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DATE: SEPTEMBER 5, 1999

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SEALAND AND BATES

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February 24, 1990, Saturday

SECTION: HOME NEWS PAGE; Page 6

LENGTH: 655 words

Shots fired in Sealand's defence of a small freedom
By JAMES CUSICK

AS A major conflict it is unlikely to reach the ears of the United Nations
General Assembly for some time. But for the true connoisseur of English
eccentricity and individuality, the latest skirmish in the battle of Regina
versus Sealand will be news, writes James Cusick.

Yesterday, Prince Roy and Princess Joan - or Major and Mrs Roy Bates,
currently of Southend-on-sea - were in contact with their subjects on the
''independent principality of Sealand'' six miles off the Essex coast where,
they had been informed, the British police were investigating a ''shooting
incident''.

Dispatches from the front line described the Royal Maritime Auxiliary vessel
Golden Eye, sailing towards Sealand - a Second World War anti- aircraft tower
taken over by the Bateses in 1967 and proclaimed, in a unilateral declaration of
independence, to have an international status separate from the United Kingdom.

According to Major Bates, 68, shots were fired by Sealanders on board the
structure, but only to warn the Golden Eye that it was sailing too close to the
two legs of the giant structure. Sealand is staffed by ''three or four''
security men and Major Bates admitted there was a ''fairly decent'' arsenal on
board. ''The rifle shots were a warning, used like a flare from a lighthouse.
The vessel had not responded to repeated radio calls and there was some
concern.''

There was also concern on board the Golden Eye, which believed it could be
under attack and radioed Thames Coastguard for help.

The incident is being investigated by detectives from Suffolk but for Prince
Roy it is just the latest episode in the bizarre 23-year history of the
mini-state of Sealand.

Once the British Army's youngest major, then the owner of one of Europe's
largest fishing fleets and a founder of ''pirate'' radio, Roy Bates' idea of the
pioneering entrepreneur has something in common with the early Hong Kong
taipans.

In the early 1960s, sailing past the abandoned structure, called Roughs
Tower, gave him an idea. ''It was interesting, fascinating. Romantic is the
wrong word to use, but there was something in taking the right to liberty and
freedom to an extreme.''

PAGE 3
1990 The Independent (London), February 24, 1990

International lawyers were consulted. Britain, by abandoning the tower, had
performed a dereliction of sovereignty. The Bateses moved in to become the
self-proclaimed prince and princess of Sealand, complete with their own
constitution, flag, coat of arms, stamps, coinage and even a passport - a
commodity that has resulted in certain Hong Kong inquiries of late, he said.

Britain, of course, regards the entire declaration and occupation as a
nonsense. The recent extension of territorial waters to a 12-mile limit brought
Sealand back under the jurisdiction of the Crown. ''No, that's not true. If we
didn't have any rights in international law, they would have pulled us off years
ago. We are a problem - but only to bureaucrats sitting in centrally-heated
offices in Whitehall,'' Major Bates said.

Far from being a problem, the international business community has continued
to be fascinated by Sealand. Money-making schemes, none too successful, have
appeared and disappeared: television broadcasting and independent radio
stations; tax haven schemes; an Arabian equivalent of the BBC World Service and
international banking headquarters have been hinted at.

''Once or twice a month I'm approached with ideas. There's always a good
lunch, some very decent wine and then I tend not to hear from them again,''
Major Bates said.

In Britain's case, perhaps it was just as well that one idea was not followed
up. ''It was during the Falklands conflict and I was approached by some
Argentinians with the idea of selling them Sealand. They wanted their own
'Malvinas' right on Britain's doorstep. Of course I sent them away. I'd never do
anything that would pose a threat to the UK.''

The crew of the Golden Eye might have liked to have heard that earlier.

Copyright 1997 Newspaper Publishing PLC
The Independent (London)

September 23, 1997, Tuesday

SECTION: NEWS; Page 10

LENGTH: 845 words

Money Laundering: Global fraudsters use sea fortress as passport to
riches; Money-launderers and drug-dealers have discovered a new way to fool
banks and fraud investigators; they use false identities and pretend to be from
a fictitious country. Steve Boggan discovered how they are using their new scam
all over the world - and how effective it can be.

By Steve Boggan

Fake passports from a self-proclaimed "principality" off the English coast
are being used by criminals in multi-million pound money-laundering and
drug-smuggling operations.

In the latest case to surface, law officers in Slovenia found that forged
diplomatic papers from the Principality of Sealand were used to open bank
accounts through which the proceeds of illegal pyramid investment schemes in
eastern Europe were channelled.

Bank and customs officials around the world have been fooled into accepting
Sealand passports as valid - even though the principality is nothing more than a
Second World War naval fortress, seven miles off the coast of Felixstowe.

