The smallest ‘country’ in the world that’s a half hour flight from London and ruled by its own prince – My London

You think you've seen so many strange and weird things in this world that nothing could surprise you? Think again, because the smallest country in the world isn't Vatican City, it's a small gun emplacement in the middle of the English channel ruled by its own prince!

As this incredible TV clip from the 1983 shows, you can reach Sealand by taking a choppy 20-minute helicopter ride out into the sea, seven miles off the coast of Essex.

Here, before his death in 2012, you would have met Patrick, "Paddy" Roy Bates - otherwise known as Prince Roy of Sealand. Roy literally invaded Sealand in the summer of 1967, throwing off pirate radio DJ's who had set up there with the intention of launching his own radio station.

But instead he transformed the former World War Two gun emplacement into his family home, declaring the independence of "Roughs Tower" - as it was nicknamed by the British government - and naming it the Principality of Sealand.

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As the fantastic Thames TV footage shows, Sealand looks like a "giant two pin plug" sticking out of the North Sea. It's a steel structure 60 feet above the sea, standing on giant hollow legs. It was set up by the Royal Navy in 1943 to defend shipping lanes against German mine-laying aircrafts. Some 200 men manned it throughout World War Two, shooting down over 200 planes in the process.

It's now the smallest country in the world, although not officially recognised by other nations. The British government it seems has never bothered to formally claim it, and if you travel there, you have to take your own passport. Since 1987 the British government extended its territory by 12 nautical miles so Sealand falls within British territory, but even so, it's still proudly independent.

The "country" even has its own stamps depicting naval heroes of the past such as Sir Francis Drake, and it has its own currency linked to the American dollar. As seen in previous reports, racks of guns still stand ready to defend the island and it's patrolled by six armed guards - and for good reason.

Roy's son, Crown Prince Michael, who still runs the principality, recalls the moment he and his fellow "Royalists" wrestled back Sealand after it was invaded by armed mercenaries in 1978.

Michael and his men had to get a helicopter out at dawn and slid down ropes onto the fortress before disarming the invaders. At the time Prince Roy and Joan had been invited to Austria to discuss the possible sale of the platform to one Alexander Achenbach.

He fell out with them and launched an invasion of the platform with boats and helicopters. They even took Prince Michael hostage, but he escaped and was able to capture Alexander Achenbach and the mercenaries using weapons stashed on the platform.

Alexander Achenbach, a German lawyer who had been able to get hold of a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand and was held prisoner. Germany was forced to intervene by sending a diplomat from its London embassy to Sealand to negotiate Achenbach's release. Roy Bates gave in after several weeks, but Achenbach went on to set up a Sealand Government in exile which would pose more problems for the Sealanders in later years.

Even before that in 1968, danger loomed. A British workman entered what Roy claimed to be his territorial waters to fix a navigational buoy near the platform.

Prince Michael fired warning shots at him from a loaded gun. Roy was summoned to court in England but the charges were dropped as Sealand was outside British jurisdiction.

It's probably a marmite kind of place to live, but as staff member Bob Simpson points out in the footage, you don't have to worry about bills like you do back on shore. For many years Crown princess Joan shared the fortress with her husband.

She recalls how when the couple first moved there there was no electricity and gas and conditions were pretty primitive but in later years they became very self sufficient. The kitchen has pot plants and china plates while the rooms are decorated with wallpaper, rugs and classic books, including Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd.

Although Sealand is not recognised so can't take part officially in international sports, that hasn't stopped it claiming to support various international sports teams. or athletes competing in its name.

These include a football team which played its first match in 2004 against the Aland Islands team. In 2007, Michael Martelle represented the Principality of Sealand in the World Cup of Kung Fu, held in Quebec City and on May 22, 2013, the mountaineer Kenton Cool also placed a Sealand flag at the summit of Mount Everest

Things turned dark though in the 1990s when a Russian crime ring began using Sealand passports to launder drug money. Prince Roy was forced to renounce all Sealand passports that had been created over the past 22 years.

The ringleaders of the operation were based in Madrid but had ties to various groups in Germany, including the rebel Sealand Government in exile established by Alexander Achenbach. They were even reported to have sold 4,000 fake Sealandic passports to Hong Kong citizens for an estimated $1,000 each

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But why did Roy decided it was a good idea to stake his life on Sealand? Well he says he did it because "I'm not introspective, I do the unusual and I enjoy doing the unusual. These sort of things attract me like a magnet and I just have to do them."

Roy sadly died on October 9 2012, aged 91 after battling Alzheimer's. Joan also died in an Essex nursing home at the age of 86 on March 10 2016.

But Prince Michael still proudly carries the flag, and the mini state seems to go from strength to strength having registered zero Covid cases during the pandemic. Michael now has three children, James, Liam and Charlotte who are all in one way or another involved in the future of the seafaring state.

Have you visited Sealand? Tell us about your experiences by emailing martin.elvery@reachplc.com

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The smallest 'country' in the world that's a half hour flight from London and ruled by its own prince - My London