Before starting as a modern history student at the University of Oxford in the early 1980s, Jonathan Carley devoted much of his time to acting.
His roles at school ranged from a minor part in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure to playing the deceptive tutor in a production of Sophocles’s Electra.
But his most notorious performances came decades later, when he fooled friends, council officials, veterans and hundreds of spectators by impersonating a highly decorated naval officer at Remembrance Sunday events.
The former history teacher posed as a rear admiral at three military parades at least before he was caught out at a fourth service in Llandudno, north Wales, on November 9 last year.
Carley, 65, provoked outrage by standing among real veterans with a row of 12 fake medals pinned to his chest, before laying a wreath and saluting at the local war memorial.
At Caernarfon magistrates’ court on Monday morning, he pleaded guilty to wearing a uniform bearing the mark of His Majesty’s armed forces without permission. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £200 surcharge.
District Judge Gwyn Jones told Carley his actions were “totally disrespectful” and that he had intended to “deceive”, adding: “It’s a sad reflection upon you that you chose to do such a thing on a very difficult day for so many.”
The Times can reveal that Carley spent at least 14 years impersonating an officer at Remembrance events, military anniversaries and private parties.
In 2019 he crashed an event at Harlech Castle marking 140 years since the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. He wore his uniform and gave a two-minute speech to a large crowd “commemorating an event in the history of our nation”. Video shows him clutching a ceremonial sword while pacing around the castle courtyard before encouraging the audience to give three cheers.
Carley was also photographed in the same outfit at Remembrance services held in Caernarfon in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Photographs show him standing shoulder to shoulder with real officials and again carrying the sword.
At Harlech Castle in 2019
His ill-fitting uniform included the epaulettes and sleeve lace of a rear admiral — a two-star rank and one of the most senior positions in the Royal Navy.
There were giveaways, however. He wore a non-regulation white shirt with cutaway collars. His combination of 12 decorations, including the Distinguished Service Order and the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal, also raised eyebrows as no individual serviceman is known to have received both.
Carley claimed in court that he was given the naval uniform when he was a cadet and that the admiral rings were later added by a tailor. He admitted that he purchased online the medals, which also included an unidentified Nato decoration as well as Iraq and Syria service medals.
Sources who had known Carley for years said he had appeared at social events, including dining society meet-ups, in navy mess dress and was said to have convinced friends that he had a “glittering” service record, including tours of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Carley claimed he started as a reservist in the British Army before switching to the Royal Navy, where he became involved in military intelligence full time, according to a source. He later told associates he worked for Nato.
Searches of The London Gazette, the official record for military listing, show his name listed three times, but as a second lieutenant on probation with the combined cadet force. The records show his commission was terminated in February 1995.
In reality, Carley worked as a history teacher and rowing coach at a string of Britain’s best academic institutions.
He was educated at Bolton School and studied modern history at Christ Church, Oxford, from 1980 to 1983, where he was captain of boats, before claiming he enjoyed a “spell” at Harvard.
Carley went on to supervise undergraduates while conducting postgraduate research at Oxford, before spending a year teaching history and rowing at Eton.
At the Caernarfon Remembrance Day parade, centre, in 2018
According to an archived Eton magazine article marking Carley’s departure from the school, he had “an exhaustive and encyclopaedic memory” and “sardonic and self-deprecating wit … All of us at Eton have experienced Jonathan’s great learning and erudition.”
Carley then taught at Berkhamsted School, Cheltenham College and Shiplake College, before going back to his Oxford college as a rowing coach between 2007 and 2011. He is understood to have moved to Harlech, Gwynedd, in about 2018.
Some of those close to Carley have long held suspicions about his military record, with one source saying they have seen him wear military uniforms at parties and events dating back 14 years.
However, his lies really began to unravel after his odd uniform and behaviour were noticed by veterans at the Remembrance Day parade in 2024.
Last November ex-servicemen and photographers were ready and waiting for him to make another appearance at the Llandudno service.
Chief Petty Officer Terry Stewart, who had spent 27 years in the Royal Navy, had been forewarned about what happened in 2024 and approached Carley to question him.
“I informed him that the ex-Royal Navy veterans were not aware of him and I asked for his name. He said he ‘must go’ and that he was invited by the lord lieutenant’s office,” Stewart told the BBC.
Carley, front left, in his school days
Carley returned a salute, gave his full name and appeared “not at all” worried, Steward said, who was by then convinced he was an imposter.
Photographs of Carley were soon circulated online as veterans branded him the highest ranking “Walter Mitty” they had come across.
He was arrested at his home several days after the Remembrance event last year. When police arrived at his door, Carley told them: “I have been expecting you.” Inside officers found a pristine military uniform, medals and the ceremonial sword.
Mark Haslam, for the defence, said that Carley had merely “wanted to be a part of the proceedings” but “seriously underestimated” the anger and distress caused by his deception.
The barrister added that Carley accepted his actions were “totally inappropriate” and that “he should never have been in that position, wearing the uniform or medals”.
Carley outside court
ROBIN FORMSTONE FOR THE TIMES
Outside the court, the lawyer stressed that Carley was “utterly remorseful” and never sought financial or personal gain by posing as an admiral.
On Monday Carley became the eighth person in ten years to be taken to court charged with the offence in Britain.
The Royal Navy said: “Impersonating a naval officer is insulting to anyone connected to the service and could be considered a criminal offence. Nothing should detract from the poignancy of Remembrance Sunday, which can be a sombre time for members of the Royal Navy family and an opportunity for people in communities across the United Kingdom to pay their respects to people who have served or are serving their country.”