The principality was founded 30 years ago by Roy Bates, 75, a wealthy
businessman who lives on the concrete platform with his wife Joan. He declared
independence in 1966 and produces his own passports, stamps and coins but he has
no dealings with the criminals and is furious they are forging his papers.

During the past year, evidence has emerged that fake Sealand passports have
been used by crooks all over the world. Passports seized in the Slovenian caper
had entry and exit stamps from at least 10 countries, including Bulgaria,
Romania, Iraq, Iran and Libya. Police are examining evidence that 4,000 forged
Sealand passports were sold at around pounds 1,000 a time to Hong Kong citizens
before the handover to China in July. The Independent has been told that drug
smugglers have also been apprehended carrying the fake papers.

Mr Bates was enraged to learn that Torsten Reineck, the German on whose
houseboat Andrew Cunanan committed suicide after the murder of Gianni Versace,
carries a Principality of Sealand passport. It is understood he drives around
Los Angeles in a car with Sealand "diplomatic plates".

Mr Bates, who uses the title of Prince, says international lawyers believe
his declaration of independence is valid because, when he made it, the fort
stood outside British territorial waters. Britain later extended its waters to
include Sealand and does not recognise it as a principality.

PAGE 5
The Independent (London), September 23, 1997

Whether or not his passports are valid, the Prince of Sealand said yesterday
that those being used by criminals were not issued by him. "Every country in the
world has problems like this," he told The Independent. "The world is awash with
fake passports. I'm just angry they're faking mine and using them for illegal
purposes."

Interpol was alerted to the latest scam by the Slovenian authorities last
year, after two Austrians opened a bank account in false names using a
Principality of Sealand diplomatic passport. At first, the bank suspected
nothing, but its manager called in the Slovenian Office for Money Laundering
Prevention (OMLP) once 12 million deutschmarks (pounds 4.36m) arrived in a one-
month period from Germany, Luxembourg and the UK.

"The couple posed as husband and wife, and the man described himself as
minister of economic affairs for the Principality of Sealand," said Klaudijo
Stroligo, director of the OMLP. "There are so many new states and young
countries now that the bank official accepted the passport as identification to
open the account."

Mr Stroligo and Barbara Brezigar, the state prosecutor, were alerted by the
bank after the couple withdrew 200,000 marks and later made arrangements to draw
out a further 4 million marks. The bank allowed them to draw out a smaller
amount and the couple were followed to the border with Italy, where they failed
to declare the cash and were arrested.

However, they could be charged only with forgery and were granted bail by a
judge. Ms Brezigar said the case was still live, but the couple are now in
Austria and she does not expect to see them again. During her investigations,
papers were seized, bearing the Principality of Sealand letterhead, addressed to
a number of countries and asking for aid. Mr Stroligo refused to say which
countries responded but he said several had replied, promising money.

"It presented us with a strange philosophical question," he added. "It was
about territoriality and recognition. Did we recognise these passports or not?
Who is to say what is or isn't a country? For a time in 1991, after Slovenia was
briefly caught up in the Bosnian war, many countries refused to recognise our
nation."

News of the underworld's fascination with Sealand came as no surprise to Mr
Bates. Over the past three decades, his domain has been targeted several times
by gangsters who want to use it as a tax dodge or a haven for illicit
activities. In the 1970s, the fortress was invaded by Dutch gangsters who took
his son, Michael, hostage. Mr Bates and a number of supporters re-took it after
landing by helicopter and surprising the invaders.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said Sealand, which is officially known as
"Rough's Tower Gun Platform", was part of the UK and described its passports as
"fictitious". It is understood that Interpol has put out an alert for
immigration authorities to watch out for Sealand passports.

Copyright 1998 Newspaper Publishing PLC
The Independent (London)

August 29, 1998, Saturday

SECTION: FEATURES; Page 3

LENGTH: 259 words

The Knack: How to Start Your Own Country
By Edwin S Strauss

"The idea that you can go abroad, buy some land and start up your own
country is, I'm afraid, a myth. Countries don't sell sovereignty outright. In
the territory of any given country, you won't be legally allowed to declare your
own independence, but as long as you continue to pay your taxes and obey the
local laws, most countries won't make a fuss. So, go ahead and draw up your
declaration papers - 'The Kingdom/Republic of . . . this could simply be your
own house is pleased to announce etc, etc.' Although the government don't want
you to know that such places exist, there are diplomatic offices to which you
can send these - in America it's called 'the Geographer of the United States'.
Then you can make your own flags, stamps and passports. Selling these items can
be a very profitable sideline. In Australia and the US, people have also sold
patents of nobility, and charged for simple citizenship and for businesses who
want to use their 'country' as a tax-haven. By informing the media, they found
themselves becoming tourist destinations.

