Matthew I of the United States (New American Monarchy)

Matthew I (Alexander Matthew Richard; October 28, 1987 -- December 5, 2040) was the Sovereign of the United States and the first monarch of the New American Monarchy. His reign is a milestone in royalty as he is the first openly gay sovereign of any nation.

Early Life and Political Career
In the years preceding the Royal Nominations of 2010, the man who would eventually become King Matthew I was known as Alexander Cates. He was born at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. His mother, then known as Jacqueline "Jackie" Cates (née MacNeill) was born in Taunton, Massachusetts and was of Irish and English ancestry. His father, then known as Richard Cates, was born in Birmingham, Alabama and was of Irish and Portuguese ancestry. Alexander's parents met in 1985 through Jacqueline's sister, then known as Jessica MacNeill. The couple married young in October of 1986 and gave birth to Alexander the following October.

In March 25, 1991, Richard and Jacqueline gave birth to Alexander's sister Madeleine and then to his brother Samuel in July 10, 1995. The Cates family did not live the typical luxurious life of a royal family. They lived in and out of apartment complexes throughout Alexander's childhood, settling on a three story apartment unit in Fall River, Massachusetts. After Alexander started law school, he discovered his father had been unfaithful to his mother and his parents divorced.

After finishing college and establishing a name for himself in the Massachusetts State Government, Alexander decided to try his best to be a Senator for the State of Massachusetts. While he never achieved his goal for senator, he was elected for the office of governor. His term as Governor of Massachusetts continued from 2008 until the Royal Nominations of 2010. It was a milestone for Unites States history as he was the first openly gay man to successfully run for Governor of Massachusetts, as well as the youngest person to hold the post in national history.

Royal Nominations of 2010
Nearing the end of the 20th century, the United States Government, in an attempt to salvage the country following a long string of terrible presidents and worsening recession, decided to install an American monarchy to act as a moderator. Using lineage from European royalty and a very strict set of criteria, the government singled out three possible candidates for the newly established royal position. Alexander was nominated to represent the new royal House of Boston as he was the oldest male heir on his mother's side, his mother being directly descended from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. From Texas, representing the House of Houston, was Prince Thomas. From Alaska, representing the House of Anchorage, was Princess Amelia.

The government and the new princes emphasized to the people of the United States that this particular election would be like no other election in history. While most elections determine the reign of one person, this election would determine an entire legacy. The people were not just voting for one king or queen, they were voting for an entire royal family. As such, the campaign had to last for three years.

Prince Alexander's first appearance was alongside Prince Thomas and Princess Amelia at the first royal campaign discussion. Similar to a presidential debate, the royal campaign discussions were meant for the princes to explain their plans for the country and how their successors would continue to enforce these plans. While Prince Alexander and Princess Amelia seemed to get along fairly well, the campaign was more heated between Princes Alexander and Thomas.

A highly conservative man from Texas, Prince Thomas of Houston refused to acknowledge Prince Alexander's claim to the American throne because of his homosexuality. Also, part of Alexander's platform was that he would ensure that all Americans, gay or straight, black or white, male or female, would receive equal pay, benefits, and treatment. Prince Thomas was a staunch supporter of the Defense of Marriage Act and was rumored to have told the Prince of Boston that he would "bring him down."

After a fierce campaign, the potential royal houses waited in their respected homes until the Speaker of the House came to them to say who won the election. Since the government felt it proper that the new sovereign should be the first to know who won, the voting tallies were not broadcast to the public.

On August 26, 2015, after almost twenty-four hours of counting and deliberating, the Speaker of the House, Michael Warren, entered the home of the Prince of Boston, accompanied by the leading members of the Senate, and told Prince Alexander that the people had chosen his family to be the ruling family and that he was the first King of the United States.

He had chosen the regnal name Matthew I. He granted Princess Amelia of Anchorage and Prince Thomas of Houston honorary princely titles.

Marriage
During the royal campaign, then-Prince Alexander met Paul Sefton who was on his campaign team. The two because very close, having established a friendship on the fact that they were the only team members who were gay. As the election date drew closer, the closer Sefton and Alexander became. During the second campaign year, the two started dating, which gained the attention of the entire country. Certain newspapers had started joking calling Sefton "the gay Kate Middleton". Sefton was with the Bostons when Michael Warren had told Alexander that he was the new king.

When King Matthew was crowned on the Fourth of July the following year, Sefton asked him to marry him. The engagement was announced in September of that year much to the delight of half the country. The engagement, however, caught the attention of supporters of the Defense of Marriage Act who refused to acknowledge a king marrying a man. The new United States Congress agreed, however, to allow the King to marry Sefton.

The wedding took place on June 24, 2020 at the National Mall. Attendees included many members of European royal families, the President, the Viceroy of Columbia, and many, many civilians. As the King didn't very much like the title of prince consort, Congress granted Paul the title of Grand Prince.

Amendment 28 (Equal Rights Amendment)
Matthew I's first act as King of the United States was to have his staff draft a Constitutional amendment prohibiting any forms of discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, creed, etc. The proposition for the amendment was called the Equal Rights Amendment, informally as Amendment 28. The amendment would ensure higher punishments for hate crimes, more stringent school security, and equal pay for all who were employed. Opponents of the proposition made claims that the King had an agenda, seeing as the amendment would allow him to father a legitimate heir via surrogate. The proposition, however, was met with overwhelming support from the people of the United States to whom the amendment would apply, so Congress had no choice but to ratify it. And after many years of drafting and ratifying, on December 25, 2023 the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution was put into effect.

