Advice from America

Some of the Dodgier Titles That We Have Come Across

In the course of creating Fake Titles, we have come across some absolutely ludicrous claims from purchasers of ‘titles’, as well as from the sellers; unfortunately some behave in ways that bring little credit to themselves and therefore we felt that it might help you if we highlighted some of those.

‘Lord and Lady’ Bjorn and Maria Teksnes (Shropshire)

This couple own Old Colehurst Manor in Shropshire, a wonderful medieval manor house near Market Drayton that they have lovingly restored, and now hold weddings, residential stays and dinners there. Alas, they also decided to ‘advance’ themselves and bought a name change through ‘Lord’ Robert Farmer; apart from ensuring that they are held up to ridicule by everybody that knows about their sudden elevation, sadly they seem to have acquired a new overbearing manner.

They put Old Colehurst up for sale, but have since removed it from the market, and at the time they insisted that all the staff at Savills, the selling agents, called them Milord and Milady, and the same at Wrekin College where their daughter was at school.

Sir Robert Cowley, 2nd Baron Ardwhallan

Though he has apparently dropped his Barony, it might be interesting to find out the source of his Knighthood as Buckingham Palace and The British Government do not seem to have any record of it. However, he does seem to move around quite a lot in Australia, never staying in one place for long enough to create any permanent friendships, though strangely rather a lot of people seem to be quite glad to say farewell to him.

His associates, such as Warren Clarke Anderson, seem to also boast a similar lack of credibility; Warren claims a “distinguish (sic) [BBA] Hons in International Business Studies, [MBA] Banking & Finance (UK) The Regents University of San Moritz”. The same sort of qualification could be yours for around $500! While Sir or sometimes Dr Andrew Haberfield should be treated with similar caution, especially if any of them offer to raise money for you, but want to be paid an ‘up front’ fee.

I am sure the regulatory authorities would be very interested to hear from anybody with information about ‘Sir’ Robert Cowley, particularly if you have paid him a fee but never succeeded in getting your loan.

Anyone who has dealt with his company Investment Suisse, which he claims is a major Swiss financial institution, might be interested to learn that “Investment Suisse is not authorized by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (nor the former SFBC, FINMA’s predecessor). Investment Suisse is not a legitimate Swiss company, nor is it a bank and has no physical presence in Switzerland”, according to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

It apparently operates out of a well-known accommodation address on London’s Piccadilly, which seems unusual for such a large financial institution, however, usefully, it does house an escort service among a plethora of other companies.

You might also like to study his involvement with the strange Lichtenburg Foundation and the amazing Princess Maya, Baroness de Haynau, apparently ‘Baron’ Cowley is a Minister of State for the Principality of Lichtenburg, though the place only seems to exist in someone’s imagination, I am sure though that their aims are purely charitable as stated. You might further like to find out more about another gentleman connected to the Foundation, Lord Hankins of Ravensburn, his title seems to have as much credibility as ‘Sir’ Robert’s; they tried to hold a charity dinner in Queensland, Australia at A$1000 a plate to raise funds, but unfortunately for them there were so few takers that it got called off.

Latest News: ‘Sir’ Robert has now threatened me with a Notice of Intention to Commence Criminal Prosecution, however, he seems to have joined forces with a gentleman called Bernie O’Brien, using the notepaper of the Affordable Legal Company. Bernie’s credibility unfortunately seems to be about as great as ‘Sir’ Robert’s, you might be interested to see his recent performance on YouTube, in which he was questioned about where money that investors had given to him for producing business loans had disappeared to.

Lord or sometimes Sir Charles Buchanan Turnor

If you come across a Knightship for sale in an auction, then do not attempt to buy it. Unfortunately on any number of occasions the unwary have purchased ‘Lord’ Turnor’s Field Knightships of the Plantagenet Toxophilites, quite often paying several thousand pounds, including Ian Whyman of South Yorkshire, MD of a demolition company, who coughed up a hefty £7,000 for two at an auction in Malmesbury held by Hilditch Auctioneers, who really didn’t bother to do much checking.

