James Harden-Hickey

James Aloysius Harden Hickey was born in San Francisco on December 8, 1854, at a time when the city still carried the rough edges of the gold rush. His mother, uneasy with the violence and instability that continued to shape daily life in the young city, brought her children to Paris, which offered a very different world. Under the rule of Napoleon III, the French capital presented order, elegance, and ceremonial rhythm. James grew up in that atmosphere and absorbed it so deeply that it shaped every corner of his adult identity. He learned languages quickly, excelled at fencing, and carried himself with the confidence of someone who believed he was meant for distinction. At nineteen he secured admission to the École spéciale militaire de Saint Cyr, the most respected military academy in France. He graduated in 1875 with honors, admired for his discipline, intelligence, and intensity.

The years that followed brought both advancement and loss. His father died not long after his graduation, leaving James with the responsibility of making his own path. In 1878 he married the Countess Gabrielle, Daughter of the Marquis Sampieri, a match that brought him formally into the aristocratic world he had admired since childhood. They had two children, and for a time he seemed settled into a life of cultured routine. He wrote novels, pamphlets, and essays, traveled widely, and maintained a reputation as an exceptional swordsman. His marriage eventually failed, and the divorce became another turning point. He stepped away from Catholicism and gave in to a desire to roam, spending a year in India and visiting other regions that fed his fascination with systems of power, ritual, and identity.

Prince James purchased the Château des Orchidées in Andilly, France, in 1890. He lived between Andilly and New York City after marrying Annie Harper a year later, although after 1893 he was mainly devoted to his Trinidad project.

When he returned to Paris he met Annie Harper Flagler, daughter of John Haldane Flagler. The connection brought him into the orbit of immense New York wealth and influence. Before they married, James undertook a voyage that took him past the small, uninhabited island of Trinidad in the South Atlantic.

The Island of Trinidad, off the Coast of Brazil, illustration from the 1906 book Real Soldiers of Fortune by RH Davis.

The island lacked any formal claim by a nation, and the idea that it might be free for the taking seized his imagination. Drawing on his understanding of international law and fueled by an almost theatrical belief in self-determination, he declared the island his own principality. He styled himself James I, Prince of Trinidad, complete with a drafted legal code, symbols of office, and a crown he made himself. To him the claim was not a joke. He believed the world could accept a principality founded on will, intellect, and discipline.

Coat of Arms of the Principality of Trinidad,

The Order of the Cross of Trinidad was a Chivalric order created by Prince James

The Cross of Trinidad

James and Annie were married on March 17, 1891, at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. He spent the next years living among the Flaglers while pursuing recognition for his tiny kingdom. He issued stamps, medals, and proclamations, and he continued to represent himself as a sovereign prince even when it earned him ridicule. In 1895 Britain seized Trinidad as a strategic point in the South Atlantic. James had no power to oppose them. The loss struck at the center of his identity, and the humiliation followed him for the rest of his life.

He tried to rebuild his prospects by purchasing a ranch in Mexico, hoping it would restore his financial footing and offer a new direction. The ranch became a burden rather than a solution. When he could not sell it, the pressure grew. Friends and family later recalled that his confidence had given way to discouragement and despair. In February 1898 he checked into a hotel in El Paso, Texas. On the evening of February 9 he took a fatal dose of morphine. With him were the items that had defined his most passionate ambitions, including the handmade crown he had worn as James I. He left a note for Annie that revealed both his affection and his exhaustion.

James was laid to rest in the Hickey family mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, California.