Birth of an Heir
With the Equal Rights Amendment ratified, the King was able to conceive a legitimate heir via surrogate. He and Prince Paul consulted with representatives from Congress and reproductive therapists. Congress ruled that the King may produce an heir via surrogate, but only if he submits his sperm to a reproductive clinic. Prince Paul must have no involvement, so to protect the royal lineage. Congress also voted in favor of absolute primogeniture, so that the first born child of the King of the United States, regardless of gender, will be his heir apparent.

After months of planning and preparations, the best reproductive therapists in the country had selected twenty-nine year old Lisa Norgate as the best candidate to give birth to the King's heir. A few months after several meetings with the King, the Grand Prince, Miss Norgate, and many doctors, the Palace of Atchison announced she was pregnant with twins. Congress ruled that the first to be born would be the heir apparent.

On March 16, 2025, Lisa Norgate gave birth to Princess Emma and Princess Lily. As Emma was the first born of the two, she was given the title Princess of Washington, which was reserved for heiresses apparent of the United States.

Civil War of 2024
After the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and after the announcement that Lisa Norgate was pregnant with the King's child, Texas and Oklahoma seceded from the United States. A month later, Arkansas and Mississippi joined them. They named their own union the Kingdom of the Confederate States of America naming Prince Thomas of Houston their king. The rightful King of the United States made pleas to the New Confederacy to rejoin the union. He emphasized to his office that war was a last resort. It was stated by an official that Matthew said to, "in fact, exhaust all the other last resorts before resorting to war."

Alabama and Tennessee later joined the New Confederacy, causing Washington to become more nervous about a second civil war. Many conservatives in the New Confederacy believed that the Equal Rights Amendment was an assault on the basic rights of those who did not agree to it and declared that they would not rejoin the union until the amendment was repealed. The King refused to repeal the amendment and tries to come to an agreement with the new King of the Confederate States, Thomas.

During the secessions of the Southern states, Louisiana remained stubbornly loyal to the House of Boston, especially to the King and his aunt Princess Jessica. Often times, Confederate officials tried to convince Louisiana to join their kingdom without King Matthew's knowledge. Representatives of Louisiana, however, sent many messages to the Palace of Atchison informing of the South's attempts to bring Louisiana into their union. The King issued a warning against the former Prince of Houston. "Leave the State of Louisiana alone. They clearly do not have any ill feelings toward myself or my policies, and they clearly do not want to join your union. The only way to put this behind us is to stop this secession and preserve our union."

Declaring himself King Thomas, the former Prince of Houston dismissed King Matthew's warning, and he proclaimed "Louisiana is a southern state! If we can't have them, the North certainly can't!" And he commanded his armies to invade Louisiana. On September 2, 2024, at 2:30 AM, the Confederate States of America invaded the State of Louisiana forcing the United States' hand. The King was roused at 4:00 and informed of the invasion, and he gave Congress permission to declare war on the New Confederacy. At 10:00 that same morning, the King made a special televised speech informing the people that the United States was at war with the Confederate States.

At first, there were only skirmishes between the North and the South without any major battles. The states of Georgia and South Carolina swore their allegiance to the King and promised to Thomas' army at bay. But a year after the war started, the New Confederacy invaded the southeastern coast, exacerbating the war. As a direct result of this act of war, the King ordered all of the Union's domestic military branches upon the underprepared New Confederacy. The North reclaimed all of the invaded states and began severely attacking the secessionist states to the point where they all surrendered, one by one.

Invasion of Houston

When the only remain land loyal to Thomas was the northern half of Texas, the King ordered a task force to intercept Thomas by helicopter and bring him to Washington, D.C. The task force was successful and leadership of the New Confederacy was in the hands of General Lewis Parish. The United States Army marched through the rest of Texas until Parish was left with no other option but to surrender. At March 2, 2029, the Confederates had surrendered to the North and the second Civil War had ended.

Prince Thomas was brought to court and found guilty of treason of the highest degree and inciting a rebellion. As punishment, he was banished to Guam and stripped of all honorary or noble titles save for the title of prince.

Assassination
Every December, the King would embark on what he called the Homestead Tour, which was a visit to the various cities and towns in Massachusetts where he grew up. On December 4, 2040, while the city of Attleboro was holding a parade in the King's honor, a gunman, Kenneth Patrick Wharf, hid among a group of demonstrating police. When the police demonstration was in front of the royal box, at 1:30 PM, Wharf open fired on the King, shooting him six times in the chest. Wharf was arrested and the King was rushed to the hospital where he died twenty hours later at 9:17 AM.

Investigators found Wharf had sympathies to Prince Thomas and shot King Matthew, he said, as proof of loyalty to the rightful king. He was found guilty of murder in the second degree and executed on September 6, 2041.

Titles and Styles

 * October 28, 1987 -- November 7, 2008: Mr. Alexander Cates
 * November 7, 2008 -- January 1, 2010: Governor Alexander Cates
 * January 1, 2010 -- August 26, 2015: Prince Alexander of Boston
 * August 26, 2015 -- December 5, 2040: His Majesty The King