Joan Bates

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. Early life Bates was born Joan Collins on 2 September 1929 at Aldershot in England, the daughter of RSM Albert Collins of the Royal Horse Artillery, and his wife, Elizabeth. The family were later stationed at Shoebury Barracks. As a young woman, Joan was a carnival queen and model who, according to her son Michael, "modelled for all sorts of companies". Marriage 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 at the Caxton Hall Registry Office in London. They had two children, Penelope "Penny" and Michael.