Recently, information appeared in the media about a telephone conversation between Prince Harry, who turned out to be a prank of YouTube bloggers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov. In a conversation with the interlocutors who introduced themselves as Greta Thunberg and her father Svante, the Duke of Sussex, judging by the flashed audio recording, made a lot of dubious statements (read also: "Blood on Trump's hands and a bride for George: Harry continues to spoil his reputation"). However, it turned out that he was not alone in his naivety, and another representative of the Windsor dynasty once became a victim of a similar rally. It's about the Queen herself.
Journalist Steve Boggan in The Independent in 1995 testified that Elizabeth II spoke to telephone scammers, being sure that she was talking to the then Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chretien. The journalist wrote: "Believing that she is talking to Jean Chretien, who threw all his efforts to maintain the integrity of Canada, the Queen spoke on the phone for 17 minutes from Buckingham Palace and agreed to make a televised address calling for national unity."
The identity of the deceiver was established. "The fraud was committed by Pierre Brassard, an impressionist and co-host of the satirical program Le Bleu Poudre, broadcast by [radio] CKOI FM in Montreal." The call arrived at the royal residence at 5 p.m. London time and was broadcast several hours later. The official report states that about 250,000 people listened to the show.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the incident and reported it to Mr Chretien's Canadian office in Ottawa, as well as to the office of the Governor General. Steve Boggan noted in his article: "Officials did not say whether the official communication was accompanied by a complaint, although a spokesperson described the incident as" annoying and regrettable."
During a fake conversation, Brassard pushed the monarch into discussing Canadian politics. At the time, one of the provinces of Canada, Quebec, was on the verge of holding a 1996 independence referendum. Subsequently, it showed the highest voter turnout in the history of the region, at 93 percent of the population. 50.6 percent of the province's residents voted against independence, a controversial issue within the country. The putative prime minister voiced concerns to the Queen about a possible separatist victory and tried to convince Elizabeth that her intervention could help support his policy of unity. The author of the article in the Independent claims that the monarch turned to a certain Robert for advice - apparently, her personal secretary, Robert Fellowes, and answered with consent, asking to look at the text of the speech.
Like the prankers who pranked Prince Harry, the Canadian radio host also called the biggest names in the world. Among them are Pope John Paul II, French actress Brigitte Bardot and many others. He also phoned Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and, disguised as Canadian Prime Minister, persuaded him to call on Haitians living in Quebec to oppose an independence referendum.
Photo: Getty Images
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