An NGG Special Report
An acquaintance of ours, Dewi Sukarno, was kind enough to send us an invitation to one of those high society balls -- not the usual social set for your Nippon Goro Goro staff. We got a good laugh at seeing that the star attraction at this event is the supposed Imperial Prince and heir to the crown of the Byzantine Empire. Considering that the Byzantine Imperial franchise went bust in 1453, we couldn't help but wondering how someone could be running around in 2003 claiming to be prince or rightful head of the dynasty.
First the executive summary for those too busy to read through: we believe that Dewi (Dame Commander of the "Cross of Constantinople") and other socialites around the world are victims of a claimant to a long defunct throne who bestows imperial titles on those naive enough to cough up considerable sums of banknotes. It also appears that legitimate newspapers and sycophant gossip columnists have fallen for the story after attending glitzy balls in Las Vegas, Palm Beach and Tokyo. Japan has apparently been most lucrative with reports that the equivalent of one million dollars has been requested for titles.
Now the details:
First of all, as we stated at the beginning of this tale, we do know Dewi (a Japanese woman of humble origin who went on to fame becoming one of the wives of a third world autocratic president). Dewi's heart is in the right place but she apparently does not know how to sort a legitimate princess of Luxembourg from a bogus Duke of Savoy.
The fellow in question in this story is one claimed (take a deep breath and say): His Imperial & Royal Highness Prince Henry III Constantine de Vigo Lascaris Aleramico Paleologus de Montferrat, Hereditary Emperor of Byzantium, Prince of Thessaly, et cetera et cetera. (Hereafter "Henri").
He is among numerous claimants to the right of succession to Constantinople. Henri travels with a French blonde, now known as "Princess Francoise". The "royal" couple hand out ennoblements to those who pay to join one of his two orders.
Certain detractors, who seem to have exerted considerable effort in researching the matter, claim Henri is actually an 84-year-old former Genoa hairdresser, Enrico Vigo. The Byzantine busters also claim that Henri is of quite humble origin, the child of one unwed Miss Agalgisa Paci. At the age of seven he was recognized as the son of a Cesare Vigo, according to Italian legal documents.
Sleuths also claim that Henri did not begin using the royal Paleologo moniker until the time of his second marriage in 1964. There is some evidence that he merely adopted the Constantine and other names when he converted from Catholicism to the Greek Orthodox religion.
Furthermore, they point to historical evidence that the only descendants of the esteemed Emmanuel Peter Paleologo, also known as "Blancus", were the Counts Vincenzo and Pietro-Andrea Paleologo Bianchi, who died without descendants.
Henri's detractors also say that he has been convicted of fraud, theft and slander.
You can read Henri's side of the story on his Lycos Italian web page which is covered with advertising. (We guess that ICANN has not gotten around to giving the Byzantine Empire its own two-letter IP country code). Anyway, most of the link on the Prince's web site appear to be broken. (Off with the head of the Imperial Webmaster!)
Henri also dishes out titles to the deserving in two organizations he apparently created: The Grand Sovereign dynastic Hospitaller Order of St. John-Knights of Malta and the Sovereign Dynastic Military Constantinian Order of St. George.
Henri's St. John-Knights of Malta can be easily confused with the well-known The Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (aka Knights of Malta).
If you are willing to give Henri and Francoise some of your hard-earned yen to become a Marquis you first might want to query the Committee of Privileges of the Maltese Nobility. The Committee was set up in 1882 by the British Crown, when Malta was a British colony. It can tell you what it thinks of the titles that the Byzantines are granting in the name of the Knights of Malta. One may also want to check the pedigree of the Prince with the College of Arms in London which sorts out pesky international pedigree issues for the Queen of England. In fact, we challenge anyone to find any official expert body that recognizes Henri as being from the Paleologus lineage, not to mention the legitimate heir to the Byzantine crown. (Here is a look at Henri's claimed lineage).
An ex-wife, the former Marieluise Petersen, is reported to have made a statement to French police accusing Henri of usurping his title, inventing the Sovereign Military and Dynastic Order of the Knights of the Cross of Constantine and naming himself Grand Master.
The Inside Edition television program in the United States, back in 1993, was among the first to do an expose on the whole shebang. German's Stern magazine has also done investigative articles.
Anyway, should you desire to break bread with the Byzantine Prince and swap tales of your heraldic forebearers, you can do so Oct. 14 in Tokyo for Yen 50,000 which will get you a seat at the King's Table. And, who knows, for a few million yen, the supposed heir to the Byzantine empire may be willing to give you royal blood, as well.
2003.09.28
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