Alternatively, like Paddy Roy Bates, you could find a loophole. His country,
named Sealand, is an anti-aircraft tower in the Thames Estuary. The courts told
officials who were trying to remove him that the matter had to be taken to the
Foreign Office, which was uninterested in the whole affair." Interview by Fiona
McClymont

Edwin S Strauss is author of 'How to Start Your Own Country' ($ 12.95),
published by Loompanics Unlimited, PO Box 1197, Port Townsend, WA 98368, US

Copyright 1999 MGN Ltd.
The Mirror

May 22, 1999, Saturday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3, 31

LENGTH: 1508 words

PRINCE OF WAVES:
Extraordinary Story of How One Couple Claimed an Abandoned British Sea Fort and Declared a New State
By: Rachel Murphy

IT WAS an interview celebrity magazines would kill for.

The enigmatic royal couple had finally agreed to talk after shunning
publicity for 30 years.

So far their lives have been shrouded in secrecy and their Principality -
the tiniest in the world - kept firmly under wraps.

Now, out of the blue, the Prince and Princess had granted me an exclusive
interview.

So there I was, on the steps of the seafront apartment of Sealand's royal
family, wondering what the protocol was for such a momentous occasion.

Prince Roy and Princess Joan of Sealand had graciously agreed to talk to me
about their 140-by-40- metre Principality, a former anti-aircraft platform in
the North Sea, seven miles off the Suffolk coast.

It produces its own stamps and coins, featuring Princess Joan's head, has
its own flag and issues Sealand passports that have been used all over the
world.

The Prince and Princess are legally entitled to sign their cheques "Roy of
Sealand" and "Joan of Sealand" and, after decades of debate and hostility, the
British Government is quietly letting them get on with it.

"It's taken a bloody long time to achieve my ambition but I always knew I'd
win," says 77-year-old Prince Roy.

"Nobody took me seriously at first, but my lawyer told me I had a legal
right to stay on Sealand and make it my Principality.

"That was over 30 years ago and from that day I have been determined to
prove the point. I never imagined I would have such a devil of a job, but I
don't regret a moment of it. It's been a huge adventure."

Prince Roy, or plain Roy Bates as he was then, first hit the headlines in
1967 when he took over the second world war fortress known as Roughs Tower and
declared it "The Independent State of Sealand".

PAGE 9
The Mirror, May 22, 1999

THE Ministry of Defence tried to evict him by sending out Navy boats and
helicopters but Roy, a former Army Major with a distinguished war record, fired
warning shots.

He was taken to court, but a judge ruled that the platform was outside the
three-mile limit of territorial waters, so the government couldn't touch him.

That marked a turning point in his life - and he began to build his mini
-empire.

"I have always liked the idea of liberty and this was the ultimate way of
achieving it," says Prince Roy.

"I'm a Royalist, but that didn't mean there wasn't room for a Principality
off the British coast."

In the early days Roy was depicted as an eccentric English gent with more
money than sense.

He was a millionaire who had made his fortune out of a string of successful
business ventures, including owning the country's biggest inshore fishing fleet.
He is also a fun-loving crusader who relishes the challenge of dabbling with
international law.

Prince Roy greets me with a firm handshake - no curtsy necessary - before
marching me into the living room of his second home, a spacious apartment in
Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex.

He is dressed in a stiff tweed jacket - and even stiffer upper lip - and
paces the room as he barks answers to my questions.

Princess Joan, a 69-year-old former model, is clearly his anchor. She smiles
sweetly and deftly picks up the conversation wherever he leaves off.

The apartment is decked out with an amazing collection of photographs
telling the story of their curious battle for independence.

"We've had a wonderful, exciting life," says Princess Joan proudly as she
gives me a guided tour.

"It's been a fairytale. I met Roy at 18 and married him after six weeks. I
admired him then, and still do.

"We both thrive on adventure and couldn't have done this without each other.

"I'm very proud of his achievements. What greater compliment can a man pay
to a woman than to make her Princess of her own Principality?

"I love being able to call myself Princess. When we travel abroad on our
Sealand passports we are always greeted with a lot of fuss and treated like
royalty.

"It's great fun, but sometimes it gets too much and we resort to our British
passports when we don't want to be in the spotlight."

PAGE 10
The Mirror, May 22, 1999

ROY has poured millions into Sealand, transforming the inside of the ugly,
wind-battered concrete slab balanced on two giant pillars into a luxurious
palace.

In the early years their two children, Prince Michael and Princess Penny,
lived there too.

The fort once housed 200 men and carried an anti-aircraft gun as part of the
Army's coastal defence in the Second World War. Today each of the 75ft-high
pillars has seven floors of iron-walled bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms,
recreation rooms and staff quarters.

