INAUGURAL INDUCTION CLASS (2021)

Born Patrick Roy Bates in London in 1921, the future Prince of Sealand served in the British Army during World War II, rising to the rank of Major. Bates began his post-war life as a fisherman, before moving on to pirate radio, which is what eventually led him to HM Fort Roughs, a constructed former British Naval installation.  It was there he founded the Principality of Sealand on 2 September 1967, enthroning himself as His Royal Highness, Prince Roy.

Sealand is unique, in that it is almost certainly has the strongest argument for sovereignty of any micronation. Under Prince Roy’s leadership, a British court officially declared in 1968 that they had no jurisdiction over Sealand, as it lay outside of their territorial waters. A decade later, in 1978, the small nation successfully repelled armed occupation by a former member of the government and imprisoned the man responsible for the attack under the charge of treason. As the man was a German citizen by birth, a representative was dispatched to Sealand from Germany’s London embassy to negotiate his release. These two incidents point to de facto recognition from two major world governments that has eluded nearly every other nation in the micronational community.

Under Prince Roy’s guidance, Sealand saw a rise in public awareness not only due to the advent of the internet, but also their efforts in state-sponsored athletes. Sealand has been represented around the world by a number of officially sanctioned athletes, to include representatives in long-distance running, association football, mountaineering, ultimate, and martial arts.

Prince Roy was not only a pioneer in micronationalism, but also an example of ways in which responsible governance should be conducted. In 1997, Sealand revoked all passports. This was done after learning that Sealand passports had become embroiled in fraudulent activities with possible ties to organized crime and terrorism. Prince Roy cooperated with investigations and did his best to not only insulate the nation from the activities but undermine the previous fraudulent efforts.

Prince Roy developed Alzheimer’s late in life, and began handing off duties to his son, then Prince Regent Michael, in the mid-2000’s, He would still regularly advise his son, as he never abdicated the throne. Prince Roy passed away in 2012, at the age of 91.

Sealand has long served as a primary face of micronationalism to the world, at large; especially since the advent of the internet. For a significant number of those in the community today, learning about Sealand served as an entry point to a world that would lead to declarations of statehood or sovereignty, or lead them down a rabbit hole and to another micronation where they found a home. Prince Roy’s efforts and contributions to the field of micronationalism place him among those few who have made the biggest impact.