A few years later, Casley began styling himself as "Prince Leonard" and granting family members royal titles, although he did not include the word "principality" in the official name until 2006.

[5][6] The claimed territory was located 517 km (321 mi) north of Perth, near the town of Northampton in the state of Western Australia.

[15] Initially, the five families who owned farms at Hutt River banded together to fight the quota,[citation needed] and Casley lodged a protest with the Governor of Western Australia, Sir Douglas Kendrew.

[14] Two weeks later, Casley claimed that the government introduced a bill into Parliament to "resume" his and the other families' lands under compulsory acquisition laws.

Casley says the failure to respond gave the province "de facto autonomy" on 21 April 1972, but that the Western Australian government can still dispute the secession.

He sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia, but his application was dismissed with the comment that his arguments were "fatuous, frivolous and vexatious".

In December 2019, citing declining revenue from agriculture as well as a drop in tourist numbers, the principality issued a media release to announce that it would be closing its borders with effect from 31 January 2020.

The principality would no longer accept visitors, would cease to issue entry and exit visas and would stand down most government services and offices for the duration of the hiatus.

The announcement included the following statement: "It is with a heavy heart and after much thought and consultation with my Cabinet and ADC that I have to inform all that the Government of the Principality of Hutt River is about to go on hiatus.

In 2007, the High Court of Australia dismissed an application by Casley for leave to appeal against a judgment against him relating to his son Leonard's failure to file tax returns.

Leonard argued that he resided in the "Hutt River Province" and that it is not part of Australia and not subject to Australian taxation law.

[36] Leonard made unverified claims that they have been accepted on some occasions by some unspecified foreign countries,[37] but there was a documented instance of a man being arrested in Germany for attempting to use a Hutt River Province "diplomatic passport".

[38] Casley claimed that the ATO sent him a tax demand in 2012 to which he simply responded with a document stating that he was a "foreign national and non-resident of Australia".

"[38] The principality claimed that all social security benefits were withdrawn from Hutt River's residents at the time of secession by the Australian government.

Voting is compulsory by law in Australia, but Casley claimed to have successfully removed the names of Hutt River residents from the Australian electoral roll.

[46] The principality said that it levied its own income tax of 0.5 per cent on financial transactions by foreign companies registered in the province and personal accounts.

There were some occasions where organisations stated that the province had some sort of sovereignty: The principality appears on Google Maps, but only as a "tourist attraction".

[49] In 2010, Brendon Grylls, Western Australian Minister for Regional Development and Lands, was asked if his state had a "position" on the principality.

The Hong Kong Registry, however, were looking at reviewing their list of accredited places for company incorporation after the issue was raised in an adverse manner by Australian media.

It reads in part: "I am to convey Her Majesty's good wishes to you and to all concerned for a most enjoyable and successful celebration on 23rd and 24th of April to mark the forty-sixth anniversary of the Principality of Hutt River."

[58] Leonard Casley worked for a shipping company based in Perth, although he left school at 14, and described himself as a mathematician and physicist; he also claimed to have written articles for NASA.

[47] Casley was married to Shirley (née Butler) until her death on 7 July 2013,[62] when the principality went into a period of mourning, closing some of its services.

[63][64] She was styled as "Her Royal Highness Princess Shirley of Hutt, Dame of the Rose of Sharon", and she played host to dignitaries and diplomatic representatives visiting the principality each year,[46] as well as receiving television crews and magazine journalists.