To feel sorry for the fake admiral

I think this retired teacher must have mental health issues.
I can't see any other reason for dressing up as an Admiral - it's pure delusion.

But then again so many men like cos-playing these days...

Not victimless at all. Absolutely despicable attention seeking deception. Disclaimer: I'm a forces brat. That uniform didn't fit, the medals that he hadn't earned looked like they were from ebay and were displayed wrong, throw the book at him.

Not read the full thread so someone else might have mentioned the woman - Tania Head - who claimed to have been inside one of the towers on 9/11. She claimed her fiance died in the towers. She became a victim advocate and led tours around the memorial site, and claimed to have interacted with real victims before they died, even meeting their families. Turned out she wasn't even in the US on the day.

He is an imposter wearing government issued clothing. It's like wearing a genuine police outfit in public. That is also an arrestable offence under the same act. It's an insult to all those who served, especially those who died in the war.

Stolen valour

I can’t read the article, as it’s paywalled. He’s obviously a bit of a twat, but I don’t think he’s committed a crime (unless there’s more to it). Plenty of people wear medals that they didn’t earn to remembrance parades. There’s even a bit on the British Legion website advising civilians how to wear other people’s medals correctly.

These 'valour thieves' or whatever people call them are nearly always men. Infact I don't know of any women, but I'm sure someone will come along with an example.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gggr7ype6o

she came out of a special fanny this is my absolute quote of the week 😝

Who does?

Agree with this 👆

It's not exactly the same, because it wasn't military, but there was a woman in the States who pretended to be at the twin towers when they were struck by the plane.

She publicly spoke about it, claimed to have been the fiancé of a man working in the other tower to the one she'd supposedly been in. She was involved in survivor's support groups and was very vocal about some of the poor treatment the survivors got.

In the end, she was exposed, but wasn't charged because no evidence could be found that she did it for any sort of financial gain, or to cause injury. In fact, she had done a lot in terms of survivor support.

It was quite a fascinating story.

Nobody sees Princess Anne on tv in a plumed hat and thinks “oh, there is my new girlfriend. She definitely is a high up military figure so it’s fine to send my life savings to get those diamonds she inherited through customs in Qatar”. Whereas there is a strong history of men who pass themselves of as military/police/pilots etc being involved in wider fraud and romance scams.
Princess Anne’s banging hat was part of her official uniform as bodyguard to the King at the coronation. I think it’s rather sweet he had his sister and many, many, others will think it’s ridiculous but she wasn’t “dressed up” as something she wasn’t irregardless of the daftness or not of the hat. She was “dressed up” as something she was - She was her brothers bodyguard that day - the fake admiral is not an admiral in any sense - he’s a history teacher from Harlech and I’d put money on him being involved in fraud. You can’t have people going around wearing official uniforms that don’t have anything to do with them - how about we decide that paramedics and police officers are fair game? Nestle salespeople used to dress as nurses to convince new mothers to stop breastfeeding and use formula - it’s not ok. I saw a documentary only a few years ago about a private hospital that specialised in weight loss surgery - the sales people and reception staff were wearing slightly dated nurses uniforms (the ones with the belts that real nurses haven’t been allowed for years) - it wasn’t for fun - we know that people “trust” a uniform.

Nick Adderley former Chief Constable of Northamptonshire. He is facing fraud charges.

He was one of the police chiefs who wanted to police people's shopping during covid lockdowns.

The current acting chief constable is now possibly facing a personal fine or gaol time for a contempt of court case which started during the former chief constable's tenure.

Walt-ism may seem merely insulting at remembrance day parades. But can be part of a pattern of arrogant behaviour which they get away with because no one wants to question their service.

News articles today suggest he has done this before - but not been caught out. I doubt he will get a custodial sentence. I hope the uniform and medals are all confiscated and anything genuine sold to raise money for a veteran’s charity to ensure he can’t do it again. I think the level of publicity and the humiliation that will cause will feel like a punishment in itself. Am sure many in his social circle will distance themselves. I wonder what his family thinks……

I was cross. My GGF fought in the first world war, it left him deaf and with PTSD and he was one of the lucky ones. My GF was in a protected occupation and he survived tactical bombing of his city.

Some grifter rocking up just make a mockery of those that died and those from more current wars that are still living.

But King Charles, Andrew MW, Prince William and Prince Harry did all serve. That is the difference.

He is clearly mentally ill. I assume his sentence will reflect that.

The question is what was his motive. He was obviously going to end up in the local paper.

Is he also commiting fraud in other ways? Lulling women into a false sense of secuity, I'm ex-navy, look theres me at the rememberance service...the women then think he's an honorable chap?

It not victimless.

How disrespectful to those who have given their lives and lost loved ones in war.

I know a man like this, a real Walter Mitty type who's told extensive lies about serving in the Army and retelling horrific stories of watching children die slow painful deaths. He lied to a group of us over several years, telling us all slightly different tales each time. When someone called him out on it, he admitted he made everything up and has never served in the Army.

He's still like this years on, has lied about quite serious things, like being diagnosed with schizophrenia, which his wife confirmed isn't true. He is in ill health, but exaggerates his conditions and symptoms. It's hard to imagine why someone would lie about these things. It's quite difficult to have sympathy after a certain point, as it must be awful for his wife and son to have to deal with someone like this.

The concept of claiming to be a veteran isn't that unusual, a lot of men claim to have served in the army to new partners when in reality they've done nothing with their lives.

He must be a fantasist. I don’t think it is victimless to take the opportunity and respect that should have been afforded to someone else.

Everyone knows that the royals are just playing dress-up and looking rather silly, but when someone pretends to be something they’re not, like this guy, the consequences can be more serious.

I don't think it should be just a caution. It should not be viewed as a prank.

would you also find it ok ,if someone went around pretending to be a police officer.

That's the ceremonial stuff. She's the Queens daughter.

She has never claimed to have served in the forces