THE Princess of Sealand has died.

Joan Bates became the Princess of Sealand when her late husband Roy Bates declared the principality of Sealand, a platform the size of two tennis courts in the North Sea, in her honour in the late 1960s.

Mrs Bates died at the Legra nursing home in Leigh following a long illness, aged 86 - she leaves behind her daughter Penny, 66, and son Michael, 63.

Mr Bates yesterday paid tribute to his mother.

Michael said: “My mother was a stunning woman.

“She was born in Aldershot Barracks and her father was in the Royal Horse Artillery and they were later stationed at Shoebury Barracks.

“My father declared the independence of Sealand on her birthday on September 2 1967, giving her title of Princess, in a hugely romantic gesture.”

The Second World War fort 7.5 miles off the coast was originally intended as an offshore pirate radio station.

Mrs Bates raised her family on Sealand while withstanding mercenary invasions and even receiving a German ambassador during a hostage crisis.

Her son later wrote about life on the fort.

In Holding the Fort he tells a story of sawn-off shotguns, kidnap, gangsters and sleeping with a gun under his pillow.

Michael added: “My mother was a natural beauty who lovingly devoted her life to her husband. A former carnival queen and model, Joan led quite a high profile life alongside her my father. She became happily engulfed by the offshore pirate radio phenomena, helping to establish the popular Radio Essex.

“She did a lot for charity throughout her life, particularly the RNLI.”

Mrs Bates’s grandson James Bates, 29, who lives in Leigh, also paid tribute to her and recalled listening to many amazing tales as he grew up.

He said: “Grandma was lovely and full of life. I heard so many fascinating things and so many stories as I grew up.

“She was always immaculately turned out and very glamorous. She modelled for all sorts of companies.

“I used to spend a few weeks a year on Sealand. Dad was only 12 when he first went to Sealand. He never made a big thing of it so we didn’t either but when I told friends about they were always amazed.”

Mrs Bates passed away last Thursday. A service will be held on Thursday(17)at Southend Crematorium. Those who knew her are welcome to attend.

Echo:

 

Colourful past of Sealand

THE tiny Sealand territory has had a dramatic history.

It is based six nautical miles off the coast of Harwich and was founded by Roy Bates, from Thorpe Bay, in 1967.

Sealand was a Royal Navy fortress, Roughs Tower, an offshore platform in the North Sea which was built in 1942, to protect the port of Harwich from the Germans.

During the 1960s, Mr Bates, who died in 2012, set up Radio Essex, a pirate radio station in the Knock John forts in the Thames Estuary.

After being prosecuted under the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, Mr Bates moved his family to the Roughs Tower fort.

The fort, with an area of 550 square metres, had been built during the Second World War to guard approaches to the Thames Estuary.

The Royal Navy tried to have him removed, but a court ruled Sealand was not part of England or any other nation and he was allowed to remain.

In August 1978, Alexander Achenbach, who described himself as the Prime Minister of Sealand, hired several German and Dutch mercenaries to attack Sealand while Roy and Joan Bates and his wife were away from the platform.

They stormed Sealand with speedboats, jet skis and helicopters, and took Bates' son Michael hostage. Michael was able to retake Sealand and capture Achenbach and the mercenaries using weapons stashed on the platform. Achenbach, a German lawyer who held a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand[8] and was held unless he paid £23,000 but he was released weeks later.

Last year Michael Bates revealed his book Holding the Fort was being made into a Hollywood film.