17, 1964.
All Hail the King of Biffeche, Esquire, March, 1975.
Edward C. Schafer, PR Man, Was Made Tribal King St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 1998 [1] (http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=11)
External links
Related links
Top visited
0 of
0 links
[no links posted yet]
>> place link >>
Discussion
Last posted
0 of
0 messages
[no messages posted yet]
>> post message >>
Watch
You can
add this article to your own "watchlist" and receive e-mail notification about all changes in this page.
