A VERY peculiar coup occurred this week in a quiet corner of central Europe.
King Boleslav the Gracious of Wallachia was toppled by his foreign minister, Tomas Harabis, after a long-running feud that cast a pall over their bucolic idyll and led to claims that the monarch had lost the ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
An amicable powersharing agreement between the two men has become a bitter and bizarre battle for control of the kingdom of Wallachia, a fictitious realm which started life as a gimmick to attract visitors to the eastern Czech region of the same name.
Mr Harabis, who created the “kingdom” in 1997, ousted King Boleslav – also known as actor and comedian Bolek Polivka – after he allegedly started to take his make-believe role too seriously and demanded power over the “economy” of his dominions – essentially a tourist business offering themed holidays and events.
“We have many of the features of a real country – a flag, a currency, a university, a state limousine and even a passport – which I once used to get into Alaska from Canada,” says Mr Harabis.
He goes on to explain, however, that the currency, called the jurovalsar, cannot be used anywhere; the “university” teaches people how to make and drink plum brandy; the limousine is a bright yellow Trabant, a communist-era runabout with a plastic body and two-stroke engine, and the passport is by no means a legal travel document.
“We thought this was a great way to promote Wallachia and bring people here and in 2000, we held a big ceremony to crown our first king, Boleslav the Gracious,” recalls Mr Harabis (36), a former writer and photographer.
“Unfortunately, the king soon started confusing fiction with reality and tried to rule the kingdom’s economy. But the kingdom is run by my company, and we couldn’t let him interfere with our contracts, business partners and money.”
Mr Harabis installed a rival queen mother in 2001, but that did not stop Mr Polivka insisting that he had a right to use the Wallachian kingdom trademark because, on a 1993 television show, he had jokingly named himself King Boleslav of Wallachia.
The court battle ended this week with victory awarded to Mr Harabis.
Mr Polivka was busy filming his television show yesterday, but his aide, Marek Zouhar, said he would “play on and on” regardless as King Boleslav. “The court case was only about the trademark – no court has forbidden Mr Polivka from playing the King of Wallachia,” he said. “We’re planning lots of events for the king – this is all about having a laugh and not about money.”