Lord Charles lives in the grandly named East Barkwith Manor in Lincolnshire, actually a small cottage, but seemed unwilling to talk when approached by a reporter from The People. Do avoid him like the plague, and please report any Knightships that you spot being offered for sale either to me or directly to the police.

The Right Hon the Lord Mitford

The most worrying fact about His Lordship’s Website - apparently not live at present, pending a redesign - is that "Lord Mitford maintains a small collection of books related to genealogy and the peerage and in his spare time conducts genealogy and peerage research". Help! Talk about the blind leading the blind.

Though he may well own the two Manorial Lordships of the Mitford family - he is not able to call himself The Right Hon the Lord Mitford, just Mr Mark Mitford, Lord of the Honour of Mitford, and Lord of the Manor of Molesden; and certainly not The Right Hon, the use of that is reserved for peers of the rank of Baron, Viscount or Earl, and Members of Her Majesty’s Privy Council.

This is exrtremely useful information gathered from various sources by John Kaywood of Boulder, Colorado, USA, who is not an attorney.

You should not just rely on the advice that he has collated, but should consult a competent U.S. attorney of your choosing to seek legal advice and council on this subject; however, he should corroborate the details below as it is all a matter of public record.

“Completing a Legal Change of Name is the only method of affixing a title to a US citizen's name. It should be noted that the citizen must be very careful when using the new name, since the title can not be placed in the "title" field in official documents (where Mr. typically goes) since the individual doesn't technically have a title, they have a first name of "John" and a last name of "Smith of Glencoe" or somesuch.

Filing for, or attempting to prefix a legal name with a title that denotes privilege or peerage, such as "Lord John" or "Duke John" or even "Sir John" will, in most jurisdictions, be denied or be unlawful, since it creates a situation where the potential for fraudulent use is "prima facie" and thus violates one of the basic tenets of a name change, that it never be used for fraud.

Some states (New Mexico, for example) have no requirement for cause for filing of a name change. Simply filling out the proper forms and paying the court costs works. The majority, however, do have a requirement for cause, and some are rather strict in requiring a "compelling reason" for the change. According to some sources, often the most effective reason to use when requesting a name change is furtherance of one's career in the theater.

As for having the new name appear on official documents, the US Government does not, and will not, by law, officially recognize any titles, including those of royalty, nobility, peerage, academia, or otherwise, as part of a US citizen's name. No US citizen can formally request to have such titles added to an official US document. Presenting fully legitimate documents, even if signed by the Queen of England herself, will not get a title added to one's passport, according to one supervisor that I spoke with at the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

Each state differs on how it will handle a new name after having it legally changed to reflect a title. Most will simply place the name on official documents such as Driver's Licenses, exactly as an Order from a court of competent jurisdiction has shown the new name to appear. Thus, if you could convince the Court to make your name "John James Smith of Glencoe, Baron of Glencoe" then your license would most likely show a first name of "John", a middle of "James" and a last name of "Smith of Glencoe, Baron of Glencoe". It is fairly unthinkable that any jurisdiction with any sense would allow the license to read "Baron John James Smith of Glencoe" or somesuch, although catching an uninformed clerk at a local DMV office could yield almost any result.

To illustrate the sovereignty of the State governments, here is an example (with an alias to protect his privacy): A lifelong friend of mine is a judge at the County level in Texas, USA. Previously, he held the same position in Colorado. When in Colorado, the state placed an official designation on all official documentation regarding his judgeship. Including his Driver's License, which showed him as "Hon. John Smith". When he moved to Texas to assume the judgeship there, the State refused to show any such designation on any documents.

This caused him a great deal of trouble, as over the course of the next two years he had to fight to get dozens of accounts, documents, credit cards, titles and other things "fixed" to remove his title. In one instance, he had a problem selling his vehicle because his name on the Colorado issued title didn't exactly match the name under which he was selling it. Moral of the story: Each state has complete authority with regard to how to, and whether to show any title on official documents, and it is often more hassle than it is worth to allow them to do so.

