| Joan Bates | |
| Birth Name: | Joan Collins |
| Birth Date: | 2 September 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Aldershot, Hampshire, UK |
| Death Place: | Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, UK |
| Princess consort of Sealand | |
| Children: |
|
| Mother: | Elizabeth Collins |
| Father: | Albert Collins |
Joan Bates (Collins; 2 September 1929 – 10 March 2016), also known as Princess Joan of Sealand, was the wife of Paddy Roy Bates, a British entrepreneur who founded the self-proclaimed micronation known as the Principality of Sealand.
Bates was born Joan Collins in 2 September 1929 at Aldershot Barracks in England, the daughter of RSM Albert Collins of the Royal Horse Artillery, and his wife, Elizabeth.[1] [2] The family were later stationed at Shoebury Barracks.
As a young woman, Joan was a carnival queen and model who,[3] according to her son Michael, "modelled for all sorts of companies".[4]
Joan met British Army major Paddy Roy Bates at the Kursaal dance hall in Southend-on-Sea. At the time he was recuperating from serious burns suffered during World War II. They married three months later in 1949[3] [5] [6] at the Caxton Hall Registry Office in London.[2] They had two children, Penelope "Penny" and Michael.[4] [7]
In the 1960s, Roy and Joan launched a pirate radio station and on Joan's birthday on 2 September 1967, they declared the Principality of Sealand independent, appointing themselves Prince Roy and Princess Joan,[5] thus making Joan the "self-proclaimed ruler of the world's smallest kingdom".[8]
Bates died on 10 March 2016 at a Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, nursing home, following a long illness.[4] Her funeral was held on 17 March, with her coffin draped with the flag of Sealand. She was survived by her two children, four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.[2]
Bates featured on at least one postage stamp issued by the Principality, as well as coins inscribed "Princess Joan".[2]