THE DOUBLES OF KINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 50, 27 August 1938, Page 27

THE DOUBLES OF KINGS

Whoever appears to be a king or dictator is not always what he seems says a writer in the "Sunday Express. If it is a public occasion it is possibl that the great man has a double, ; royal or dictatorial "stand-in," a flesh and-blood effigy set up for the purpos of being kidnapped, poisoned, shoi stabbed, or blown up. Hollywood did not originate the ide of employing doubles to take th places of timid or vainglorious filn stars in dangerous or unimportan scenes. The nobles of ancient Greec and Rome used them, and Europeai tyrants, real or, imagined, have don so from time immemorial. Not a few of them have used v] several in the course of uneasy life times —thereby, of course, proving th usefulness of the system. The Riff leader, Abd el Krim, is«ai example of the 19205. Twice he wa "officially" assassinated and once "offi cially" imprisoned. Each time the mis take became obvious only as a conse quence of palpable activities of Abd £ Krim in other parts of the county Two doubles gave. their lives and on his liberty that Krim might live an remain at large.. King Zog of Albania saved his lif in Vienna in 1932 by a similar devic< He had searched unsuccessfully for man to "double" him in assassins tion scenes for years, but found hir at last in Major Topally. The majo so closely resembled the nervous mor arch that even the latter's closest ai sociates could not tell them apart. Th King was delighted and gave Topall high rank and a place in his persons household. On numerous occasions th double impersonated the King. When the Albanian monarch went t the opera it was Major Topally wh showed himself to the applauding pul lie in the front of the box, while th King stayed in the background. Whe they dined out King Zog would stay i the background while the major gay ! orders to the waiters —orders, by th way, which had been carefully give him by the King beforehand, for, a though the two men were amazingl alike physically, their tastes in wine and foods were very different. In 1932 poor Major Topally died i his job. King Zog was visiting Vienn; and one day as the Royal coach drov through the pressing crowd a shot W£

a fired directly it stopped* The gorgeous 3> figure which was just stepping out „' staggered, crumpled, and thudded to the ground. . c But it was the body of Major Topally a which the guards carried into a nearby i- house. King Zog was safe in his.Royal c apartment. Doubles such as Major k Topally enjoy emoluments proportionate to the risks they run, of course. a Those risks are precisely the same as c are run—or would otherwise be run— n by those who employ them, t When kings are unpopular the risks c are considerable. n The risks of dictators are greater c still; so it is not unreasonable that Hitler's personal "stand-in" should be p the highest-paid official in Germany. ;. He is Ritter yon Epp, known by sight, c of course, to millions, but by name to only a few. He has impersonated the n Nazi dictator on scores of dangerous IS public occasions during recent months. i- It is said that shortly after he ac3. cepted the post of "stand-in" he at- »- tempted to insure his life. Not an injl surance company in Germany would /. accept him. c Germany's President Hindenburg had d a remarkable double, who frequently appeared for him, as the Grand Old :e Man found that he was not able to fulb. fil his burden of public appearances a without suffering severely in health, i- One day, however, the double was bit■a ten in the face by a dog and injured >r so badly that the likeness to the Prei- sident was ruined. His services had to s- be dispensed with, but he was richly ie rewarded for his faithful duty, y Assassination is, happily, a rare thing al in the British Empire, and not for cenie turies has there been any need for a public figure in Britain to employ a ;o double because he feared a violent io death. Many have; however, found it b- useful to employ a "stand-in" for other ie purposes. King Edward VII made fren quent use of his double, one Hugo n Gorlitz, a musician. When Fuchs was 'c designing the first postage stamps to ie bear King Edward's head, Gorlitz was m employed to sit for the artist most of 1- the time. The King sat for two hours .y —at the last sitting. js King George V had a double, but never used him. He was Sir Charles it Madden, and the King was always dea, lighted to hear stories of how from re time to time Sir Charles was mistaken is for him.