‘Prince’ of Sealand, World’s So-Called Smallest Country, Dies

Roy Bates, the self-proclaimed “Prince” of an abandoned World War II artillery platform in the North Sea that he declared a sovereign nation, died this week at the age of 91.

Bates, who referred to himself as “Prince Roy,” founded the principality of Sealand on the platform in international waters on the day of his wife’s birthday in 1967, declaring her “Princess Joan.” The former Roughs Tower offshore platform is made of steel and concrete and housed anti-aircraft guns during World War II, a war that Bates fought in as a British infantry major.

His son, Michael Bates, the “prince regent” of Sealand, told the Buxton Advertiser that his father died at a health care center in Essex on Oct. 9. In his later years, Bates suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by wife Joan Bates, son Michael, and daughter Penny. 

The obituary on Sealand’s Website describes Bates’s life after establishing Sealand: “Many adventures were to follow including run in’s with the British government and terrorist attacks. He had periods of wealth and times of hardship but he gave in to nothing and nobody.”

Sealand’s Saga

It all began the 1960s when Bates became interested in the “pirate radio” movement; Britons would operate unlicensed stations from offshore ships and former sea forts, broadcasting pop and rock music that could not be heard on BBC Radio at the time. 

Bates operated an unlicensed station, which he called “Radio Essex, from another abandoned artillery platform. After the British government prosecuted him under the Marine Offences Act. Bates occupied Rough Towers, another abandoned World War II platform in another location in the North Sea; made it his new home; and named it Sealand.

The British government tried to remove the Bates family from the platform in 1968 but was unsuccessful as the judge for the case ruled that Sealand was outside the jurisdiction of the U.K.

Sealand, about six miles off England’s east coast, is not officially recognized as a nation. Bates said, however, that Germany recognized it as a de facto state because it sent a diplomat to the micro-nation, according to a New York Times article published March 20 this year.

According to Sealand government documents, the micro-nation has a land area of just shy of an acre with territorial waters extending 38.6 square miles (about 100 square km). In 2002, Sealand claimed a population of 27 people, although the University of California–Santa Barbara’s department of geography says it rarely had a population of more than five. 

That did not stop Bates from coming up with a Sealand constitution in 1975. Sealand also has its own flag, passports, currency, and national motto of “E Mare Libertas,” which is Latin for “From the Sea, Freedom.” 

The terrorist attack referred to in Bates’ obituary is possibly the most bizarre event in Sealand’s existence. 

German businessman Alexander Achenbach and his associates invaded and occupied the platform in 1978, according to the New York Times. Achenbach had previously made a proposal to Bates that he could turn Sealand into a hotel-casino. In return, he wanted citizenship and further, wanted to be Sealand’s prime minister-for-life.

The event unfolded when Bates and his wife were on vacation and Achenbach took the couple’s son hostage. However, Roy was ultimately able to reclaim Sealand via helicopter and held Achenbach’s lawyer and cohorts hostage.

According to Sealand’s website, Bates said in a 1980s television interview, “I might die young or I might die old, but I will never die of boredom.”

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*Republished under agreement with The Epoch Times