World’s smallest country with its own royal family and currency – and it’s in the UK
It holds the Guiness World Record for the “smallest area to lay claim to nation status.”
The Principality of Sealand is a tiny country located in the North Sea around 12 miles off the coast of England. It was created in 1967 by Paddy Roy Bates, who declared it an independent nation after he and his family occupied a disused Navy fort near the HM Fort Roughs.
The revolutionary styled himself as Prince Roy and his wife Joan as Princess establishing a hereditary monarchy. He even introduced a constitution for Sealand, followed by a national flag, a national anthem, a currency, passports, and an immigration stamp.
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The story began after Paddy Bates was a soldier during World War II and eventually rose to the rank of major.
He served in many vital campaigns and after the war, settled into a veteran’s life – and a world of pirate radio.
He’d remembered the dozens of decrepit seaforts that were intended to defend Britain against the Nazis but were soon forgotten when the Allies won. One day, he decided to sail out to the many that sit off the coast of East England, near Suffolk and set up a few pirate radio stations.
He found Roughs Tower but soon ran into trouble with the Government.
“I was probably about 12 when I first saw one of these seaforts,” the late Paddy’s son, Prince Michael told the Daily Express.
“We were out on his fishing boat and he said he wanted to go and have a look. We sailed over and he climbed up the ladder, and I kept asking, ‘Can I come up?’ He wouldn’t let me at first but after a while he did. There was all sorts on it, lots of bird poo, but also an old workbench, and even live ammunition.”
This would be Sealand. Paddy spoke to his lawyers and they told him his best chance at holding onto the fort was claiming independence. In 1967, that’s exactly what he did, and so came into existence the Principality of Sealand.
But it soon faced invading forces when a rival pirate radio station operator attempted to storm Sealand with a small group of men. Paddy responded with petrol bombs and guns, and the scuffle alerted the Royal Navy which sent a patrol boat out.
When the boat entered Sealand’s claimed territorial waters, a young Michael fired warning shots. He and his dad were arrested, but when the court threw the case out after ruling it fell outside its jurisdictions, Paddy sensed a victory. In rejecting the case, he said, the UK de facto recognised Sealand as a state.
The next disturbance came in 1978. Paddy and his wife Joan, had been invited to Austria by Alexander Achenbach to discuss the sale of Sealand. Unknown to them, Achenbach had hired a group of German and Dutch mercenaries to lead an attack on the principality and take it for himself.
They took a 26-year-old Michael hostage, tying him up and sending him off on a boat back to the UK. A plan of action was drawn up codenamed Operation Trident. Many of the people who had become residents of Sealand were called on, and in a daring dawn mission, a helicopter assault saw Michael take back Sealand and capture the mercenaries.
The Dutch and German governments petitioned for the men’s release, and a diplomat eventually travelled from Germany to Sealand to negotiate for Achenbach’s release in person. For Paddy, it was another de facto recognition of Sealand by a foreign power.
People from all over the world are fascinated with Sealand’s story as it tells a tale of resistance and sticking the finger up at traditional power structures.
And anyone and everyone can become Sealand nobility.
You can become a Baron or Baroness (£39.99), a Lord or Lady (£19.99), a sir or Dame (£99.99), a Count or Countess (£199.99), or, for the tidy sum of £499.99, a Duke or Duchess. The scheme has proved a hit. In 2012, Ed Sheeran became Baron von Edward Sheeran of Sealand.
Michael, who now lives a relatively normal life in Westcliffe-on-Sea, isn’t planning on invading any countries, but the scheme, alongside other merchandise, helps to cover the expenses generated by Sealand.
The 71-year-old who doesn’t get the chance to visit as much as he used to said: “I don’t really miss it. I was out there for years putting it together. But it’s nice to go out there now and again, especially with my sons.”
His sons, Prince Liam and Prince James, mostly manage Sealand now.
Today, the permanent population of Sealand varies but it numbers around two. Visitors come and go but the world has fully embraced the unofficial country with open arms.
The nation’s flags fly on four of the world’s seven highest peaks, including Mount Everest. Entire teams represent Sealand in curling, ice hockey, and long-distance running.
Sealand is also the world’s most environmentally friendly country, with 99.9% of its energy sourced from renewables, and its water supply harvested from rainfall.
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