Talk:Joan Bates

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A fact from Joan Bates appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 7 April 2016 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Joan Bates was a queen before she was a princess?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Did you know archive/2016/April. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Joan Bates.

Wikipedia

Untitled

I understand that there is controversy about the Sealand article in general, but is there any reason this one-sentence article shouldn't redirect there? Joyous 02:24, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC)

No. —No-One Jones ^(m) 03:34, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Styles Error

Latest comment: 4 years ago4 comments4 people in discussion

She was Ms. Joan Bates from birth though she was born Joan Collins? Something needs adjusting. 154.5.153.168 (talk) 20:55, 9 April 2016 (UTC)Reply

Thank you. I have corrected that. Edwardx (talk) 21:08, 9 April 2016 (UTC)Reply

I notice that she (and other Sealanders) claimed the style of Royal Highness. Does that make sense? A style normally derives from the type of ruler who heads the house - a king's children use Royal Highness (Roy = King in Norman French), an emperor's children use Imperial Highness (Imperator = Emperor in Latin) etc. The Bates, though, call themselves royal while only claiming Sealand as a Principality. Surely Serene Highness, Princely Highness or even just Highness would be more appropriate - unless, of course, it's a pun on Roy who founded the place. Robin S. Taylor (talk) 17:15, 25 July 2016 (UTC)Reply

It's not a real country, so the titles don't exist. It doesn't really matter if they called themselves the Grand Master Poobahs of Sealand - it has the same basis in reality (i.e. none). 2A00:23C7:8905:CC01:B8E1:EC33:4C7F:1E2 (talk) 13:31, 10 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

Notability

Latest comment: 1 month ago4 comments3 people in discussion

I really don’t see why Joan Bates has her own article. Her notability is purely based on her marriage to someone who claims to be the ruler of his own principality. She isn’t notable in her own right. 2A01:4C8:444:C252:B57B:5FD8:5D71:ED00 (talk) 04:55, 12 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

I agree with this; think it should be deleted. 104.232.119.107 (talk) 05:28, 10 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

Thirded. I am tagging with a notability banner, but strongly tempted to propose deletion. The info should really be merged into Roy Bates. 45154james (talk) 15:04, 5 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

The article cites several obituaries of Joan Bates in major national UK papers etc (e.g. Telegraph, Independent, BBC), which would (theoretically) meet WP:GNG:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/03/28/princess-joan-of-sealand---obituary/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/joan-bates-dead-princess-of-sealand-dies-aged-86-a6931106.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35803407

However, if you read these obituaries, the coverage of her own life is minimal - it's mostly stuff about Sealand and Michael Bates, so opinions might vary on whether these articles amount to "significant coverage" or not. They are significant inasmuch as they are nominally about her death; they are insignificant in that the content about her is minimal. Personally, I think an interested reader who wants to find out about Sealand is likely to want to find this material in a single article about Michael and Joan Bates, not two redundant and partially overlapping articles, and I would favour merging Joan Bates into Roy Bates. 45154james (talk) 15:17, 5 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

Latest comment: 6 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

Sealand Coat of Arms.svg

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 06:37, 4 February 2026 (UTC)Reply