In 1967, a British WWII veteran named Paddy Roy Bates seized an abandoned North Sea fort and declared it the Principality of Sealand. A British court ruled it had no jurisdiction. His family has defended it ever since - against the Royal Navy, a German-led coup in 1978, and decades of a government hoping they'd disappear.
Now the third generation has taken the reins. Prince Liam Bates talks about what comes next: building towers in the North Sea, reclaiming land to create an actual island and growing an e-citizen community that already spans 124 countries with 1.5 million followers.
The family funded the operation for decades through a shellfish business. Noble titles and e-citizenship now sustain it. The plan is full sovereignty, physical expansion, and a permanent population.
"That's the only way you can drive change. You can't ask to do anything. The world's regulated. They tell you no. So you just have to go and do it."
https://fountain.fm/episode/wx2mWplRLVACJdGBJGrE
Timothy / Timothy Allen
npub1gc…vqjg0
2026-04-24 12:51:03 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1gcf9ltaeu42f4tr20z3avkas04dezlx3jaudqsuu87gvmh686xasrvqjg0Published at
2026-04-24 12:51:03 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "In 1967, a British WWII veteran named Paddy Roy Bates seized an abandoned North Sea fort and declared it the Principality of Sealand. A British court ruled it had no jurisdiction. His family has defended it ever since - against the Royal Navy, a German-led coup in 1978, and decades of a government hoping they'd disappear.\n\nNow the third generation has taken the reins. Prince Liam Bates talks about what comes next: building towers in the North Sea, reclaiming land to create an actual island and growing an e-citizen community that already spans 124 countries with 1.5 million followers.\n\nThe family funded the operation for decades through a shellfish business. Noble titles and e-citizenship now sustain it. The plan is full sovereignty, physical expansion, and a permanent population.\n\n\"That's the only way you can drive change. You can't ask to do anything. The world's regulated. They tell you no. So you just have to go and do it.\"\n\nhttps://fountain.fm/episode/wx2mWplRLVACJdGBJGrE",
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