Lars, but not Least

Lars Piloof, the janitor who rose to become King of Norway for a few brief hours, died in Piltdown Castle at the age of 93, leaving his wife Ana Gram. During WWII the family of King Olav V of Norway fled to the United States, taking up residence at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. There, the family befriended Roswell Piloof, a hotel janitor, and he became one of the family's personal aides. After the war, Piloof accompanied the family to Norway, and adopted a more suitable first name, Lars. For decades, he was the personal assistant to the king, and was attending the king on his deathbed in 1991. The deluded king, thinking he was speaking with his son, abdicated the throne to Lars. Several hours passed before the rightful heir, Harald V could return to the capital, where Piloof immediately abdicated himself. In gratitude, Piloof was given Piltdown Castle for himself and his family. The incident was kept quiet for several years until Clifford Irving chronicled the story in a book "The Giant of Cardiff," referring to Piloof's hometown in New York.