Northumbria (1983: Doomsday)

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Kingdom of Northumbria
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday

Flag Coat of Arms Motto The Land Offers Life
Capital (and largest city)	Middlesbrough
Language	English
Demonym	Northumbrian
Government	Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Legislature	Parliament
Queen	Zara
Prime Minister
Population	approx. 750,000
Independence	2015
Currency	Northumbrian pound (£)

Northumbria. known as the Kingdom of Northumbria is a newly-formed kingdom in northern England. It unites two British survivor states that had taken shape in the 1990s, the Kingdom of Cleveland and Duchy of Northumberland. The head of state is Queen Zara, granddaughter of the last British monarch Elizabeth II. The kingdom is a parliamentary democracy based solidly in British traditions.

The process to unify the two largest states of northern English began in the second half of the 2000s decade. In 2009 an old-fashioned royal marriage between Zara an

d George Percy, heir to the Duchy of Northumberland, gave some concreteness to the idea of unification, and both governments were willing to commit to the idea of forming a single kingdom under Zara and George's child - a timetable in the decades that would allow for plenty of unforeseen circumstances.

In the 2010s, a shift in political currents was building support for Zara all around Britain. In the north, there was a growing desire to speed up the planned unification. Government-related agencies in the two states began to merge in 2011 - the wildlife trust and the national railway company. More direct collaboration between the two governments picked up in earnest in 2015, when both cabinets came under the control of parties explicitly favouring unification.

An Act of Union in each parliament finally combined the kingdoms, with Northumberland insisting on one more referendum to confirm the union. While they were considered to be one kingdom and one nation from that point, the acts set a four-year timetable for combining all government functions and offices. The march toward reunification under a new royal house seemed to signal a significant course change for Great Britain.

Flag and Arms

Flag

The people of Northumbria agreed on the unification of the realm to designate the ancient flag of the Kingdom of Northumbria as the new national flag. This is a flag of 8 bars, 4 gold and 4 maroon alternated.

Royal Banner

Also flown in the kingdom, at royal residences for example, is the royal banner. This is the bars of Northumbria quartered with the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

Coat of arms

Paly of eight Or and Murray, counterchanged per pale, the whole surrounded by the Garter; for a Crest, upon the Royal helm the steel crown of Northumbria, thereon a lion statant guardant Or crowned Proper ; Mantling Or and Murrey; for Supporters, dexter a lion rampant guardant Or crowned as the Crest, gorged with a collar paly of eight Or and Murrey counterchanged per pale, a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or, sinister a lion rampant guardant Azure, gorged with a collar paly of eight Or and Murrey counterchanged per pale, a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or; Motto 'The Land Offers Life' in the compartment below the shield, with the Union rose, Gentiana verna, Parnassia palustris, Geranium sanguineum, Mimulus guttatus and Campanula rotundifolia engrafted on the same stem. - Blazon of the Arms of Northumbria

The arms of Northumbria have the bars of Northumbria in the shield with the royal helm and steel crown in crest atop which stands the royal lion. The Garter surrounds the shield and is supported by two lions, one the royal lion of Cleveland and the other the Ducal lion of Percy. Both are collared with a collar decorated in the bars of Northumbria. The compartment is a grassy field adorned with native wildflowers and the union rose, to represent the constituent parts of the kingdom. For the motto, the appropriate 'The Land Offers Life' is testament to the bountiful valleys of Northumbria, though not given freely, the boons of this land are offered to those who will work hard to reap them.

Emblem of the House of Bamburgh

Queen Anne II commissioned artists in Middlesbrough to design a new house seal for the new cadet branch of Bamburgh. In similar stylings to the House of Windsor, the House of Bamburgh is a stylised representation of the keep at Bamburgh Field atop a grassy mound. Two golden oak branches form a wreath around the keep with the royal banner flying from its flagpole. Atop this is the Steel Crown of Northumbria.

Politics and Law

The Kingdom of Northumbria is a constitutional monarchy, similar to that of the former United Kingdom, and mirrors the late parliament of Westminster.

The Monarchy

Following the unification of Cleveland and Northumbria, Zara I of the Cadet Branch House Bamburgh ascended the throne as Queen of Northumbria, her husband George Percy took the title HRH George Prince of Northumbria. Under Queen Anne II stewardship, the primogeniture laws of old were removed from the law of the land, thus gender will not dictate the line of succession. This as such determines the line of succession as follows.

