I'm sure there are others out there ignorant on this point as well. Before I was active there was a contested Crown tournament in the East Kingdom. It was not handled delicately, and some harsh feelings ensued. The Crown whose reign was aborted formed a new and slightly different group, called the Kingdom of Acre. Very SCA compatible, but slightly more narrow focused, and with a slightly different form of Crown combat.
People play in one, the other, or both.
In fact, there is one gentleman who was King once in each. We all play pretty well together, and they fight with the East at Pennsic. They made a wonderful spectacle at the Pas d'Armes last summer, with the Bishop of Acre sponsoring a team, and blessing them before combat. A really neat magic moment, for me.