A self-described descendent of Byzantine emperors yesterday denied media reports that he sold fake titles of nobility to Taiwanese celebrities for profit under the cover of charity work.
The man, who calls himself Prince Henri Constantine de Vigo Aleramico Lascaris Paleologo, Head of the Imperial House of Byzantium, accused Next magazine and several TV channels of smearing his humanitarian activities in Taiwan.
A report in the Oct. 7 issue of the Next magazine said Henri is a scam artist who knights celebrities who are willing to pay exorbitant sums for aristocratic titles in the defunct empire.
"The Byzantine Emperor met his demise in the 15th century. How can this Henri, who claims to be an heir to the Imperial House of Byzantine, still knight people around the world?" asked an Ettoday TV report.
The reports also said that in 2000, Chinese policemen found that Sara Kuo (
Lin Jyr-yih (林直義), a chief consultant of the Imperial Byzantine Order of the Star of Asia -- a title bestowed by Henri -- called a press conference to defend the "prince's" reputation and said Henri was shocked by the media reports.
An English-language letter written by Henri, who is currently in Europe, was read at the press conference. The letter, however, contained numerous grammatical mistakes.
The prince said in the letter that his "ambassador" in Taiwan sent him a report saying some media outlets in this countey published "untrue and libelous" reports about him and his royal house.
"I feel shock very much; what [is] even more incredible is how come such kind of report have come up in a highly intelligent, Taiwanese society," the letter said.
"However, the contents of those reports are so inaccurate about European culture and international relevant information, and I deeply feel so regret [sic] and sorrow about their extremely smear [sic] to the humanity [sic]," the letter said.
Henri said the "international society" recognized his royal status and right to confer titles of nobility.
He said he seriously declared to "those media which did [sic] the untrue reports to do the rectify and correcting report in fully true details, and to publish a public apology so that the public will know the whole truth."
"However, holding the dignity and justice, I preserve the right of lawsuit to the media [sic] which published the untrue reports," the letter said.
Kuo, who did not appear at the press conference, also wrote a letter to the press expressing her "sadness" over the media reports.
On May 26, 2002, Henri and his wife "knighted" nine Taiwanese, including the influential Master Hsing Yu (
Lin, who was also "knighted" in the ceremony, displayed a collection of photocopies of historical records, letters and legal documents to prove Henri's identity.
The documents contained numerous factual, spelling and grammatical errors.
Lin Fu-shen (林福順), a former law professor at National Taiwan University and presidential advi-sor, who attended the press conference, said he had studied several libel suits that Henri had filed against "a number of European media outlets" that had said the prince was a fraud.
"Courts in France, Italy and Russia all ruled Prince Henri winner of the cases and said that he is an authentic prince," said the professor, who was fired from the university for sexual harassment.
The Byzantine Empire existed until 1453. A cursory search of the Internet by the Taipei Times uncovered numerous reports questioning the veracity of Henri's claims and accusing him of being nothing more than a scam artist.
One such report on the Japanese Web site Nippon Goro Goro goes into great detail investigating Henri's claims, and contains links to several third party sources. The report can be viewed at http://radio.weblogs.com/0128043/2003/09/28.html.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we