Henry McDonald
Founder & Sovereignty Architect, The Ashalon
London
(also known as London’s Henry / Henry Rios)

Previous about me page from 2009 - 2020.

Henry McDonald is the founder and Sovereignty Architect of The Ashalon, a London-based private society and philosophy focused on personal sovereignty, asset ownership, and clarity of decision-making in a centralising world. Known publicly as London’s Henry and also operating under the name Henry Rios, his work sits at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, money, and culture grounded in lived experience rather than abstraction.

Henry’s intellectual foundation is rooted in philosophy, with a long-term ambition to pursue a PhD, particularly where philosophy intersects with psychology, human behaviour, belief systems, and decision-making under uncertainty. His work examines how individuals construct meaning, how power operates quietly, and how sovereignty is first developed internally before being expressed through structure, assets, and life design.

Alongside philosophy, Henry maintains a serious interest in psychology and poker disciplines that reward patience, emotional control, probabilistic thinking, and responsibility in environments of incomplete information. Poker, for Henry, is not gambling but applied philosophy: a mirror of real-world decision-making where discipline matters more than outcome.

Henry’s path into gemstones and tangible assets is both practical and deeply personal. His father, Jesse James Horsey (October 29, 1956 – August 19, 2014), served in the military and collected gemstones during tours and deployments across different regions of the world. In 2024, while gathering his father’s final belongings, Henry uncovered old address books and contacts, fragments of a global trail that would later shape his own direction.

Following those connections led Henry to his first destination: Colombia, specifically Boyacá and the historic Coscuez emerald mines. What began as a personal pilgrimage evolved into a disciplined pursuit. Today, Henry oversees gemstone mining and sourcing operations across Colombia, Oman, India, Afghanistan, and Thailand, focusing on lawful extraction, provenance, and long-term asset integrity.

Whether travelling through mountains, riverbeds, or old trading towns, Henry moves simply and deliberately. He carries a compass and a loupe; tools that symbolise how he approaches both terrain and life: direction first, inspection always.

Culturally, Henry is oriented toward what endures. He has a deep appreciation for black-and-white cinema, Motown music, and objects that carry history and permanence. He owns and uses a typewriter, and favours old-style restaurants and bars; places built for conversation, ritual, and presence rather than speed or spectacle.

Through The Ashalon, Henry McDonald articulates a philosophy of lawful independence, choice, and ownership. The society is not positioned in opposition to existing systems, but as an alternative framework for individuals seeking greater control over their money, assets, and decisions. His work emphasises that sovereignty is not granted externally, but cultivated internally then expressed deliberately through how one lives and what one owns.

When the world moves toward a single order, London’s Henry chooses another path: one defined by clarity, heritage, ownership, and self-directed life design.