An English radio DJ is vying to become the prince of an Italian principality.

Mark Dezzani, a Radio Caroline DJ from Crawley, West Sussex, wants to become the ruler of a tiny self-declared principality in Italy, an honour that would earn him the enviable title “His Tremendousness”.#

Dezzani hopes to become the Prince of Seborga, a village overlooking the Italian Riviera that declared its independence from Rome in the 1960s.

He will go head-to-head with the current ruler of the miniscule territory, His Tremendousness Marcello I, a businessman and former speedboat champion.

Marcello and his German-born wife, Princess Nina, have ruled Seborga since being elected in 2010.

The position is not hereditary and elections are held in the village, in the north-western region of Liguria, every seven years.

Election

The next election will take place on April 23rd with the result to be determined by the 200 registered voters of the village.

The election day is a tribute to the principality’s founder and first ruler, a flower grower called Giorgio Carbone who styled himself His Serene Highness Prince Giorgio I and declared independence 50 years ago.

Mark conforms to the three criteria for being a candidate for the elections – he lives in Seborga, he speaks Italian and he has no criminal convictions.

Who is the potential prince?

Mark is 55, was born in West Sussex to Italian parents, and has lived in Seborga for nearly 40 years, working as a DJ for a regional online radio station.

He wants to increase tourism, revive a medieval currency called the “luigino” as an online currency similar to Bitcoin and establish relations with similar self-declared micro-nations around the world.

He spoke to Sean Moncrieff on Newstalk earlier this week. You can listen back to the interview below.