On February 7, 1910, the British Royal Navy received a telegram informing them that members of the Abyssinian royal family were en route to inspect HMS Dreadnought, the pride of the British fleet. What the officers on board did not realize was that the telegram was sent by trickster Horace de Vere Cole, and the visiting royals were actually a group of his bohemian friends in elaborate theatrical costumes, dark makeup, and fake beards. Among the impostors was a young Virginia Woolf, then Virginia Stephen.
Upon arrival at Weymouth, the group was greeted with a full royal ceremony, including an official naval band and red carpets. The naval officers walked the fake royals through the flagship, proudly demonstrating state-of-the-art naval technology. Throughout the tour, the pranksters expressed amazed gratitude by exclaiming 'Bunga, bunga!'
—a completely invented phrase. Despite several near-misses, including a heavy rainstorm that threatened to wash off their makeup and the fact that one impostor spoke only bad Latin and broken Swahili, the officers failed to uncover the ruse. The pranksters refused the food offered onboard to avoid ruining their cosmetics and successfully departed after receiving a full 21-gun salute.
When Cole revealed the deception to the press days later, the Royal Navy became the laughingstock of Europe. The incident exposed glaring security vulnerabilities in the armed forces, prompting strict reforms in how official visits were verified.