Sir: There are many mysterious characters in history: the Man
in the Iron Mask, the Tichborne Claimant, Jack the Ripper, to name but a few. But no one has excited the curiosity of readers (Letters, 22 February) more than the prankster who hides under the nom de plume of Alastair Forbes, who in fact knew all of the above-mentioned in his youth.
But it cannot be long before the hermit of Château d'Oex, the Man in the Ski Mask, must reveal his secret. 'Ali', like the Bourbons, has forgotten nothing. This gave credence to the belief that he was in fact the Dauphin, Louis XVII, aka Naundorff, who, after escaping from the Temple, was later rejuvenated by Professor Nichans and settled in the canton of Vaud.
The truth is more obvious, though no less Gotha-inspiring, and has been hinted at by the hermit in his writings. For many years, `Ali', clearly with a waspish tongue in his pink, dimpled cheek, gave support to the absurd claims of the Romanov phoney Anna Anderson and related many of his conversations with crowned and tiara'd heads on this subject. This was an ingenious cover-up. Genetic fingerprinting has unmasked Anna, and will soon unmask your contributor, as Alastasia, Grand Duchess nonpareil, heureusement.
Claus von Billow
109 Onslow Square, London SW7
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