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| Major Roy Bates obituary | Major Roy Bates obituary |
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| Paddy Roy Bates, better-known as Prince Roy of Sealand – the title he awarded himself 36 years ago – has died aged 91 in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, overlooking the Thames estuary where he earned fame as a modern buccaneer. One of the first of a raggle-taggle band of entrepreneurs who saw pirate radio as a goldmine, he bullied his way on to a couple of rusting sea forts, holding them against rival stations, foreign businessmen and even the British government. | Paddy Roy Bates, better-known as Prince Roy of Sealand – the title he awarded himself 36 years ago – has died aged 91 in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, overlooking the Thames estuary where he earned fame as a modern buccaneer. One of the first of a raggle-taggle band of entrepreneurs who saw pirate radio as a goldmine, he bullied his way on to a couple of rusting sea forts, holding them against rival stations, foreign businessmen and even the British government. |
| His antics in the 1960s and 70s were sometimes portrayed as a real-life version of the 1949 Ealing Studios comedy Passport to Pimlico, with jolly seadogs declaring independence on their mites of free territory. After the second of his forts, Roughs Tower, off Harwich, proved to be legally beyond Whitehall's reach, he named it Sealand, the world's smallest country, with its own flag, money, stamps and football team. The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra recorded its national anthem. | His antics in the 1960s and 70s were sometimes portrayed as a real-life version of the 1949 Ealing Studios comedy Passport to Pimlico, with jolly seadogs declaring independence on their mites of free territory. After the second of his forts, Roughs Tower, off Harwich, proved to be legally beyond Whitehall's reach, he named it Sealand, the world's smallest country, with its own flag, money, stamps and football team. The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra recorded its national anthem. |
| But the tall and burly Bates, a former major in the British army who called his crew "the hard bastards of the North Sea", had little of the charm and PR skills of Ronan O'Reilly, his better-known and more successful rival at Radio Caroline. His men evicted Caroline and Radio City employees forcibly from the Roughs and its predecessor, Knock John, shooting one in the ear and seeing another lose his fingers when his hand was caught in a windlass chain during a struggle. | |
| Bates's own employees also had a tough time. The first two to garrison the Roughs began to develop scurvy after surviving on watered-down salad cream and instant coffee when a supposed two-day stint turned into nearly three weeks without supplies. Later in the history of the dismal pile, a steel platform on top of two concrete towers, there was more violence involving German and Dutch "invaders". | Bates's own employees also had a tough time. The first two to garrison the Roughs began to develop scurvy after surviving on watered-down salad cream and instant coffee when a supposed two-day stint turned into nearly three weeks without supplies. Later in the history of the dismal pile, a steel platform on top of two concrete towers, there was more violence involving German and Dutch "invaders". |
| The major's early life was colourful, according to his family, with a teenage escapade as a volunteer fighting General Franco in the Spanish civil war, followed by work at Smithfield meat market in London and then second world war service. After demobilisation, he made a living importing meat in Ireland and rubber in the UK before ending up in Essex with a small fleet of fishing boats. | The major's early life was colourful, according to his family, with a teenage escapade as a volunteer fighting General Franco in the Spanish civil war, followed by work at Smithfield meat market in London and then second world war service. After demobilisation, he made a living importing meat in Ireland and rubber in the UK before ending up in Essex with a small fleet of fishing boats. |
| His radio venture was dogged by a dislike of pop music, and his Radio Essex station struggled to appeal with rehashes of "smooth music" figures such as Frank Sinatra and advertisements – some recorded by Bates in his living room in Westcliff-on-Sea – for upholstery and carpet-fitting. Outshone by O'Reilly, he might have been forgotten had it not been for a rash piece of flag-wagging by a lighthouse maintenance tender which sailed close to the Roughs in 1968 and was shot at with a 0.22 pistol. | |
