Principality of Sealand,Off the Suffolk Coast Claims to be the World’s Smallest Country

Lying six miles off the Suffolk coast, it appears to be an old oil platform to the casual observer.

Sealand began on Christmas Eve 1966 after Roy Bates, a former infantry major in the first battalion Royal Fusiliers, took over the fort, then known as HM Roughs.

The fort had been built as one of a series of defence forts off the Suffolk coast during World War II before being abandoned in the 1950s.

Roy Bates, then 46, was a fisherman turned pirate radio broadcaster, who had fallen foul of British broadcasting laws and wanted to find a new base somewhere outside British jurisdiction.

Tiny state consists of two concrete towers connected by an iron platform

Originally built as WW2 defence, it was claimed as 'principality' in 1967

No other country recognises it as such, but locals cling to independence

Lying six miles offshore from Felixstowe, state is 'ruled' by Prince Michael, 63

His father, Roy Bates, claimed platform as his own and crowned himself king

Residents catch their own fish and lobster and produce drinkable water

They make money by selling titles (a Count is £200) and Sealand memorabilia

 

Roy Bates, and his wife, Joan, pictured left, shortly before his death in 2012 and right when they claimed Sealand as their own in September 1967, declaring themselves Prince Michael and Princess Joan of Sealand

The Bates family designed their own crest, featuring their motto which translates as From The Sea, Liberty

Those who live in Sealand run a website selling titles and other Principality memorabilia

The kitchen on Sealand 

 

When Sealand's residents are not working on maintenance or the website, they relax in the sitting room

Sealand stamps

Sealand residents have their own currency, the Sealand dollar, emblazoned with a picture of 'Princess Joan'

But the Principality of Sealand, as residents call it, claims to be the world’s smallest country, with its own Royal Family, currency, and even postage stamps.

The tiny state (though no other country officially recognises it as such) occupies a 5,290sq ft Second World War fort consisting of two concrete towers connected by an iron platform a few miles off Felixstowe, in international waters.

But since 1967, Sealand's residents - all 22 of them - have declared themselves independent of Britain.