House of Columbia

The House of Columbia is the ruling and founding of the Kingdom of Sierra and a  of the. Founded on November 28, 1858 by King Smith I, on the same day of the promulgation of the new constitution and creation of the current government of Sierra.

The House of Columbia was formed in response to the selection of founder Smith I as the first king of the new monarchy established in Sierra under the 1858 Constitution. The California Republic, the predecessor state of Sierra, had gained its independence from Mexico in 1848 through the following the Mexican-American War, but after ten years, was considered a bureaucratic disaster. In need for a more efficient and stable government, Californian delegates were called to draft a entirely new constitution. The delegation comprised primarily of two factions: republicans and royalists, the former that demanded an -styled republic and the other a monarchy.

Through compromise, it was agreed that the new constitution would incorporate elements of both a monarchy and a democratic republic, with a weak, monarchy and an American-styled civil government. Convention president Smith Charles Miller, a man who had worked extensively in the Californian government and had ancestral origins to the House of Stuarts, was chosen to lead the nation as its king. Acceding, Smith was crowned King Smith I, and consequently became the head of the newly formed House of Columbia.

Today, the House of Columbia is composed of 5 members in the Royal Family which includes the King and Queen and their children; 11 members in the Extended Court; and hundreds more relatives without a formal title or distinction proscribed.

House of Stuart

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The House of Columbia has lineage to the extinct Britannian House of Stuart whose last reigning monarch was. The Stuarts, who were d following the execution of Charles I, fled to the under the protection of the. Continuing to claim the Crown of Britannia (which had been dissolved under the rule of ) through the, the House tried several to seize power.

Following the failed where House heir  was defeated at the, the Stuarts extinguished any further prospects to the throne and fled to Spain. The exile in Spain was short-lived, and by 1772, through safe passage by Spanish ship, the Stuarts arrived in the Britannian colony,, to meet up and rally Jacobite supporters. The Stuarts hoped to gain the approval of the colonists, have them revolt against the Britannian Lord Protectorate, and restore the monarchy as a new country. With colonial sentiment fiercely opposed to a monarchy, the Stuarts failed to gather significant support, but their cause was half-fulfilled through the in 1765 when the American colonies fought to overthrow Britannian control.

In the United States
With the formation of the, the government stripped the Stuarts of their titles, formally ending the House of Stuart. Disgraced and reviled, the Stuart's patriarch, Charles died in 1788 after years of prolonged and. His only child who survived past infancy,, was , and married former captain James Miller and settled in ,. Unable to claim any inheritance from her father, Charlotte Stuart was also unable to secure correspondence with any relatives or benefactors in Europe. Fearing the hatred attached to her family name in both the United States and in her ancestral home, Britannia, Stuart took up her husband's name, Miller, and legally renamed herself to Belle to remove local suspicion of her connection to the disgraced family. Belle and James fathered three children, including eldest son Gregory, the father of future king Smith I.

Owning a shop, James passed the shop to Gregory following his death, without revealing to him of Gregory's mother's former past. Gregory took up the family business and was only told later of his lineage to the former House of Stuart at the deathbed of his mother in 1809. Having learned of this, Gregory decided to disregard his mother's claim, and vowed to live a simple life as the town tanner.

Gregory eventually met his wife, Anna Clemens in 1810 during a trip to. Falling in love, the two married the following year and settled in his home in Newark.