• HRH Prince Michael, Prince of Cleveland, Heir apparent.
• HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Cumberland
• Princess Victoria, The Princess Royal

The royal titles of Zara I Children were created upon her coronation and ascension to the Northumbrian Throne by the monarch herself.

It is noted that the Prince Consort will inherit the Duke of Northumberland title from his father Lord Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, after which the Duke of Northumberland will become a Royal Title. Zara I is also anointed the Duke of Lancaster by the parliament of the Duchy as a sign of the alliance between the two though as of now, she does not reign Queen.

In the even that no successive heir of the Royal House Bamburgh can be found, The Kingdom has declared the next in line to be the next born child of the Duchy of Northumberland, this being the descendants of House Percy. There has been much speculation about the House of Windsor in South Africa and their role in the succession of the throne but following the souring of public opinion from King Andrew's visit, this is one constitutional question that lawmakers are happy to leave unanswered until a time arrives that it should be answered.

Parliament

Following the boundary review in 2017, the Kingdom has once again established a Bicameral Constitutional Monarchy. The Parliament meets in downtown Middlesbrough at Victoria Square, named after the Park that sits in the centre of the government complex. The Town hall of Middlesbrough has been repurposed as the new chamber of the House of Lords where the former Cleveland Shopping Centre has been demolished to make way for Cleveland hall, a purpose built chambers for the house of commons and cabinet. The nearby baker street has been gated and the old terraces repurposed into the Prime Ministers apartments (25 Baker Street) and other apartments of High profile ministers.

The Central Library has been extended to house a National Archive and the Courts on Victoria Square have been Expanded to include Both Civil and Crown Courts. The tower at the end of Cleveland Hall remains, housing MP offices and temporarily holding different parliamentary departments, these are due to move to the recently refurbished Church House tower.

Geography and Climate

The North York Moors National Park

The Kingdom of Northumbria is dominated by hilly uplands and pastoral valleys throughout the realm. The kingdom is domain to some of the most beautiful natural areas in the British isles such as the lake district and the Yorkshire dales. The kingdom has designated many pre doomsday National Parks and AONB sites as Regions of Natural and Cultural Heritage. The initial restriction zones of Tyneside and Wearside were inaugurated into Memorial Parks and added to the list, work on the embankments of both rivers is undergoing to safely remove any dangerous ruins. It is the hope of Cleveland House Government to have these areas return to nature over time and be areas of outstanding beauty in their own right. The following were designated RNCH sites:

• Northumberland Coast and Lindisfarne
• Solway Coast
• Howardian Hills
• North Pennines
• Nidderdale
• Cheviots and Borders
• North York Moors
• Tyneside Memorial Park
• Wearside Memorial Park
• Northern Lake District

Bamburgh Castle on the Northumbrian Coast

Northumbria enjoys a temperate marine coastal climate with a cooler average temperature than their southern neighbours. Precipitation is common all year round with Summers and Winters being much milder in part to the oceans currents surrounding the British Isles helping to regulate the temperature. Inland and upland the temperatures range to much warmer in the summer to much cooler in the winter, snow is not uncommon on the Pennines and Uplands of the interior.

International Relations

Duchy of Lancaster

The Northumbrians are close allies with their sister nation, The Duchy of Lancaster. Prior to doomsday the monarch was the Duke of Lancaster and had a deep connection the the Duchy. The question of unification is hot in Dalton Square, parliamentarians often go back and forth about incorporating their state into their neighbouring kingdom. The Duke of the Duchy is Zara I of Northumbria and in many ways the symbiotic relationship between the two states would be better served by unification. For now however, the question remains asked but not answered. The Northumbrians have joined in many intragovernmental efforts with Lancaster to better connect the two nations and tackle the dangers that the post nuclear landscape has presented particularly around the Cumbria coast and Windscale.

Celtic Alliance

The Celtic alliance and Northumbria have long been allies. Both have worked together on establishing peace to the bubbling conflict in Ulster. Recent endeavours by the royals and the Celtic governments have led to a shaky but upheld truce in the former British home nation. Zara herself is queen of East Ulster, a compromise that both unionists and republicans agreed to on the caveat that west ulster was free to determine its own future within the alliance. The Northumbrians and Celts have allied both in civil and military proceedings. Incidents in Southern Scotland and the English mainland have been met by forces from both nations under a united effort to bring peace to the British isles. The Ilse of Man has elected the South African monarch, William V to be the representing sovereign, the only area of the British isles to recognise the new Windsor House in South Africa as the reigning monarch. Though not ideal, the Bamburgh House have not tried to dispute this.