James Akhilleus I

HM King James Monarch
File:King James.JPG
Full name	James Philip Aleksandr Benjamin
Titles

House	House of Akhilleus
Father	King Benjamin VI
Mother	Lady Mary Godlan of Utorik
Born	(1954-03-20) 20 March 1954 (age 70)
Religion	Christian

The current ruler of Belfras, father to Prince Edward Princess Catherine and Elizabeth.

Early life and education

James Philip Aleksandr Benjamin was born on 20 March 1954 in the Queen Mary Memorial Hospital in Isn Deslen, Deslen. He was the second child and first son of King Benjamin VI and Lady Mary Godlan of Utorik, and the first male of the Akhilleus Dynasty to be called James. He was the first royal baby to be born away from the Mountainblood Estate since King Eduard X.

From birth, James has held the titles of Prince of Belfras and Lord of Deslen. He was baptised as a member of the Papal Catholic Church on 5th July 1954 in Saint Andrews' church in the Golden Palace. His godparents are Prince Andrew, Prince Albert, and former prime minister Tony Albertson.

He has three younger brothers and one sister: Prince Thomas (1955 - 2005), Prince Frederic (b. 1955), Prince Aleksandr (b. 1960), and Princess Charlotte (b. 1962). He early life was spent with his family in the Mountainblood Estate following renovations to the Golden Palace from 1955 till 1962, when the family moved back into the historic palace.

James attended the Fellstone Royal Academy of Gifted Nobles from 1961 to 1970. He left the academy and enlisted into the Belfrasian Armed Forces at age 16 and attended the Royal Naval College until graduating at age 18 in 1972 at the rank of Lieutenant.

Military training and career

James served with the Royal Navy from March 1972 until April 1984 after spending two years attending the Royal Naval War College in Portsdown. His training was spent at the college and aboard the Royal Naval Warship HMS Broadsword (BB-115) and HMS King Alexandros (CV-51), where be served his midshipman term of the class. Upon promotion to Lieutenant, he was transferred and served aboard the HMS Broadsword until the Attack on the HMS Broadsword (1974) by Kunarii Separatists. His actions during the attack earned him popularity, and directly contributed to the survival of most of the crew members after taking command of the stricken warship. He was promptly promoted to Captain and placed in command of the HMS King Benjamin (CVN-102 a year later.

James was formally transferred off of the King Benjamin in 1980 when he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and was placed on the Royal Admiralty Board. He maintained his post and was directly responsible for several renovations to both the navies tactical systems and for modernizing the air arm. He became a face of the navy, appearing at public gatherings and was interviewed by the Belfrasian News Network in 1983, in which he stated that the Royal Navy was "The finest in the world" - earning the navies motto of "The Finest."

He was honorably discharged from the navy in his investiture as King James, with the government stating that the head of state cannot be both an active service member whilst also serving as the Supreme Commander. During his career in the Royal Navy he was not only the first royal family member to serve aboard a carrier, but also became a heavily respected seaman and commander and won the Victoria Cross for his efforts during the Broadsword attack.

Reign

Following his Investiture as King James I at the age of thirty, he serve as head of the Kings Council and as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Since his investiture, he has attended the council's weekly meetings as often as possible, with the council visiting James when his health started to fade in the late 2000's. King James also has weekly meetings with the Prime Minister and speaks regularly with ministers and state secretaries. He is also the final signatory for all acts of parliament, senate, and royal decrees. Until his stroke in 2009, he attended all public gatherings as King and represented the Monarchy abroad.

King James is heavily interested in both marine mammals and nautical engineering. He is an honorary member of the Belfrasian Society of the Preservation of Marine Life and authored the Coast Guard Protection of Whales Act 1992. He made it a criminal offense to critically injure on purpose a whale and, in regards to the endangered Blue Scaled Whales, a capital offense to kill one. His interest also swayed into sport, and he spoke in support of a pan-Pardesi sports competition and is a founding member of the Sports Injury Recovery Hospital in Nos Kenwadi.

He was a signatory to keep the Royal Mint of Belfras in government hands, stating that control of the currency couldn't be allowed into the hands of corporations who's own agenda might endanger the public interest.

Marriage and children

James met Lady Biel Antell in 1980, shortly after his promotion to Vice Admiral. They married in 1983 and Biel was granted the title 'Queen' upon James' investiture in 1984. Biel was of Western descent and was, prior to their marriage, Chief of Staff to then-Prime Minister Derrick Williamson. Their marriage triggered significant controvery due to the role of Biel's father, Anthony, had in the Western Civil War. Following complications during the birth of the couple's third child, Elizabeth, Queen Biel perished. Following her death, King James swore to never remarry. The couple had three children:

Empress Saxon (1976-03-05) 5 March 1976 (age 48)
His Royal Highness the Prince Edward (1983-11-18) 18 November 1983 (age 41)
Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal Catherine (1986-05-24) 24 May 1986 (age 38)
Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth (1993-01-19) 19 January 1993 (age 31)

Prince Edward controversy

HRH Prince Edward was arrested on 1 January 2005 following a fight in a gentleman's club in Nos Fellstone. The fight, which started following a verbal altercation between Prince Edward and Nathan Johns, resulted in the fatal stabbing of Nathan with a shattered bottle. Prince Edward was formally extradited from Fellstone province to Isn Deslen three weeks later to attend trial at the Royal Windhallow Court and pleaded guilty to Aggravated Murder.

Prince Edward was cut from the line of succession by King James on 9 May 2005 and Prince Edward began a twenty year prison term at Rockmont Prison. King James was able to grant leniancy on Prince James, giving the royal a suspected release date of 2020.