'Princess Caraboo' appears in Almondsbury

In 1817, a Gloucestershire village was dazzled by the arrival of a mysterious royal visitor. But, as Danny Bird reveals, not all was what it seemed in this strange tale of a woman who duped high society

- Danny Bird

In the spring of 1817, the village of Almondsbury, some seven miles north of Bristol, hosted foreign royalty. At least, that's what many people assumed to be the case. Rather, Mary Willcocks, the eccentric daughter of a West Country cobbler, had deceived her hosts and much of high society into believing she was the alluring Princess Caraboo from the far-flung island of Javasu in the Indian Ocean.

Born in Witheridge, Devon, details of Mary's childhood are sketchy, though she was reputed to be of a "wild disposition". She moved to London and worked in service, later becoming a nanny. Applying her vivid imagination, she regaled the children in her charge with fantastical stories. She revelled in the capital's multiculturalism and became especially fascinated by the customs and diet of her employers' Orthodox Jewish neighbours.

Following a disagreement, Mary quit and later pretended to be a prostitute in order to gain shelter at the Magdalen Hospital for reformed sex workers. After leaving there, she became pregnant by a man who abandoned her to face birth alone, before entering a workhouse. In early 1816, she entrusted her newborn son to the Foundling Hospital, where he died later that year. Bereft, Mary resolved to start out anew in the United States. She arrived in Bristol on 10 March 1817 and located a ship due to depart in 15 days. The only problem was her lack of funds for the trip.

A ROYAL VISITOR