LAST UPDATE OF THIS INFORMATION WAS ON
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2003 FROM A PREVIOUS UPDATE
Public Notice Warning
of Internet Hoax:
"PRINCIPALITY OF SEALAND"
Based on board the former barge HMS Roughs
which was sunk on Rough
Sands, United Kingdom
The pictures above show HMS Roughs being sunk; a drawing of the Royal Navy vessel sitting on the sand bar of Rough Sands, and what is currently left of that superstructure that now pokes above the shallow waters above the sand bar. It is this pathetic wreck that squatters have laughingly called a micro state. The absurd title of "Principality of Sealand" is but the foolish name given to the unauthorized occupation of a sunken Royal Navy barge which was built and paid for by UK taxpayers on the UK mainland, and then floated into position with Royal Navy sailors on board. Clearly this sunken barge is not an island. It is a ship wreck marked by UK buoys paid for by UK taxpayers to warn UK shipping of danger.
Original Squatter
The original squatter who gained control by fighting earlier squatters is Roy Bates, who over a drink or two or three in a pub, came up with the idea that he would call his wife the "Princess of the Princality of Sealand". At the time of that booze session, the clock was running down for Her Majesty the Queen to name her son Charles as the prince of the Principality of Wales in a spectacular ceremony. The Principality of Monaco gains its secondary sovereignty from its principal France. Bates, by his own admission got his authority from his own head filled with booze and headlines promoting the then upcoming creation of a new Prince of Wales. Bates obviously took his ideas out of one pub and began retelling them at another pub, and after a while a lot of boozed up people lost touch with reality and came to promote these same ideas even when they appeared to be sober. However, the source of this absurd nonsense by the admission of Roy Bates, began in a pub.
Built on a Royal Navy Barge
The former HMS Roughs, unlike former British Army towers which were built on the sea bed, is an actual vessel belonging to the Royal Navy. Pictures have been published showing the actual moment of sinking and the subsequent flooding of the barge's hold.
The twin "towers" that can be seen above the water line are actually one superstructure - like the conning tower of a submarine - that was built within the barge itself so that it became a part of the vessel. This conning tower has simply been taken over by con men.
As such it is a mistake to refer to the former HMS Roughs as anything but a hulk, which while abandoned for use as a Royal Navy ship fortress, is still regarded as a former Ministry of War, now Ministry of Defence property that is clearly marked with buoys maintained by the UK Ministry of Defence.
Bogus Legal Claims
Contrary to published reports, no "High Court" in the UK has ever ruled that "Sealand" is a foreign country or beyond the jurisdiction of UK law. Instead a now defunct local court in Chelmsford, Essex once ruled that it did not have jurisdiction. Had the same case been brought before a court in Colchester or Southend, the answer may have been different, because those courts do have Admiralty jurisdiction. Chelmsford did not.
U.K. Administrative Jurisdiction
The UK HM Treasury Solicitor has stated that all appropriate UK courts have jurisdiction, and Essex Police have admitted to having jurisdiction, although it is neither a part of the County of Essex, nor is it a part of the Crown Estates. It is a disused military vessel whose navigation buoys are still paid for by the United Kingdom, just as they always have been.
Again, contrary to popular opinion, the question of international legal jurisdiction over this sunken vessel has already been determined by a USA Administrative Court which ruled in 1990 and reaffirmed in 1991 at the behest and intervention by the UK Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry through the office of the UK Official Solicitor, that Rough Tower is under the administrative jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. That ruling has never been challenged in any court of law in any country of the world. The governments of the USA and UK do not and never have recognized any jurisdiction over Rough Sands upon which the former HMS Roughs (Roughs Tower) is situated, other than the sovereign jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.
Pretended "Authority"
The UN agrees that it is British property within the UK and the Internet licensing authority will only grant a UK designation for any Internet activity taking place on Rough Tower. The squatters attempt to fool the unwise by combining the words "sealand" and "gov" as "sealandgov" because they are unable to use "sealand.gov" due to the basic fact that they lack a national designation of their own. This is because Rough Tower location is a part of the UK. Consequently they use "sealandgov.com" and variations thereof, just as they rely upon the British Post Office to bring them any mail.
British Royal Mail Delivery
All mail to the squatters on Roughs Tower is delivered to the British Post Office at Felixtowe, Suffolk, England, for collection. The Haven Company claiming to operate a computer business from Rough Tower was originally registered as a British company with UK DTI Companies House at Cardiff, and it named a London, England address where the company could be served with legal papers.
Any person tempted to part with money on the fraudulent basis that they are engaging in a transaction involving a sovereign state called "Sealand", should be advised that Ryan Lackey who gained worldwide fame during 2000 by claiming to establish an Internet haven for colocation, has now admitted on his own web site that he was lied to by Roy and Michael Bates. Lackey has also noted the USA court case which resolved the ownership issue in favour of the UK, but which Roy and Michael Bates avoid mentioning to investors.
The fact that the world's media was conned into publishing and broadcasting a falsehood about "Sealand", is proof that individual investors should do their own legal research and not simply believe what they see and hear in the media.
How this Fraud Began
The fraud began when the Cabinet of Prime Minister Harold Wilson decided not to take any action against the trespass of Roy Bates on a former Royal Navy barge, because they did not want to give Bates any media attention since they decided that he was merely a harmless publicity seeker. In line with that 1968 decision, every time Bates has announced that he will do anything contrary to UK laws, he has been quietly advised that he should not do it. Thus all of his announced radio and television plans came to nothing and he further decided against even trying to place his own marker buoys in the waters off the sunken barge.
