To feel sorry for the fake admiral

[MajesticWhine]

It seems to be a victimless crime and I don’t think he was doing anyone any harm. Given the amount of crimes such as shoplifting that go unpunished AIBU to think this man should be let off with a caution?

‘Fake admiral’ charged after Remembrance memorial
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/4d56e1d99d56fda6

" This is about individuals awarding themselves nonsense ‘medals’ . "

Medals for gallantry were dished out after the kidnap attempt on Anne, though not to her. The ones she wears are Order of the Garter type ones and Jubilee ones and suchlike.

"faux military garb."
It's not fake. Plenty of people might think it looks ridiculous, and I suppose it does in the way that the Irish Guards putting a uniform style coat with military insignia on a wolfhound mascot, or the Royal Welsh doing the same with a goat, looks a bit OTT. But still real.

There’s probably more genetic inheritance in your family tree than in Charles’ 🧐

Germans and Greeks contributed the most to his gene pool - he’s certainly not directly related to William the Conqueror. Or Richard 3rd, James 2nd or Elizabeth 1st, for that matter.

@PaterPower Yes isn’t it a bit ridiculous. I think the current lot were 66th in line .That guy in Australia who is a direct line from the Stuarts ( I think) has a better claim.

@powershowerforanhour
Yes the ‘honourable order of the garter’- cough Andrew- is the sort of nonsense I mean. The medals and sashes for existing when a ‘jubilee ’ comes round- also ridiculous

Anne was never in any service so the full regalia and festooned with ribbons just looks like a raid on a fancy dress shop .
The tricorns she’s favouring now are the wrong side of eccentric

Obviously a deep sense of inadequacy (combined with self-delusion and entitlement) led to him doing this; but this wasn’t a spontaneous act. He has gone to considerable time and trouble to plan this deception. Plenty of time therefore to arrive at the conclusion that this was a very bad idea! I have very little sympathy I’m afraid as he basically lied to a lot of people and showed a lot of disrespect with his play-acting on Remembrance Sunday of all days!

I think the comparison of Anne & Edward to a dog or a goat in military uniform is quite apt - although a bit unfair on the animals, who didn’t choose to make such a silly show of themselves .

"Anne was never in any service so the full regalia and festooned with ribbons just looks like a raid on a fancy dress shop .
The tricorns she’s favouring now are the wrong side of eccentric"

Service or not the dressy-uppy regalia is all a bit blingy and weird for my liking. The end of this clip makes me laugh:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KIJtDrhJCwU&pp=ygUaTWljaGFlbCBjb2xsaW5zIGhhdCBzY2VuZSA%3D

But you could say that about the bearskins, the ornate regimental standards, the really, really shiny boots and polished bridles on the horses, actually having horses, and any Number One dress uniforms at all really. When it comes down to it, why bother with caubeens and hackles or Tam O'Shanters or Glengarry hats for various regiments, why not berets with plain cap badges for all? Or better still, just black woolly beanie hats and camo fatigues for all? Be cheaper.

Black Rod in tights and a frilly cravat walloping on a big door with a stick always looks a bit bonkers to me, but I get the symbolism and all. It's fine.

The uniforms worn by the Royal family are part of British history, going back to when they were expected to lead in battle and would actually have been wearing chainmail. Mock it, fine, but as someone sensibly said upthread, noone is going to think their new girlfriend Princess Anne is really a serving senior military officer.

This happens a lot with fake Paras/Marines/SAS/etc, some of whom use these fraudulent identities to collect money for veteran's charities which then ends up in their own pockets or inveigle their way into people's lives. I'm not suggesting that Fake Admiral is doing that, but we can't have people claiming service they never had or decorations they are not entitled to, whether they are just sad attention seekers or out to scam, because once we say " no harm done" it is basically giving the green light to pretend to be whatever you want, with all the benefits it might lead to.

ETA those who have actually done the hard yards to become Paras/Marines/SAS and everything else that is imitated have a perfect right not to like it.

All the fuss around Royals and uniforms ...

If anyone takes up an honorary position with HM Forces they may well be required on occasions to wear best uniform with medal ribbons or medal ribbons themselves on display...here is an honorary RAF Group Captain wearing No1 uniform and displaying their OBE.

Having played guess who click on the image for the reveal..

