THE KING’S DOUBLE
TRYING EXPERIENCES OF A SCOTTISH FAN DOWNER.
The death took place at Inner - wick recently of Mr Richard Hunter, the Laird of Thurston, who was known as the King’s double.
He was an extensive landowner in Haddingtonshire, and owing to his extraordinary likeness to the King, he at various times passed through some trying experiences.
Mr Hunter travelled much on the Continent, and it was mainly then that the embarrassing errors were made.
Commenting on these mistakes, Mr Hunter would remark that it could not be always pleasant to be a king, for he never enjoyed being taken lor his Majesty.
He was staying once at the Hotel Regina in Paris, and his apartments were put under a special guard, evidently with the intention of warding off inquisitive visitorsOne evening when he entered a noted Paris restaurant the band struck up the National Anthem, and the occupants of the tables respectfully rose and bowed as he passed in.
At different Continental resorts he frequently found himself surrounded by admiring crowds, and the difficulty of explaining the mistake was very largely added to by the unwillingness of people to believe that he really was not the King. Mr Hunter took considerable interest in agricultural shows, and as his Majesty is also keenlyinterested in prize cattle, the word very often went round the show that the King was present when he was not. The crowd had simply taken Mr Hunter lor his Majesty.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH19100324.2.27
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Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 818, 24 March 1910, Page 4
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244THE KING’S DOUBLE Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 818, 24 March 1910, Page 4
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