RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Starting a pirate radio station and declaring your own nation, it's the sort of thing people did in the '60s. In 1967, Roy Bates made himself prince of Sealand, an old British fort on a platform off the coast of England. Never mind it was the size of a McMansion. Prince Roy ruled Sealand for four decades. In that time he fought off others who claimed it, even confronting the Royal Navy. Roy Bates died this week at 91, not from boredom. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.