EUROPE’S DOUBLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1938, Page 2

EUROPE’S DOUBLES

KING OR DICTATOR. NOT ALWAYS WHAT HE SEEMS. Who appears to be a king or a dictator is not always what he seems. If it is a public occasion it is possible that the great man has a double, a royal or dictatorial “stand-in,” a flesh and blood effigy set up for. the purpose of being kidnapped, poisoned, shot, stabbed, or blown up. Hollywood did not originate the idea of employing doubles to take the places of timid of vainglorious film stars in dangerous or unimportant scenes. The nobles of ancient Greece and Rome used them, and European tyrants, real or imagined, have done so from time immemorrial. Not a few of them have used up several in the course of uneasy lifetimes —there, of course, proving the usefullness of the system. The Riff leader, Abd el Krim, is an example of the 1920’5. Twice he was “officially” assassinated and once “officially” imprisoned. Each time the mistake became obvious only as a consequence of palpable activities of Abd el Krim in other parts of the country. Two doubles gave their lives and one his liberty that Krim might live and remain at large.

King Zog of Albania saved his life in Vienna in 1932 by a similar device. He had searched unsuccessfully for a man to “double” him in assassination scenes for years, but found him at last in Major Topally. The major so closely resembled the nervous monarch that even the latter’s closest associates could not tell them apart. The King was delighted and gave Topally high rank and a place in his personal household. On numerous occasions the double impersonated the King. When the Albanian monarch went to the opera it was Major Topally who showed himself to the applauding public in the front of the box, while the King stayed in the background. When they dined out King Zog would stay in the background while the major gave orders to the waiters—orders, by the way, which had been carefully given him by the King beforehand, for, although the two men were amazingly alike physically, their taste in wines and foods were very different.

SACRIFICE MADE. In 1932 poor Major Topally died at his job. King Zog was visiting Vienna and one day as the royal coach dfove through the pressing crowd a shot was fired directly it stopped. The gorgeous figure which was just stepping out staggered, 'crumpled, and thudded to the ground. But it was the body of Major Topally which the guards carried into a nearby house. King Zog was safe in his royal apartment. Doubles such as Major Topally enjoy emoluments proportionate to the risks they run, of course. Those risks are precisely the same as are run —or would otherwise be run —by those who employ them. When kings are unpopular the risks are considerable. The risks of dictators are greater still; so it is not unreasonable that Hitler’s personal “stand-in” should be the highest-paid official in Germany. He. is Ritter von Epp, known by sight, of course, to millions, but by name to only a few. He has impersonated the Nazi dictator on scores of dangerous public occasions during recent months. It is said that shortly .after he accepted the post of “stand-in” he attempted to insure his life. Not an insurance company in Germany would accept him. Germany’s President Hindenburg had a remarkable double, who frequently appeared for him, as the Grand Old Man found that he was not able to fulfill his burden of public appearances, without suffering severely in health. One day, however, the double was bitten in the face by a dog and injured so badly that the likeness to the President was ruined. His services had to be dispensed with, but he was richly rewarded for his faithful duty.

KING EDWARD VII.’S DOUBLE. Assassination is, happily, a rare thing in the British Empire, and not for centuries has there been any need for a public figure in Britain to employ a double because he feared a violent death. Many have, however, found it useful to employ a “stand-in” for other purposes. King Edward VII made frequent use of his double, one Hugo Gorlitz, a musician. When Fuchs was designing the first postage stamps to bear King Edward’s head, Gorlitz was employed to sit for the artist most of the time. The King sat for two hours —at the last sitting. King George V had a double, but never used him. He was Sir Charles Madden, and the King was always delighted to hear stories of how from time to time Sir Charles was mistaken for him. Recently a solicitor’s clerk died in London. During his life his profession had brought him no very great distinction. Yet frequently he was saluted by policemen in Whitehall and often besieged by Press photographers. He was exactly like Mr Winston Churchill.