Credit cards and non-governmental issued ID cards, of course, will reflect any legal name change as it appears on an Order of almost any court, and in some cases may even amend the name to reflect the wishes of the consumer, since their goal is to make money, not argue over names. A problem can occur if the name on a credit card doesn't exactly match the name that appears in the credit databases (Experian and/or TRW), especially during online transactions where this information is routinely checked before even attempting to process a card. For this reason, it is best to have all documents match exactly the Court ordered name change format.

In summary, even "legally" becoming the Baron of Glencoe by purchasing the Barony doesn't change one's legal status in any way in the United States (nor most anywhere else other than, perhaps, Glencoe) and is not recognized as "official" in any manner by any jurisdiction here. While having documents in hand to show cause for your name change may help in some Courts, it is not a requirement, and does not automatically compel the Court to honor the name change.”

And I am indebted to James P. Magner, Esq. for the following:

“In America, the only titles that are "recognized" are of three types: Professional, Military, and Governmental. These titles do not become part of one's legal name, nor do they convey any rights or privileges and they certainly are not hereditary. However, because they confer social honor and status, they are often misused, particularly by con artists and social climbers. As such, the misuse of such names, while not fraudulent per se, is highly frowned upon.

Professional: The title of "Doctor" or "Dr." may legitimately be used by anyone holding a "terminal" degree - the highest degree awarded by accredited universities in a given field. However, the title should be follwed by the appropriate initials designating type of doctor, as in "Dr. John Q. Public, PhD." However, regardless of your degree, it is only proper to address medical doctors (M.D.) and university professors as "Dr. Smith." As for medical doctors, only those holding an M.D. AND who are a certified member of a medical board should be addressed as "doctor". Many other people with advanced degrees or quasi-medical practices insist on being called "doctor" and this is usually met with skepticism and derision.

Attorneys earn the right to use the degree designation "Esquire" or "Esq." upon completing their legal degree. However, the title of "Counselor" can only be used by those admitted to a state bar and licensed to practice. It is traditional to greet a newly admitted member of the bar fresh from the steps of the State Supreme Court with his new bar card in hand thus: "Welcome, Counselor." It may be the last time he ever hears it. The designation "Honorable," or "Hon." is conferred on any member of the bar who is appointed to a judicial post. Those appointed to lesser adjudicatory posts are given the designation "Commissioner." Trial court judges are called "Judge," whereas appellate level judges are called "Justice." Finally, although the Juris Doctor is a terminal, doctoral degree, attorneys are never referred to as "Doctor" unless they are a college professor.

In most states it is a violation of law to use any of these when you are not entitled to - even writing a letter on a law firm's letterhead stationary may draw a charge of "unlicensed practice of law" because of the dangers of abuse and intimidation.

Military: Military officers are commissioned for life, and so keep their titles. Enlisted ranks and non-commissioned officers do not. My father, who served only 4 years in the army, still occasionally receives mail addressed to: Cpt. James J. Magner. However, social etiquette dictates that only those achieving the rank of 0-5 and above (Lt. Col. in the land services and Cmdr. in the sea services) use the rank as a title after they leave the service. While it is a crime to pretend to a rank IN the service, there is no such crime for calling yourself "Colonel" as a layman - only shame and derision. As an artifact of the pre-civil war south, some southern states, which had their own militias, have retained laws that permit the governor to bestow honorary military titles on non-military citizens for acts of service to the state, but the practice is rarely used anymore. The most famous example is "Colonel Sanders," founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain. He never served in the military, but had himself designated as a "Kentucky Colonel." It was clever marketing.

Governmental: Anyone who has served as a senator or governor may continue to use that title after they leave office. In the deep south, the old tradition of referring to any landholder as "governor" is slowly dying out.”