Matt Taylor Declares Himself King of Brighton & Hove.

With the help of Elon Musk’s Robot Army.

Matt Taylor

Jul 10, 2025

Transcript

Maverick Brighton figure Matt Taylor has once again raised eyebrows — and royal hackles — with his latest, most audacious declaration yet: he’s King Matthew I, rightful sovereign of a breakaway Principality of Brighton and Hove.

According to Taylor’s plan, the new kingdom would stretch from Worthing to Eastbourne, reaching inland as far as Lewes — a verdant strip of the Sussex coast that he envisions joining the ranks of Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Andorra as one of the world’s few sovereign principalities.

Taylor’s not just counting on human support either. In a sci-fi twist, he claims he’ll enlist an Army of Robots — all sourced from Elon Musk’s Tesla range — to do the heavy lifting in his self-proclaimed war of independence.

“HM Forces won’t know what hit them,” Taylor declared from his YouTube soapbox, brushing off the minor detail that King Charles III might have something to say about losing Brighton Pier and the Pavilion to a breakaway robotic royalist insurrection.

The King Arthur Link: A Royal Claim Rooted in Ancient America.

Taylor’s campaign has an unusual historical twist — rooted, he says, in the work of researchers Alan Wilson, Baram Blackett, and Ross Broadstock, who argue that King Arthur II sailed to America centuries before Columbus.

Legend has it that Arthur II navigated up the Mississippi River, camped deep in the Kentucky wilderness, and died by a spear to the heart after a young native warrior infiltrated the British camp during a brutal conflict over passage rights.

For Taylor, this Arthurian tale cements a symbolic link between his King Arthur Political Party and Musk’s new American political ambitions. In Taylor’s mind, it’s only fitting that Brighton’s new king should stand shoulder to shoulder with Musk’s party in a modern transatlantic alliance — robots, Teslas, and all.

What Are His Chances?

Unsurprisingly, constitutional experts scoff at Taylor’s chances of negotiating the UK’s first homegrown Principality since Wales was last independent in 1282. Critics dismiss his plans as eccentric fantasy at best — and the chances of Elon Musk rolling up to Brighton seafront with a fleet of robot soldiers? Probably slim to none.

Yet, Taylor’s loyal band of followers, drawn to his mix of folklore, conspiracies, and offbeat humour, insists the coronation is only a matter of time. And why not? In a world where billionaire tech moguls buy social media platforms for fun, maybe a Robot Kingdom of Sussex is exactly the plot twist we deserve.

One thing is certain: if Taylor’s dream comes true, the Taylor royal family could become Brighton’s weirdest tourist attraction yet — eclipsing even the seagulls.