Highgrove Conspiracy

The Highgrove Conspiracy, also known as the Hidden Hand Theory, is a Conspiracy theory first concocted in the 1950s by author and politics professor David Baum. In the 1953 book, Highgrove House: The Hidden Hand, Baum explains a glubal network of politicians, businessmen, artists, celebrities, and other prominent figures. The theory centres around the Hummingbird Foundation, a Delamarian based international non-profit, which holds social events, public forums and arts programs. The idea became popular among the lower and middle classes of the mid 20th century, though its relevence has since waned.

The book begins by referencing a 1901 meeting of several powerful persons, mostly from the Big Six families of Delamaria, at Highgrove House in Cape Hope, Providence, which is today the headquarters of the Hummingbird Foundation. In the meeting, an organisation was concocted that would control political and economic events, in favour of those meeting. This claim is disputed, as several persons said to have attended the meeting were either not in the country at that time, or have been deceased for 2 years prior, as in the case of Henley Leckhampstead. The book goes on to list events that Baum believed the organisation was secretly behind. These include the election of Howard McMadden, the sinking of the DSS Acropolis, the 2012 Briselle Post Shooting, and even the 1947 Bodmonton Accident, in which several thousand people died when two munitions ships collided in the harbour, which lied adjacent to the downtown area of the city.

Highgrove House in 2016.

Most of Baums claims have been refuted as ludicrous and fabricated to draw himself attention. Though some of his claims turned out to be true, such as the death of President Richard McMadden turning out to be an assassination rather than an accident, it is widely believed that Baum fabricated most of the statements. When asked about the book in 1969, he swore that it was true, and that members of this secret organisation attempted to recruit him when he worked in the Delamarian Department of Foreign Affairs, though this too is disputed. When Baum died in 1973, 20 years after having written the book, his last words to his son Thomas were "Highgrove is real, don't give in like I did".

Today, Baum's theories are still popular, though on a far smaller scale. Modern 'conspiracy theorists' have picked up from Baum's works, spreading what is considered disinformation via the internet. Delamarian Internet regulator Delcom has attempted in the past to ensure that people aren't being misled, however the idea remains spreading.

Supposed members

Many people have been suggested as members of the organisation, the names usually pertain to business leaders, bureaucrats and politicians, however some celebrities have also been suggested.

In Baum's grandson Henry Baum-Jones's 2017 book, Highgrove: What we know, and what we will, in addition to the leaders of the Hummingbird Foundation, he lists several hundred people he considers living supposed members of Highgrove, including Presidents James Leckhampstead Sr., Deborah Van Roose and George Cafferty, Vice Presidents William Patton, William Macnamara and Gerard Ferraro, CEOs Nathaniel Eganheimer, Robert Kronstadt, Richard Hayes and Tim Hauder, along with a bevy of congresspeople, lobbyists, lawyers, writers, journalists and patriarchs.