Spotting William Fakes



I don't have William's email address. That's private. But I have read the interview that used to be posted on Aaron Gilmer's site until it was pulled at Palace request. I have talked to people who have dealt with confirmed William fakes. Here are some ideas.

  1. Don't assume it's William. One friend has a stack of emails yea high from different Williams. The easiest thing to do is grab the nearest information sheet, memorize it, and approach some poor royal fan. I would like to point out one thing. The standard bio we have on William has been repeated in magazine after magazine since at least 1995, from my observation (or at least major portions thereof -- the Palace does leak out a little information occasionally). Those who guard William are fanatical about letting information slip. We don't even know if much of what we have is right. It's standard in the royal press to take rumors as fact. Blue eyes? Prove it. Pasta? I wanna see this boy go back for seconds on spaghetti three days straight. In front of me. 130 pounds? You can't weigh a picture. The royal environment has a way of overprotecting its people. For good or bad, who can say? Who knows?

  2. Don't assume it's not William. Have you been in his room at 4 AM? How do you know he can't post to the Net from there? Maybe staff has a computer. Maybe the dog does. You just don't know. You don't know. Maybe Eton's giving special privileges without telling us. You never know. Why should they tell us anything?

How do you know? At all? You don't, not until you have confirmation. Good guesses are that the person sounds like a Brit (ask a Brit friend or two whether the person sounds like a Brit, or conversely, may be faking Brit). Test to see whether there's something there besides superficial info anybody could have picked up from reading Seventeen. Remember, if you found it there, so could someone else have. Talk to this person for five to six emails. Do they sound like a royal (not your idea of a royal, but a royal) rather than a Xeroxed bio sheet? There is a big difference.

There have been very few confirmed William sightings on the Web. But there have been a couple. I have read the Aaron interview (which we now believe is genuine) and I have talked to others who were fortunate enough to catch him posting on one of the more remote message boards (although this was not confirmed until later and he was believed to be a fake at the time).

Without a degree in language, a background in literary analysis, and a good knowledge of psychology, I can't tell you more. Just listen to the writing. Does it say England to you? That's the best advice I can give. The royals are the center of the land and have been for centuries. That's why they're there. Just listen. And William's been called a fake before. So no telling.

Remember, this is a human being, not a cardboard bio sheet. Shy? Maybe not. Fruit salad? Maybe some reporter caught him chowing down once when he was hungry and that was all there was. Assume everything. Assume nothing. And check with a Brit. Preferably an older one.

And remember, if you've found this page, the William fakes may have too. And the chase goes on....

And how do you know? Maybe he likes Pepsi.





Is he really out there? Really and truly? Huh?