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Prince of Sealand Dies At 91

Posted by timothy on from the interesting-character-fades-from-view dept.

jdavidb writes "46 years ago, occupying an abandoned WWII platform off the coast of Britain, Paddy Roy Bates declared independence, naming himself Prince of the Principality of Sealand. Today, Bates has passed away at 91. Long time Slashdot readers will remember Sealand as the site of HavenCo, an unsuccessful data warehousing company that tried to operate from Sealand outside the reach of larger nations' legal structures. They may also remember plans that the Pirate Bay had at one time to buy Sealand. Bates had moved to a care home a few years ago, naming his son Michael Regent of Sealand."

7 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. I guess you could say Sealand is now left... by DangerOnTheRanger · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...rudderless.

    --
    My blog
    1. Re:I guess you could say Sealand is now left... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's only for actual puns. I'm not sure what this is.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:I guess you could say Sealand is now left... by alex67500 · · Score: 4, Funny

      If Paddy Roy Bates is the master of Sealand, do his subjects call him Master?

  2. Odd name by superdave80 · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...naming his son Michael Regent of Sealand

    Kind of an odd name. His middle name is Regent? And can you change the name of your son once he is an adult? Weird.

  3. shame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Spare a thought for master bates

  4. Re:Interesting contradiction by Belial6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sealand had a proud history, dating all the way back to it's founding, of letting it's citizens declare allegiance to foreign countries.

  5. Re:Interesting contradiction by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Funny

    Which authority amounts to pretty much zero unless those nations decide otherwise. The British Monarchy is something of an enormous LARP.