Like many of The Crown's storylines, this improbable ordeal is based in fact. 'The Crown' Devotes Episode to Royal Art Surveyor Anthony Blunt Being in the palace means you have the best connections. King Charles Coronation: The Complete Guest List, Shop Emma Bridgewater's Coronation Collection. Blunt remains one of Britain's most notorious double agents. He wasnt publicly revealed as a spy until 1979 when Margaret Thatcher revealed he had been such. However, the publication reports that few were allowed in on the secret outside of Queen Elizabeth II. As it turns out, it had already been lurking inside the palace for years. View our. But it's. Esquire Middle East The Regions Best Mens Magazine, Esquire is your destination for the best culture, interviews, men's fashion, style, food, watches, cars, sports, tech, features and more, Home | Film and TV | A KGB spy worked in Buckingham Palace for decades. Generative AI is forcing people to rethink what it means to be authentic, It turns out that pop stars Drake and The Weeknd didnt suddenly drop a new track that went viral on TikTok and YouTube in April 2023. Blunt, also a distant cousin of the Queens, was recruited, according to Radio Times, to be a Russian spy while studying at Cambridge and passed information to Russian handlers. He died of a heart attack in 1983, aged 75, his reputation destroyed. He would pass all of this information along to the Soviets. Anthony Blunt (1907-1983) was a highly-respected art historian and member of the Royal Household who was unmasked as a Soviet spy. But when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, she was furious at the leniency which with the country treated Blunts treason. Tomorrows opening episode of the third series of Netflix royal drama The Crown revisits the scandal and features a stunned Monarch, played by Olivia Colman, 45, complicit in covering it up. Blunt, however, turns the tables on Philip, threatening to release evidence of his connection to the Profumo Affair if Philip crosses him. Britain's spy catchers. Anthony Blunts memoirs were only released to the public in July of 2009. The Crown, however, is doing its part to remedy thatfirst by showing the Affair's fallout at the end of season two, and in season three, having the Queen's art curator, Anthony Blunt, blackmail Prince Philip with some related artworks. Paris (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of people on Monday massed in France on labour day to vent their anger against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, with unions vowing not to stop fighting even after the changes were signed into law. Claudia Joseph For The Mail On Sunday All rights reserved. April 04, 2021 - 20:24 BST Emmy Griffiths. It is probable that Blunt was uncovered several years before the of. "I said that there had been no impropriety," Profumo wrote in his letter of resignation, per the New York Times. A helicopter and police officers with torches were seen scouring the area after four other youths were helped by emergency services. He was also a distant cousin of the Queen's. It was during Blunt . Does The Queen Have A Art Historian At The Palace - WHYIENJOY They dont want the embarrassment or worsening relationships with the Americans, so the Queen agrees to play along. The first episode introduces us to Surveyor of the Queens Pictures, Sir Anthony Blunt (played by Samuel West), who held the position for 27 years. The understanding that he wouldnt be publicly revealed lasted for 15 years. How Prince Philip Was Connected to the Profumo Affairand How Anthony Are the English royals related to the Tudors? "I've never seen a connection between Blunt and Steven Ward.". FEMAIL fact-checks just how accurate The Crown is - Daily Mail His escape from punishment was later rescinded, however, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher exposed his role as a Communist spy in the House of Commons in 1979, which ultimately saw the Queen strip Blunt of his knighthood. Let us know in the comments below. MI6, too, had apparently been aware of their relationship. In the following days, Blunt tried to keep his friends quiet about the disappearance. He was a member of the notorious Thursday Club, which met in Soho every week for boozy lunches, sometimes stretching long into the night. Even during the war, Blunt was continuing to publish critical essays and academic papers, and further ingratiating himself with members of the art historical establishment. In 2009, Blunts memoirs were published. The 'Cambridge Five' spying scandal rocked the Establishment by revealing Soviet double agents at the heart of many of Britain's most important institutions. Blunt went to top public school Marlborough College, Wilts, where the Duchess of Cambridge would later become a pupil, before going to Cambridge University, where he met the left-wing academics who would convert him to their cause. Despite the suspicion surrounding Philby, he avoided detection until 1963, when he too defected to the USSR. Later, he was discovered as a Russian spy. