Unmasked: Bogus Earl is US Navy Spy
Krissy Storrar
Mirror.co.uk
_________
A bogus aristocrat was named yesterday as a former US Navy spy who vanished from home 23 years ago.
The mystery man, who styles himself the Earl of Buckingham, has refused to reveal his true identity since he was jailed in November last year.
But he has now been named as Charles Stopford - the eldest of nine children of Charles and Barbara Stopford - who left Florida in 1983.
Mr Stopford, who saw photos of his 44-year-old "son" on a UK newspaper website, told Sky One yesterday: "I'm 100 per cent positive it's him.
"Charles was always obsessed with the English.
The family claims Buckingham was once a member of a US Navy intelligence unit.
Buckingham's former wife Jody Doe - mother of his two children Lyndsey, 20, and Edward, 17 - was stunned.
Police said yesterday they were in contact with Interpol and US authorities to obtain fingerprints and DNA checks.
Buckingham vanished from the US aged 21 while living with his grandmother in Orlando.
The following year, now an IT consultant, he turned up in Germany where he met Jody. They moved to Northampton and divorced in 1997. Buckingham's web of deceit unravelled after a passport check last year. He was arrested at Dover where he told police he was Lord Buckingham. Though he produced headed notepaper, the title has not existed since 1687.
Buckingham was jailed for 21 months in November for passport fraud.
His sentence was cut on appeal. In February, he was released into the custody of the UK Immigration Service.
Since then, he has been held at Elmley jail, Kent.
May 06, 2006
Krissy Storrar
Mirror.co.uk
_________
A bogus aristocrat was named yesterday as a former US Navy spy who vanished from home 23 years ago.
The mystery man, who styles himself the Earl of Buckingham, has refused to reveal his true identity since he was jailed in November last year.
But he has now been named as Charles Stopford - the eldest of nine children of Charles and Barbara Stopford - who left Florida in 1983.
Mr Stopford, who saw photos of his 44-year-old "son" on a UK newspaper website, told Sky One yesterday: "I'm 100 per cent positive it's him.
"Charles was always obsessed with the English.
The family claims Buckingham was once a member of a US Navy intelligence unit.
Buckingham's former wife Jody Doe - mother of his two children Lyndsey, 20, and Edward, 17 - was stunned.
Police said yesterday they were in contact with Interpol and US authorities to obtain fingerprints and DNA checks.
Buckingham vanished from the US aged 21 while living with his grandmother in Orlando.
The following year, now an IT consultant, he turned up in Germany where he met Jody. They moved to Northampton and divorced in 1997. Buckingham's web of deceit unravelled after a passport check last year. He was arrested at Dover where he told police he was Lord Buckingham. Though he produced headed notepaper, the title has not existed since 1687.
Buckingham was jailed for 21 months in November for passport fraud.
His sentence was cut on appeal. In February, he was released into the custody of the UK Immigration Service.
Since then, he has been held at Elmley jail, Kent.
May 06, 2006
