In 1967, a man created his own country

In 1967, a man created his own country by moving to an abandoned floating British fortress. He raised a flag, named himself Prince and his wife Princess. It withstood court challenges and invasion attempts, and remains an independent nation to this day.

During the Second World War, the British government built several Fortress islands in the North Sea to defend its coasts from German invaders.
They were abandoned in the early 1950’s, and most were pulled down to comply with international law, as the majority had been built illegally in international waters.

But one of the fortresses, Fort Roughs Tower, was not destroyed. Situated 7 nautical miles from the coast – double the then 3 mile range of territorial waters – it was simply abandoned. From a legal point of view, it therefore constituted extra-national territory.

A map showing the Principality of Sealand in the North Sea

So in 1965, Roy Bates – a Major in the British army – and a crew boarded Fort Roughs Tower and began a “pirate” station called Radio Essex, in order to bypass the draconian broadcasting restrictions of the time.

The station broadcast 24 hours a day the kind of music the BBC wouldn’t play – the Beatles, the Kinks and Rolling Stones and other popular music of the era.

Roy declared the 120-foot-long steel platform the nation of Sealand. The founding of this country was marked by the raising of a newly designed flag, and in a romantic birthday gesture, Roy bestowed the title of “Princess Joan” to his beloved wife.

Prince Roy and Princess Joan.

It didn’t take long before the British Government decided they could not have what they described as a possible “Cuba off the east coast of England”.

The British navy were promptly dispatched to destroy all other remaining forts located in international waters. The Bates family looked on as huge explosions filled the sky as helicopters carrying explosives destroyed the other forts around them.

The family on the island in 1978.

As the Navy boats passed by Sealand, they shouted “You’re next!”. When a government vessel eventually steamed to within fifty feet of Sealand, Bates’ son, Michael, fired warning shots, causing them to retreat.

Father and son were summoned to court. But the judge concluded with the first de facto recognition of Sealand, stating:
This is a swash buckling incident perhaps more akin to the time of Sir Francis Drake, but it is my judgment that the UK courts have no jurisdiction. After their success in court, the Bates family moved to live on Sealand permanently. They created a national flag, stamps, passports, currency with Joan’s picture on, and came up with a motto — “E Mare Libertas”, or “From the Sea, Freedom”.

The coins featuring Princess Joan’s picture.

In 1978, a German businessman hired several mercenaries to capture the platform while Sealand’s royal family were buying groceries onshore. But Bates hired a helicopter, came down a rope and took back his dominion at gunpoint!

The captured German invaders.

Roy died in 2012 at the age of 91, while his wife Joan died in 2016. Their son Michael took over, and Sealand remains an independent nation to this day.

Roy and Joan’s son Michael, the current Prince of Sealand.