An unofficial state located in the North Sea claims to have received a surge in applications for citizenship following the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote.
The Principality of Sealand, pictured, which has its own flag, currency, stamps, passport and national anthem, is in reality a Second World War anti-aircraft gun platform called Roughs Tower located about eight miles off the coast of Suffolk in eastern England.
‘Prince’ Michael Bates, its owner, maintains last year’s two democratic votes have triggered unprecedented interest among the public in moving there, with “hundreds” of people making inquiries each day.
However, the self-styled prince said that it has been his policy since the 9/11 attacks not to hand out any new passports.
Sealand was acquired by Prince Michael’s father, Paddy Roy Bates, in September 1967 as the headquarters of Radio Essex, a pirate radio station. Bates Snr died in 2012, leaving it to his son, now 64, who lives there with his wife, Lorraine, and daughter, Charlotte.
Sealand is not officially recognized by any established sovereign state and can apparently accommodate only 150 people in its two ‘legs’.
Prince Michael said: “The number of applications has been staggering – there have literally been hundreds every day via the website. We have replied to some out of courtesy but have simply not been able to reply to them all. It’s just not been possible. There have been too many and we could not cope. It has been surprising but everything has gone a bit funny over the past year with the Brexit vote here in the UK and Trump winning in America.”