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. She pissed off half of Hollywood, the other half of NYC, made a lifelong enemy of Liz Taylor and got horrible press the whole time. Her press secretary, Bernard Ingham, recalls: She didnt see why the system should cover things up. Did Elizabeth's brother Richard challenge Henry VII? But a Channel 4 documentary has now confirmed that Blunt also made copies of Royal correspondence and passed it directly to the KGB. But when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, she was furious at the leniency which with the country treated Blunts treason. A $450m Da Vinci is supposedly aboard Saudi Crown Prince MBSs yacht, What we know from the new teaser of Netflixs The Crown: Season 3, Netflixs The Crown season 3 with Olivia Colman is coming this week, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Blunt was interviewed 11 times by MI5 between 1951 and 1964, when the American FBI told their British colleagues they had identified him as a spy. Did King Henry IV kill his dad Henry VIII? But Blunt effectively blackmails Prince Philip using the Profumo scandal, and the drama seems to imply this might have contributed to Blunt keeping his liberty and his job. Sir Anthony Blunt and Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Philip's most shocking royal scandals over the years The Crown's first two seasons relegated Lord Mountbatten into this embarrassing Philip relation. In The Crown, we see the Duke of Edinburgh, played by Tobias Menzies, square up to Blunt after his spying is revealed to the Queen. Something went wrong, please try again later. They considered they were acting on principle.. But theres much more to the story than what the episode shows. Were nice like that. According to archives cited by Carter, Blunt provided Soviet intelligence officers with 1,771 documents between 1941 and 1945. The Crown only tells part of the story. Blunts life as a royal art historian was not an obvious way to access sensitive information. Some within the secret services had always suspected Blunt as a Communist traitor. He worked his way up at the Institute, eventually guiding it as its director from 1947 to 1974. Britain's spies informed the Queen of Blunt's suspected Soviet ties even before his confession in 1964.Some historians believe the royal family may have already known about Blunt's Russian dealings as far back as 1948, begging the question: Why did Moscow's spy remain in the Queen's service right up until . He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, when he was 18 years old, after receiving his education in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. TV tonight: the story of the Queen's Soviet spy Woman taken to hospital following fall on to the tracks from mobility scooter at London Tube station, Police confirmed that the woman suffered potentially life-changing injuries and was taken to hospital, Russia missile attack on Ukraine injures 25, damages homes, Ukrainian officials say that Russia launched its second large salvo of missiles at Ukraine in recent days, One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites, Jones adamant Wallabies can be best in the world. In fact, the links between the Prince and the scandal are tenuous at best and has already been accused of being one of the most heavily fictionalised elements in the series by Marie Claire. The other spies were Donald Maclean and Kim Philby, who both went into diplomacy, Guy Burgess, who joined the Foreign Office, and John Cairncross, who worked for British secret services. Blunt remains one of Britain's most notorious double agents. Is Prince William related to King Henry VIII? He was Queen Elizabeth II's spouse. Did Robert the Bruce let the Crown Prince go? Blunt, who had been suspected and previously interrogated more than eleven times without breaking, confessed this time in exchange for immunity from prosecution. However, it is soon revealed that the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Sir Anthony Blunt, is the real culprit and is the Soviet spy in question. MI5, it turned out, had at one point hoped to turn Ward into a double agent, hoping he would be able to use Keeler to get information on Ivanov. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. At the time, it wasn't uncommon for liberal, college-educated youth to be sympathetic to the Communist party. Blunt escaped exposure for even longer - it was not until 1979, when Margaret Thatcher named him as a suspect in the House of Commons, that he confessed to his treachery and was stripped of his titles. Profumo, photographed inside a car in 1962. Blunt assigned two soldiers to go into the place and locate these documents.'