On February 7, 1910, six members of the elite Bloomsbury Group executed one of history's most embarrassing military pranks. Orchestrated by eccentric joker Horace de Vere Cole, the group included a young Virginia Stephen (later Virginia Woolf), who wore theatrical robes, facial paint, and a fake beard to impersonate an Abyssinian prince. Cole dispatched a forged telegram to the commander of HMS Dreadnought—the pinnacle of British naval supreme power anchored at Weymouth—announcing an urgent visit by a royal delegation from Abyssinia.
Believing the request was genuine, the Royal Navy provided a full official honor guard, royal salute, and guided tour of the top-secret battleship. Throughout the tour, the impostors spoke a made-up language combining scrambled Latin and Greek phrases while periodically shouting 'Bunga, bunga!' to express admiration for the military technology.
Astonishingly, despite strict security measures and the presence of an officer on board who was Virginia's cousin, no one uncovered the ruse during the visit. The group enjoyed full royal treatment before quietly taking a train back to London. Days later, Cole revealed the prank to the national press alongside a photo of the group in costume, turning the Royal Navy into an international laughingstock and sparking parliamentary debates.