Caraboo

In 1817, an amazing story enthralled the journals and newspapers of the time and was the talk of high society. A beautiful, young foreign princess was found wandering the English countryside. She spoke no English but called herself Caraboo. She was given shelter by Jane Worrall, a wealthy banker's wife, at the mansion of Knole near Bristol which soon became the spot of a pilgrimage for those who wished to pay this exotic creature a visit. However, as the storm of publicity grew, it soon emerged that the lovely princess was only a poor servant girl named Mary Baker who played the masquerade to avoid being sent to the workhouse as a vagrant. This book reveals through letters and diaries, all firmly based on documents written at the time of the event itself, who Caraboo really was, how Mary Baker carried out her fabulous hoax and what her life was like both before and after her brief reign as the Princess Caraboo of Javasu. The 1994 film "Caraboo" stars Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates.