What could be more bad*** than forming your own country in the middle of the North Sea with a founding myth of pirate radio rock ‘n’ roll? Prince Michael (Bates), son of the late Prince Roy and Princess Joan, was born a Brit. His father, a former military officer during World War II, a dashing James Bond-type, was married to an equally glamorous woman who herself could have starred in a 007 film.
Prince Roy was with the British Army, serving in Italy, Africa, and the Middle East. Still, he always held a healthy skepticism of government. In the 1960s, Prince Roy decided to get into the “pirate radio” business by taking over an abandoned sea fort in international waters and broadcasting rock music that the BBC forbade. Later, he took yearslong steps to make this set of concrete towers in the North Sea his own private country, Sealand. Its motto is “E Mare Libertas: From the sea, freedom.” There has been a constant security struggle, because lots of people would love a stateless territory from which to do nefarious business unchecked.
Prince Michael went from boarding school to becoming a teenage ship’s mate, with his own modern form of derring-do. His autobiography, “Holding the Fort,” reads like a thriller: abductions, weapons, supreme athleticism and survival skills, making do with vintage equipment, all add to the excitement.
Read more at Newsmax© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
