HAVE you heard of the Hereford man who wanted to duel the King and have him beheaded?

In the 1930s Anthony Hall, who lived in the city, wrote an open letter to King George V ordering him to leave Buckingham Palace and challenged the monarch to a fight, with the loser to be beheaded.

Mr Hall believed that he was in fact the rightful king of England, stating that he was the direct descendent of an illegitimate son of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and wanted to reclaim his place on the throne.

Being a powerful public speaker, Mr Hall became extremely popular, making many speeches across the country. In his public addresses, he promised to dissolve the government, abolish income tax, increase the alcoholic strength of beer and make Hereford the capital city of England if he became king.

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The authorities soon started cracking down on Mr Hall’s activities, with even King George V himself becoming concerned.

Records from 1931 show that the King wanted to put a stop to Mr Hall’s crusade, suggesting that he should be declared insane and detained in a mental institution. This did not come to pass, however, as psychologists declared Mr Hall to be perfectly lucid.

In 1936 he appeared before Hereford Magistrates Court and was charged with obstruction, assaulting a police inspector and breach of the peach after attempting to hold a public meeting in St Peter's Square. He was fined £20 for the crime and initially refused to pay, declaring that the court had no right since he was their lawful king.

Mr Hall moved to Herefordshire in the early 1900s. He served as an ambulance driver in the First World War before joining the Shropshire Constabulary and eventually becoming a detective. A disagreement with his chief constable in 1927 caused him to quit the force and, after the death of his father, he quickly began asserting his claim to the throne.

During the Second World War, Mr Hall fell silent about his claims, going to work instead as a shell inspector at Rotherwas Munitions Factory.

He died in 1947 and is buried in the village churchyard at Little Dewchurch.