The portholes have been double-glazed and a heli-pad has been installed on
the roof.

The family crest (motto: 'Mare libertas - freedom from the sea) hangs on the
walls and Sealand's red, white and black national flag flutters in the wind.

Princess Joan says the red is for Roy, the white is to show their virtue and
the black is in honour of their 'pirate' days.

Prince Roy pioneered pirate radio back in the early Sixties and is a former
head of Radio Essex.

And it was during his pirate days that he first found himself in the North
Sea, broadcasting from another disused war platform.

When pirate radio was outlawed he moved onto Roughs Tower, knowing that it
was uniquely situated outside British waters.

In 1987 the Government extended the limit of Britain's territorial waters
from three to 12 miles, effectively reclaiming Sealand. Prince Roy scuppered the
scheme by extending Sealand's own territorial limit to 18 miles the day before.

Since then things have gone comfortably quiet.

Where once Roy had to pass through customs and was searched and vetted
before travelling to Sealand, he is now waved through.

He takes it as a victory - but his hold on the platform is tenuous. "When I
tried to get some feedback from the Home Office, a spokeswoman suggested I try
the Foreign Office. Sealand is offshore, she said.

"The Foreign Office referred me back to the Home Office, saying that it was
a matter for them as Sealand is in British waters.

"The Home Office then admitted the case was 'confusing' and promised to
phone back. I'm still waiting." The muddle is typical, but it would be foolish
to disregard the platform as a rich man's toy.

After all, it is a tax-free haven, is perfectly placed for drug smuggling
and is potentially a crook's paradise.

Prince Roy is infuriated whenever Sealand is linked to crime.

PAGE 11
The Mirror, May 22, 1999

"I'm an honourable Englishman," he says. "I think the Government finally
left me alone because I am a decent chap."

But despite Roy's best efforts, Sealand has been the focus of several
controversies.

In 1978 it was invaded by Dutch and German bandits who threatened to kill
their son Michael, then aged 26, in an attempt at take possession.

Roy fought back and locked up one of the invaders until the German
Ambassador came to Sealand to negotiate the man's release.

Then Andrew Cunanan, the man who killed fashion designer Gianni Versace, was
found in possession of a Sealand passport and diplomatic number plates.

Prince Roy is adamant they were fakes. It is estimated there are 160,000
Sealand passports in circulation but Roy has only ever issued a few hundred.

"I never issue a passport unless I know the person and have checked them
out," he says.

However, in 1997 several forged Sealand passports were used to open bank
accounts and launder drug money in a multi-million- pound operation in Slovenia.

The same year police investigated suggestions that 4,000 forged passports
had been sold for around pounds 1,000 a time in Hong Kong before the handover to
China.

FOR many years Prince Roy has talked about selling company registrations and
flags of convenience, but he has never got round to doing so.

He says he is approached every week by international investors offering
hundreds of thousands of pounds to exploit Sealand.

Their proposals have included building a casino and duty-free holiday homes,
but so far his only concession has been to host a wedding there in the
Seventies.

Now he says he'd like to build a dome over the top of the platform to beat
the weather and talks ambitiously of reclaiming land from the sea to expand the
island's surface area.

Princess Joan gives him an encouraging smile but I get the impression that,
for her, the dream is nearing an end.

Nowadays she lives mainly in their Essex flat while Prince Roy stays on
Sealand.

Their son Michael, 45, runs a local fishing business and daughter Penny, 49,
is married to a solicitor.

They have both long since dropped the royal titles, but Michael in
particular still enjoys recounting tales of invasions and battles.

PAGE 12
The Mirror, May 22, 1999

Will he take control of Sealand when his father calls it a day?

"Nobody knows what the future holds," says Princess Joan. "We live life for
the present."

Prince Roy nods in agreement.

"We've had a privileged life even if we have had to invent our own
privileges," he says.

"I fought for liberty and won. Isn't that everybody's dream?"

GRAPHIC: LAND OF THE FREE: Princess Joan and Prince Roy with the Sealand flag.
Behind them is Sealand, a disused coastal fortress. Top right,; Princess Joan of
Sealand's passport. Inset, Sealand's stamps and coins; Pictures: MIKE MOORE;
SMALL CHANGE: Sealand coin

Copyright 1999 MGN Ltd.
Sunday Mirror

July 4, 1999, Sunday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 23

LENGTH: 44 words

HOW FORT-UNATE

THE owners of Sealand, a wartime fort seven miles off Felixstowe, Suffolk.
are hoping to open a giant hypermarket selling duty-free cigarettes and alcohol.
Roy and Joan Bates claim it is an "independent" state" and not subject to
British or European laws.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: July 5, 1999