| Bates and his 16-year-old son, Michael, soon to become Prince Michael of Sealand, were acquitted of firearms offences by the high court because the Roughs lay outside UK jurisdiction. A genuine piece of Pimlico diplomacy has since emerged from the National Archives: Harold Wilson's Labour government considered seizing the fort during their absence at court, but decided not to because it would "smack of sharp practice". | Bates and his 16-year-old son, Michael, soon to become Prince Michael of Sealand, were acquitted of firearms offences by the high court because the Roughs lay outside UK jurisdiction. A genuine piece of Pimlico diplomacy has since emerged from the National Archives: Harold Wilson's Labour government considered seizing the fort during their absence at court, but decided not to because it would "smack of sharp practice". |
| Another civil service idea – deploying the Royal Marines when only Bates's wife and daughter, Princesses Joan and Penny, were in residence – was also rejected for similar PR reasons, with mockery likely to follow the marines going into action against two women. No such niceties deterred a succession of foreign business partners in the late 1970s and early 80s, who variously captured, lost and tried to sue the midget country and its royal family. One of them still heads what he calls Sealand's government-in-exile in Switzerland. | Another civil service idea – deploying the Royal Marines when only Bates's wife and daughter, Princesses Joan and Penny, were in residence – was also rejected for similar PR reasons, with mockery likely to follow the marines going into action against two women. No such niceties deterred a succession of foreign business partners in the late 1970s and early 80s, who variously captured, lost and tried to sue the midget country and its royal family. One of them still heads what he calls Sealand's government-in-exile in Switzerland. |
| The British government was relieved to be clear of any responsibility, especially when Bonn complained about the imprisonment on the fort of a West German national. The extension of UK waters to 12 miles in 1987 theoretically opened the way to fresh drama, but intervention has been limited to RAF and coastguard help in putting out a fire in 2006. | The British government was relieved to be clear of any responsibility, especially when Bonn complained about the imprisonment on the fort of a West German national. The extension of UK waters to 12 miles in 1987 theoretically opened the way to fresh drama, but intervention has been limited to RAF and coastguard help in putting out a fire in 2006. |
| Sealand's notoriety has never been matched by a succession of offshore dreams, with all manner of ideas being touted to inflate the value of the largely useless speck. Almost everything from casinos to Wikileaks has been mentioned as a possible tenant, but the family has had to supplement Sealand's exchequer with more realistic ways of attracting an income. Money comes in from some internet licences and the sale of spurious titles, but Prince Michael runs a couple of fishing boats, as his father did, and Princess Penny has a dog-grooming parlour. | Sealand's notoriety has never been matched by a succession of offshore dreams, with all manner of ideas being touted to inflate the value of the largely useless speck. Almost everything from casinos to Wikileaks has been mentioned as a possible tenant, but the family has had to supplement Sealand's exchequer with more realistic ways of attracting an income. Money comes in from some internet licences and the sale of spurious titles, but Prince Michael runs a couple of fishing boats, as his father did, and Princess Penny has a dog-grooming parlour. |
| The fort retains a seedy glamour, however, along with its motto, E Mare Libertas – From the Sea, Freedom (even if rare visitors in the pirate-radio era were more likely to get Bates's greeting: "What the **** do you want?"). | The fort retains a seedy glamour, however, along with its motto, E Mare Libertas – From the Sea, Freedom (even if rare visitors in the pirate-radio era were more likely to get Bates's greeting: "What the **** do you want?"). |
| Prince Michael described his father as "quite an intimidating old boy" and "a huge, huge character" who lived out a prophecy made long ago that whatever he died of, it would not be boredom. His wife and children survive him. | Prince Michael described his father as "quite an intimidating old boy" and "a huge, huge character" who lived out a prophecy made long ago that whatever he died of, it would not be boredom. His wife and children survive him. |
| • Patrick Roy Bates, soldier and businessman, born 29 August 1921; died 9 October 2012 | • Patrick Roy Bates, soldier and businessman, born 29 August 1921; died 9 October 2012 |
| • This article was amended on 18 October 2012. The original said Radio Caroline, rather than Radio City, was evicted from Knock John and that Bates recorded advertisements in his living room in Leigh-on-Sea, rather than Westcliff-on Sea. The name of Joan Bates was also corrected in a picture caption. |