It is not a victimless crime.

My husband served over ten years. He has ptsd and other associated issues. He worked very hard. We always attend remembrance services with our children.

Seeing people like this is causes some ex service people and their families anger / distress.

It takes away from the purpose of remembrance because now the story is about this person not the true meaning of remembrance.

The latter

Princess Anne is the head of at least one Regiment. Col in Chief I think.

You are disrespectful to two hard working members of our royal family. A respecter of nothing by the sound of it.

She is actually Colonel-in-Chief of more than 20 regiments in both British and Commonwealth forces and holds numerous other honorary military titles due to her extensive support for the armed services.

Edward was in the Royal Marines, but dropped out after completing one-third of the training. He also holds a number of honorary military titles, including a few as Colonel-in-Chief, but nowhere near as many as Anne.

No I do not feel sorry for him. It was totally disrespectful and he should be locked up.

i think he is probably mentally ill

maybe he is seeking attention cos that’s what he needs

Unlike others I don't think he is mentally sick. I certainly wouldn't cut him any slack.
I believe he's just an extreme narcacist.
I've known a few, one who on retirement suddenly became a Professor. When I challenged him, he admitted he'd paid a University in a southern U.S. state several hundred dollars for an honorary Doctorate. Whoa betide anyone who didn't address him as Prof. he'd get very annoyed.

https://www.racingpost.com/news/spotted-sporting-gatecrasher-richard-melia-back-in-the-spotlight-at-longchamp-aYAkt3u6RCwP/

Walting in another sphere. This prat got warned off. Leading in a big race winner is the perogative of the horse's lass or lad. It's their moment of glory together with the horse, and they shouldn't have that oaf's stupid face centre stage in the leading-in photos and video for ever more.

Security left s lot to be desired?

I’m sorry about your friends sister, but normal people absolutely do do this all the time. Romance scams are an incredibly common type of fraud.

”The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (City of London Police) recorded 8,792 reports of romance fraud in the latest 12-month period they published, with £94.7m lost and an average loss ≈ £10,774 per victim”.

Lloyd’s bank puts the estimate even higher, and says they’re seeing a 20% rise in romance fraud year on year.

It’s also believed to be one of the most under-reported types of crime due to the sheer embarrassment of the victims, so that number is probably a fraction of the actual number of victims each year.

They obviously don’t all have “mental disorder”. Most of them are just lonely, gullible and not very internet savvy - it’s no coincidence that the most common demographic for romance fraud is people aged 55-64, and that the younger victims tend to have a marked lack of formal education.

Whether he hurts someone or not is irrelevant. He’s still wearing a uniform and performing the role laying a wreath, cosplaying a person of rank of which he is not.

No different to him donning a captains uniform, walking on to a Navy vessel and ordering them to set sail or worse.

@prh47bridge

I think we are all aware that Anne is ‘head ‘ of a regiment. Isn’t Camilla also ? And Sophie ? Even Kate ?
That is as ridiculous as the raid on dressing up box

Wasn’t Andrew repeatedly promoted too regardless of ability ?

More importantly the royals promoted Andrew to Vice Admiral in 2015 . They had known about his Epstem related offences for years at that point !

THAT is offensive . Much more so than an individual wearing bought medals

Yes Andrew had his dressing up box removed - but only when we found out . They had no issue awarding him rank in full knowledge of close Epstein links

Yes, military units like having royals as Colonel-in-Chief or similar. You may not like it, but it is up to the military what they do. They are not forced to give honorary ranks to members of the royal family.

Andrew was promoted by the Royal Navy due to the work he had done to support them over the years. Back in 2009, the navy decided to promote him in line with his peers who are still serving because of his continuing contribution. The Queen's only role was to approve the promotion.

Perhaps we should ban the military from giving royals honorary ranks, but that is not where we are at the moment.

And I'm not really sure why you are addressing your comment at me. All I did was confirm that another poster was correct that Anne is Colonel-in-Chief of at least one regiment and filled in a bit more detail.

@prh47bridge

Im laughing at the idea that the Windsors are not seeking promotion and rank but rather the forces are urging it on them …

You haven’t addressed the issue of the Windsors ‘agreeing’ -as you see it- to Andrew being awarded vice admiral - in full knowledge of his activities with Epstein .

THAT is offensive .