Prince Michael, Duke Of Idir

The Duke in 1949

Prince Michael, Duke Of Idir, is a former member of the Newport Royal Family. He was suspended from the family legally in 1951, he won’t be reinstated until 1971. He is the younger brother of King Limey II and the second son of King Edward IV and Princess Jesse, Duchess of Orange Island. He is also a former military officer.

## Early Life

Michael was born, Michael Edward James Phelps, at Lord Funt Hospital, on October 1, 1889. He was born during the occupation of Newport when the royal family was abolished. In 1905, Newport gained independence again as a constitutional monarchy, instead of a full one, and Michael was pronounced, Prince Michael, Duke Of Byron. He grew up in the palace while his father was king. He was 3rd in line to the throne until 1929.

## Military Career

In 1917, Prince Michael enrolled in the military as an auxiliary member. He was promoted to a combat trainer, and later, an officer. He also provided swimming lessons for the navy. He supported the decision to stay neutral in WW1. In 1945, following the end of WW2, he retired from military work with honours.

## Marriage

In 1933, Michael met Eleanor Rosery, during a lecture and Newport State University. After 3 years of dating, they became engaged in April 1936. They were married in October of 1936. The royal wedding took place at St. Daniels Cathedral on the 14th. The Duke claimed it was the happiest day of his life. King Edward IV proclaimed the couple would have years of happy marriage. In 1949, his father, was diagnosed with a rare heart condition named Tachycardia. Over fears of his health, Edward abdicated to his son, Prince Limey, now proclaimed, King Limey II, with this, Michael and Eleanor assumed the title, Duke & Duchess of Idir.

## Allegations of Domestic Abuse & Financial Fraud

In August of 1950, the world was shocked to hear that Prince Michael And Princess Eleanor were getting divorced. In December, Eleanor went on the Daily Newport Post to talk about the divorce. Multiple recordings, not used in the final cut of the interview were leaked to the Newport Low Down. In them, Eleanor accused the Duke of domestic violence, including beating and punching. The N.C.P.S. caught wind of this and launched an investigation. Prince Michael denied any accusations and The Royal Family announced their own investigation. Prince Michael claimed she had blackmailed him, she wanted multiple payments of loans he had given her, which Michael denied ever existed. Arkhipov announced the presidential office was working with the Family in the investigation.

Multiple butlers and maids who had worked for the couple recalled Michael ushering her into separate rooms and hearing shouting coming from them, they also claimed multiple broken items would be found in the room. Eleanor claimed he would get mad when she asked for loan repayments or do anything he didn’t like in general. Eleanor claimed he owed her over $33,000 and that he had defrauded brokers of $15,000, In an attempt to persuade her to forget about the money. Michael denied all claims of fraud and domestic violence.

## Suspension from Royal Family

In July of 1951, King Limey II announced that conclusive evidence had been found of possible domestic violence but no evidence of fraud. The Supreme Court got involved and all evidence and testimonies were given to the justices. On September 12th, 1951. Chief Justice, Harrison Walkers gave the final verdict, guilty.

Due to the royal charter of 1860, the duke couldn’t be charged with a crime by anyone who wasn’t a royal justice. But Limey II announced on the 29th, that Prince Michael would be legally suspended from the royal family and stripped of all military honours. The duke became the third royal to be suspended and was given the longest time suspended ever, being suspended for 20 years, 4 times the previous record by Prince Anderson, who was suspended for 5 years in 1834. Prince Michael is still serving this suspension. In 1956, he was stripped of the freedom of Idir. In 1959, following and ruling from the Supreme Court, he was charged with 12 counts of domestic violence, he was sentenced to 6 months of house arrest and a restraining order was put in place against him form his ex-wife. These punishments were still enforced after the monarchy was abolished in 1953. He remains under house arrest.

## Al Capone Relations & Prohibition Scandals

Prince Michael was friends with Al Capone, American mobster, convicted in 1931 of tax evasion and prohibition charges. He stayed in Capone’s mansion for a week in 1929, while rumours circulated of Capone arranging the assassinations of prohibition officers and rival gang leaders. During his stay, the St. Valentines Day Massacre occurred.

Following Capone’s convicting in 1931, Prince Michael was interviewed and claimed that he stayed at his home because it was “Convenient”, and did it to avoid paying the charges for hotels in Chicago. Describing Capone as “Extraordinary & Charming.” Multiple photos surfaced of him and Capone drinking alcohol together at a party. Due to alcohol being illegal at the time, there were multiple allegations of violating the Volstead Act. Michael claimed the alcohol had been supplied before prohibition, but many people argued that alcohol wouldn’t have lasted that long.

A former Irish mobster claimed that Prince Michael had a part in organising the St. Valentines Day Massacre, and heard him at the garage where it took place. Michael denied this. Following an investigation from the FBI, claimed no conclusive evidence was found linking Michael with the massacre. He was cleared of all charges in 1947.