16 November 2014

The King of England is dead. Long live the King.


"I wonder what he meant by that?"



"I shall be delighted, if the information I have to give be of any use to you. Some say the King of England is dead; others, that he is not dead: for my own part, I believe neither the one nor the other. I tell you this in confidence, but I rely on your discretion."


... Charles Maurice de Talleyrand (1754–1838), French bishop, politician, and Napoleon's chief diplomatic aide in the conquest of Europe. This remark was reputedly proffered up to a banker, hoping to make a profit from inside information about whether rumours that the King of England was dead were in fact true.

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