Posted on 01/08/2007 2:39:02 PM PST by presidio9
For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.
Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own storm-tossed nation -- even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.
Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base against German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.
He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.
The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins as its currency.
The family saw off an attempt by the Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.
"I was held prisoner out there for three or four days and then managed to get back to England," Roy's son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday.
"I slid down a rope out of a helicopter with my father and a couple of comrades and took the place back against armed opposition. It was quite a high point in my life," he said.
Prince Michael, whose 85-year-old father now lives in Spain, said his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."
Asked what were the delights of living on Sealand, the 54-year-old prince said "The neighbours are very quiet. There is a good sea view."
"There is no jurisdiction by any other country in the world," he said, suggesting it could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.
Calling it a cross between a house and a ship, the prince acknowledged it was not the world's most picturesque country, boasting as it does two large concrete towers with eight rooms in each tower.
"It is fairly bleak," he conceded. ""But it is quite pleasant sitting inside in the warm and watching the horrendous weather roaring past the double-glazed windows."
So what did he expect to get for Sealand?
"We shall see," Prince Michael said. "I will listen to anybody who wants to talk."
Deine Zeit ist gekommen und abgereist. Meine Entschuldigungen.
I could be wrong, but I can't think the weather in the North Sea would create much of a demand for a usable beach.
And, legally, they should have been able to. That was one of the stipulations of their becoming part of the Union, that they could secede.
If you are prone to sleepwalking this is probably not the place for you..
I have to admit that intoxicants were indeed involved in the conception of that scheme!
It's entirely possible that we were influenced by that movie...my memory of how we arrived at the final plan is quite fuzzy!
Perhaps, but if you like high diving it's great for that. Climbing back up is a bitch though.
It is kind of a inside joke...the poster's motto in german was "My time will come". He referenced Diocletian so I responded with,
"Deine Zeit ist gekommen und abgereist. Meine Entschuldigungen"
Your time has come and departed. My apologies. ( Diocletian died long ago)
But Diocletian will always live in our hearts, I guess...
if Davis and the rebs would have not gone and attacked the US Military base at Fort Sumter and its supply ships, there just might not have been that little war.
it would have been like Castro after taking over Cuba, going on to attack Gitmo......then we would have had a reason to move on him....(in retrospect, too bad he didn't)
I think the outcome might have been different if the south hadn't started the war........
Appreciated.
Yes, Lord of the Tower of Seamen.
LOL
LOL.......I have heard the weather can be a bit difficult, so I guess sun bathing on the beach while reading a smut novel is pretty much out.
It would more like 4 point restraint yourself to a chair welded to the platform, while wearing high sea gear....forget any reading material
Okay, I'll buy it, but only if I can rename it "Moosylvania."
With a little paint and some landscaping....It has potential:')
If I had the $$ I'd buy it in a heartbeat, staff it with mercs and make it the perfect offshore data / banking haven as well as a clearing house for private transactions.
You've been living on top of that volcano too long...
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