Leaving aside the matter of overseas colonies, since the Far East Empire had sent people to exchange ideas and conduct inspections, East Africa naturally could not neglect the proper courtesies.
However, Ernst felt there was nothing much in East Africa worth inspecting. How East Africa had come into being was not something other countries could easily replicate. Its greatest distinguishing feature was that East Africa had still not cast off its colonial essence.
From beginning to end, East Africa had never possessed any so-called independence. It was a state directly evolved from a colony. Other independent countries, such as the United States and Brazil, bore the imprint of their former mother countries, whereas East Africa had no former mother country. Of course, the Principality of Hechingen did not count. In fact, after the Hechingen Royal Family moved to Africa, the so-called Principality of Hechingen had been weakened even further.
Of course, diminished influence did not mean the Hechingen Royal Family had relinquished those rights. In any case, there was no problem with a monarch holding several titles. The Principality of Hechingen was, more or less, on the level of a margraviate, so there was nothing improper about the King of East Africa concurrently holding the title of Prince of Hechingen. Besides, it might come in handy someday.
For instance, there was no burden at all when dealing with Germany. The Principality of Hechingen held an exceedingly special status in Germany. It was both one of the German states and part of the Kingdom of Prussia, greatly differing from other German states. The Kingdom of Württemberg, for example, was a German state but not part of the Kingdom of Prussia.
In practice, the Principality of Hechingen stood theoretically on the same level as the Kingdom of East Africa and the Alaska