Lauren Harries
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Lauren Charlotte Harries (formerly James Harries), was born in Surrey, England in 1978 and is a disputed (see below) child prodigy who became famous in Britain after appearing on Wogan, Terry Wogan's chat show in 1988.
On the programme the ten-year-old boy appeared to demonstrate a knowledge about antiques far beyond his years and this, combined with a striking appearance, dress sense (bow ties and formal attire), blonde curls, and his precocious manner of speaking caught the nation's attention.
Eventually Harries realised he was a transsexual and transitioned to becoming a woman in 1998. In 2001 Harries had sex reassignment surgery.
In 2004, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary Little Lady Fauntleroy made by actor Keith Allen in which he interviewed the Harries family. They told him they were marriage counsellors with a sideline in private investigation. They also claimed to have many qualifications demonstrating their abilities in those fields, the entire family being Doctors of Metaphysics.
Allen discovered that many of the qualifications had been purchased on the internet and that Harries' own mother had overseen Harries' counselling on the psychological aspects of gender reassignment. A number of other aspects of the family's life did not bear scrutiny.
Contrary to the received wisdom of the time, Harries may not have been a child prodigy at all. On Allen's documentary Lauren Harries confessed that she had been given stock, impressive sounding answers that could be used if asked a question she could not understand. Harries also received an unorthodox, home-based education and got only 3 GCSEs (a below average, even poor academic record).
Since Harries' childhood the family, who live in Cardiff, Wales, have been persecuted by neighbours who take exception to Harries' "transvestitism" and the perceived snobbery of the family. Stones are often thrown at the windows of their house.
External links
- Just call me Lauren (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,472608,00.html) - Lauren Harries interviewed by Matt Seaton for the Guardian (April 13, 2001)
- Lauren Harries on the Tongs Wiki (http://www.tongs.org.uk/wiki.pl?JamesHarries)