Our Founders

At the heart of the Principality of Hutt River lies a vibrant tapestry of culture, history, and innovation, shaped by the visionary leadership of Princess Shirley Casley.

Her dedication has transformed a dream into a thriving community that celebrates individuality and self-governance, inviting visitors to explore its unique charm and rich heritage while fostering a spirit of unity and creativity that resonates far beyond its borders.

In Memorium

Shirley was born in Fremantle on the 19th of July 1928, to loving parents, Jessie and Ern Butler. She was the eldest child with two sisters, Valma (deceased) Lorna and Brother Robert (Bob). Princess Shirley’s Ancestry of the “Butler Family” is traced back to Kilkenny Castle in Ireland.

She went to Palmyra Primary School and then Princess May Girls High School.

After completing secretarial school, Shirley worked in the Solicitors office Howard Bath  Her office duties included taking shorthand and typing. She didn’t know then how useful these skills were to become.

She met Leonard at a dance in Fremantle. They kept in constant touch and company and after Leonard’s stint in the Air Force they were married in Fremantle on the 19th April, 1947. As Leonard had a vegetable export business to run they only had a couple of days honeymooning in Geraldton (a place they would come back to much later). Shirley’s very interesting life began to develop quickly.

An interest in farming grew and the extended family (as it was then) moved to Westonia (near Merredin) to start their farming life.

After some years of battling with the weather the farm was sold and the family moved back in to the city.

There in the Perth suburb of Como in 1958 Leonard built a block of 60 flats and a two storey home. Whilst Shirley wasn’t a seamstress she did learn to knit and sew. She often made the clothes and jumpers for the family. All the curtains for the 60 flats she made.  Shirley was resilient and not phased she just got in and did what was needed to get the job done. These traits helped her bringing up her seven children.

The yearning for farming called once again and so Leonard went off in search of a new farming property. He found one approximately 100km north of Geraldton which became known as Hutt River. Shirley’s resilience was put to the test once again as Leonard had to commute between Como and the farming property he was developing with his two eldest sons. The rest of the family stayed in Perth for work or to attend school and Shirley stayed in Como attending to the many needs of her family. After the fight with the State, Federal and UK Governments over wheat quotas Leonard declared the farm its own sovereign country in 1970. Shirley’s typing and office skills were once again called upon as Leonard wrote many legal documents between all these Governments and their departments.

The Hutt River phenomenon took off and things became very busy on the farm. There were now three sons. Ian, Wayne and Richard, helping Leonard. In 1974 Shirley moved permanently up to the Principality of Hutt River where she was an integral part in supporting Leonard in Hutt River’s development. Over the next 40 years Shirley liked to stay out of the lime light but was a strong force-behind the scenes and a big support for Prince Leonard in her various roles including organising passports, greeting tourists, tour guides, hosting dignitaries and media interviews. Throughout these years family still always came first.

Whilst talking with the tourists, Shirley’s humility and interest would come through and she soon knew their story as she became a part of theirs. This bond she developed was her love of life and the love she gave to others.

During these years Shirley was able to embrace her love of flora and fauna with the wide open spaces and the natural bush she embraced all nature’s beauties, whether it was feeding orphaned lambs, stray cats, feral kids, picking wild field mushrooms, everlasting flowers and other wild flowers when in season. She even joined the digital age when given a digital camera to which she took many photos of nature including sunsets which she loved. She also loved hearing the birds around the homestead and seeing the animal tracks across the driveway. She would tell me which birds were nesting, which flowers were in bloom, which animals made the tracks, and when an animal was injured or bird fell out of the nest needing some loving attention, she ensured they got it.

With a family of 7 children, 22 Grand Children and more than 30 Great Grand Children (ever increasing!), you might understand just some of the load that was carried on Princess Shirley’s shoulders.

Princess Shirley had a heavy load to deal with before the Principality came into being, with family commitments; caring for a young family, farming, exporting and maintaining her husband’s academic research papers (of which she had her fair share of undertaking and involvement). However, in many respects her workload in the Principality was even greater and much underestimated as she tended to remain much in the background whilst still supporting her husband and family.

HRH Princess Shirley was kept very busy in her many activities within the Principality, especially in matters concerning areas related to written communications, appointment keeping and organisation. She would also host the many dignitaries and diplomatic representatives visiting the Principality each year and receive many of the tourists, television crews and journalists.

Princess Shirley also involved herself with compassion and great interest in the charitable works of the Principality in her position as both Patron and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Red Cross of Hutt; She managed to achieve all of this whilst at the same time still remaining the true Matriarch of the family.

As with wives and mothers universally, the role played by HRH Princess Shirley throughout her adult life has been less appreciated than it should have been and whilst much has been written, published and is widely known about the secession of the Principality and its founder and Sovereign HRH Prince Leonard, little if anything has ever been written or even attributed to HRH Princess Shirley who was always there, keeping the family together and performing her duties as Wife, Mother, Sovereigns Aide and so much more at every turn.