British Quiz Champ

In Britain, people who compete on quiz shows have to be a lot smarter than U.S. quiz contestants to win a lot less money. Right now Britain's quiz champ is red-bearded, magenta-waistcoated Plantagenet Somerset Fry, 24, an Oxford law student whose ability to answer questions about history is no less unlikely than his name.

At ten, Plantagenet could recite the names and dates of all of England's kings, and when commercial TV came to England with the quiz show Double Your Money, he put his knowledge to use. He identified the British commander at the Battle of Malplaquet (John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough) and what Secretary for War fought a duel with what Foreign Secretary in 1809 (Castlereagh v. Canning). Then he answered correctly the -L-512 ($1,433.60) question: "In the 17th and 18th centuries, France was ruled by three Louis. Give the dates of their reigns and the relationship between them."* But when the moment came to face the -L-1,024 ($2,867.20) question, the strain proved too much. "I think I shall call it a day," he said. "It's been a severe worry."

Having won the biggest radio or TV quiz prize in Britain to date, Plantagenet announced that he would spend most of his winnings on the publication of his thesis, The Vindication of Richard III.

* Answer: Louis XIV, 1643-1715; Louis XV, his great-grandson, 1715-74; Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XV, 1774-92.

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