The case of the fake aristocrat

last updated 8 January 2015

London

A man who assumed the identity of a dead baby 23 years ago was sentenced this week to nearly two years in jail for identity theft. The man, who had been living in Switzerland, was arrested in Britain earlier this year for traveling on a false passport. He claimed his name was Christopher Buckingham and often referred to himself as Lord Buckingham—a title that the Royal College of Arms said is currently not in use. Police determined that the real Christopher Buckingham died as an infant in 1963. They still don’t know who the jailed man really is. Detectives said they believe he is “hiding some dark secret.”