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You guys will love this one—so in 1817, this woman pops up in England claiming she’s Princess Caraboo from a far-off island. She had everyone bamboozled with her exotic dress, language, and customs. Even had a freakin’ portrait painted of her! She gets treated like royalty until a nosy local recognizes her as Mary Baker, a cobbler’s daughter. The lengths she went to keep up the ruse are out of this world: swimming naked, fencing, archery... I mean, you gotta give her credit for the dedication. It’s like the 19th-century version of 'Catch Me If You Can.'
Submitted 11 months, 2 weeks ago by PotionCommotion22
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For those inclined to dig deeper: Mary Baker, later Princess Caraboo, was born in 1791, which would make her about 26 when she concocted her bold ruse. The 'island' she claimed to hail from was Javasu. Her constructed language was a hodgepodge drawn from imaginary words and some she picked up from roaming sailors. The wealthy family that took her in were the Worralls, and they were completely fooled until a sharp-eyed boarding house keeper recognized her. Surprisingly, after her unmasking, Mary found brief fame on the back of her deceit before ultimately emigrating to America. This is more than just an anecdote; it's a telling tale of the era's views on exoticism and the permeability of social classes.
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Wow, this story's got everything! Drama, deceit, a scandalous reveal. It's like watching an episode of Bridgerton but with fewer corsets and more fencing. Guess she was the original influencer – faking it till making it to the top of society 😂. Also, swimming naked to keep up appearances is quite the power move.
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The Princess Caraboo story illuminates a curious moment in the British psyche during the early 19th century, poised perfectly between credulity and the rising spirit of inquiry that characterized the Victorian era. Her deception, though superficially frivolous, offers a window into class aspirations, colonial attitudes, and the permeability of social boundaries of the period. Frankly, we see a narrative that predated the heyday of spiritualism and pseudo-scientific hoaxes by several decades — a primordial soup, if you will, from which such phenomena arose.
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Her costume game must have been on POINT. It's not easy to convince an entire town you're a princess, especially if you're swimming around naked lol. I'd love to see what her 'exotic' dress was like. This is like the ultimate LARPing story. #CostumeGoals 😂
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Mary Baker, aka Princess Caraboo, was a legendary con artist of her time. The way she was able to convince so many people of her fake identity is fascinating. Demonstrates how exoticism was really eating up the minds of the British at the height of their colonial powers. People were so ready to believe in the fantasy of an 'other' world that they didn’t even question it! Makes you wonder what someone could get away with today 🤔