Who wouldn't give Tommy Muscatello credit? Whether calling it ingenious or calling it a con, the manner by which the man, born of an average Italian-American family from Bolton Landing, New York, becomes Thomas J Mace-Archer Mills, Esq. is absolutely remarkable. More remarkable is that Tommy Muscatello a.k.a. Mr. Mace-Archer Mills was providing commentary throughout the day of the Saturday, May 19 royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, not only to the BBC but to numerous European and international broadcast networks.
Tommy Muscatello had to be living a dream come true, standing before the cameras as Thomas J Mace-Archer Mills, spouting on about “keeping integrity, keeping formality, and making sure that the traditions and heritage that we have as British people remain at the forefront.”
The well-meaning imposter certainly looked the part of being among British aristocracy, dressed ever-so splendidly in the attire designated per the invitation, although he wasn’t strolling into St.
George's Chapel. His accent was flawless, and gave nothing away as Muscatello reiterated to French TV that “We're making history.” In a snippet of video discussed on “Megyn Kelly TODAY” on June 1, Mr. Mace-Archer Mills expounds aloud about Meghan Markle being such an open and outspoken feminist, and how that role will impact the monarchy. One has to wonder how Her Majesty feels about the “expert” on her family's affairs only playing a role himself.
Tommy Muscatello’s high school teacher remembers the devotion he gave to his part as Mr. Sowerberry in “Oliver.” His acting abilities took the student farther than anyone could imagine.
Born for the part
38-year-old Mace Archer-Mills is hardly alone among Anglophiles, those completely enraptured with all things British.
Even as a boy, he possessed immaculate British pronunciation, which, according to Wall Street Journal reports, was further perfected by frequent visits to the UK. He proclaimed at an early age to his father that he was going to “move over there [to England] and be part of what is going on.” The son more than fulfilled that aspiration with his frequent “expertise” being part of reporting for The Economist and the BBC.
Both esteemed news entities have yet to comment officially on Muscatello's/Mace Archer-Mills current official status. The Jim Jeffries Show, where the royal commentator has been frequently featured, offered that “If we had any journalistic standards, we imagine we would be quite upset by the news.”
Beyond being in his dreamland, Tommy Muscatello found himself at home “across the pond,” noting that “I found where I'm supposed to be and who I am supposed to be.”
The man living under his own self-imposed alias would not discuss his immigration status, but he is applying for British citizenship, and claims roots in Kent, where he said he “learned to ride my horses.”
Not exactly family ties
Tommy Muscatello insists that “even my toys had a royal nature,” and his nature to take on distinguished names came to full flourish after he graduated from Coastal Carolina University with degrees in politics and history.
Delving into various things from real estate to starting his own firm, Imperial Group International, in 2009, he took the name Thomas J Muscatello-Delacroix and described assisting French-Canadian clientele. He relocated to the UK in 2012.
Mace-Archer Mills defends that his current name is taken from friends and distant relations, some of which he claims trace to England. Most of his ties to royalty are truly through the “kindness of strangers.” He considers his British grandfather to be George Mills, 83, a former Grenadier Guard from Canterbury. Muscatello asked permission to call him “grandfather.”
Tommy's “Granny” is Mervyn Redding, 80, a retired civil servant from Essex. The two met at a meeting of the British Monarchist Society, which Muscatello/Mace-Archer Mills founded in 2012, and eventually, she conceded to the term of endearment.
The grandson in name only established Crown and Country magazine in 2015, and currently, a crypto-currency endeavor called the Royal Coin, which he claims is doing well in its start-up.
If the home is where the heart is, then Thomas J Mace-Archer Mills, Esq. is already there. Amy Holmes of PBS jovially told Megyn Kelly that she would host Thomas as a dinner guest at any time if her apartment and only had space. Perhaps having a title or a true royal bloodline isn't a requirement if the talk is delightful. Conversation has certainly taken Tommy Muscatello a very long way in life.