In 1990 Glendor MacGregor pulled off one of the biggest scams in South African history by pretending to be the Crown Prince of Lichtenstein. This film is based on his story.
Philip Moolman stars as the titular Prince and does a wonderful job. In the movie he stars as Jon Brown, a waiter who concocted the idea of becoming a prince after watching a documentary on TV. When watching this movie and wondering how the events depicted here was possible, one has to keep in mind the time when it happened. It was a time before social media, before Internet, and when doing research was too much of an effort, I suppose. People were gullible. I remember reading about it in magazines back in the day.
And so Glendon - or Jon Brown - became a prince who stayed at a five-star hotel for two weeks, met politicians, and was wined and dined in style. (Policiticians get into such a frenzy over Royals!). The film is told in a lighthearted manner, while in actual life no doubt it was no laughing matter! There's a romance interest here, which off course is totally fictional, but was added to make the film more marketable. Ilse Roos stars as hotel employee Amanda du Toit, whom the prince falls in love with, and reveals his secret to - or does he?
Jon had nothing to his name, but he had a vivid imagination, and - above all - he was charming and convincing. Sandra Prinsloo stars as wealthy socialite Cordelia de la Rey van Rensburg, and delivers a fabulous performance. Look out for Glendon in the role as Jon's butler at the hotel - starring as Glendon, his real name.
Thanks to a clever script, the film keeps us guessing all the way. Those familiar with the story knows how it all ended, but in the movie the film ends on a cliffhanger, making the audience wonder whether he was in fact an imposter all along, or indeed a Prince.
'Die Prince van Pretoria' is a wonderfully original romantic comedy drama, and very entertaining.
(Sadly, Glendon MacGregor committed suicide in 1993).