. Sir Anthony Blunt in The Crown: What's the Real Story? Blunt lived out the rest of his days in deep privacy, but appeared on live television in tears over his behaviour in an interview. Yes, Anthony Blunt blackmailed Prince Philip. True Story of Anthony Blunt, Queen Elizabeth's Art Curator & Russian Spy Then he confessed in exchange for immunity from prosecution, and remained in the palace for eight more years. Daily Mail labeled Blunt a crashing snob who was the Fourth Man in the Cambridge Spy Ring that included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby (there was later a fifth member). Any link to Stephen would have been disastrous for Philip. (Clive Irving, who was working at the Sunday Times as the Profumo Affair unfolded, wrote in the Daily Beast that Ward was a member of the notorious Thursday Club, which Philip cofounded with Lieutenant Commander Michael Parker.). It wasn't until 1979, when he was outed by Thatcher, that he lost both job and knighthood. And how does his secret dossier still resonate even today? "To my very deep regret I have to admit that this was not true.". , updated The espionage story was only broken to the world in 1979, by the late Margaret Thatcher. Was Prime Minister Anthony Eden addicted to drugs? In the memoir, he described how the atmosphere at Cambridge was so intense, the enthusiasm for any anti-fascist activity was so great.. He explained that Cambridge was rife with Marxist sympathizers fueled by the ascendance of Adolf Hitler and the Spanish Civil War. He eventually confessed, but was granted immunity from prosecution - and actually worked in the palace for a further eight years. Prince Philip was a friendor at least an acquaintanceof Ward's. 'What's amazing about this to me is that Anthony Blunt knew exactly where to go. If this comes out, the monarchy would be very, very jeopardised. Kim Philby, the third member outed, was a British intelligence officer who managed to keep his cover until 1963 despite serious suspicion. Anthony Blunt, a former MI5 agent and Russian spy. Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. In real life, Anthony Blunt was even closer to the family than depicted, being a cousin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and being one of the individuals who retrieved the documents on Edward, the Duke of Windsor's links to Nazi high command, as depicted in the second season episode Vergangenheit. Afraid of the outcome, Prince Philip did not disclose Blunt's association with the Russians. As the war came to an end, King George VI, the Queen's father, personally asked Blunt, who spoke German, to accompany Royal librarian Owen Morshead on a secret mission. The Queen stripped Anthony Blunt of his knighthood immediately after the news broke, and though he remained in London, Blunt lived as a recluse until he died of a heart attack in 1983 at age 75. KGB agent Sir Anthony Blunt operated from the heart of the establishment and, when his crimes were finally exposed to the world, it also emerged the trusted aristocrat was a third cousin of the Queen Mum. The Crown season 3 revisits scandal of how the Queen covered - The Sun Although Blunt would indeed be exposed as a spy, Carter dismisses the story that Keeler "most improbably" claimed. Robert Lacey, one of the historians advising the Netflix show, believes the Queen only protected the traitor under extreme pressure. But there's no access to the people who lived it. 20th November 1979: Anthony Blunt at a press conference following revelations that he was the fourth man in the Burgess, Maclean, Philby spy scandal of the 1950's. Did Arthur and Catherine of Aragon consummate their marriage? All 10 episodes of The Crown are available to watch on Netflix. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Your Question: Does The Queen Have A Art Historian At The Palace Stephen Ward with Christine Keeler (top right). Was Philip II the first king of an absolute monarchy? 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Blunt remained in his prestigious palace role until 1972. The betrayal was revealed by Russian spymaster Yuri Modin, formerly controller for the Cambridge spy ring, which included Blunt. Did Peter abdicate the throne to Catherine the Great? Given its nature, there is lingering secrecy around the Blunt affair, but Robert hopes retelling the story in The Crown might reignite interest and finally reveal the truth. No further evidence tying Philip (or Margaret) to the scandal has emerged in the decades since. As a boy he visited his aristocratic relatives home in Londons Mayfair, birthplace of the Queen in 1926, and they later became close friends through their love of paintings. It sounds like something the show would make up, a documentary, filmed over a year of the Queen's life. But she covers it up to protect the crown's reputation because he had supposed blackmail on Prince . At the end of The Crown's first episode of season three, Prince Philip tries to castigate Anthony Blunt for betraying his country. Prince Philip has died aged 99, the royal family confirmed. Regardless of the political climate at Cambridge or his sexuality, Blunt likely never would have engaged in espionage were it not for his close friend, Guy Burgessafter all, while many on the Cambridge campus had Marxist sympathies, a scant few would end up spying for the other side. Did any royals attend Richard III's reburial. Did Blunt blackmail the royal family for the KGB? Other correspondence kept at the property included letters between the Dukes of Windsor and Kent and Prince Philipp of Hesse, the grandson of Empress Victoria and one of Hitler's most powerful aristocratic henchmen. He did continue to spend time occasionally with the Queen Mother, who presumably didn't know about his double life. Did The Queen Fail To Go To The Aberfan Disaster? Yes, Anthony Blunt blackmailed Prince Philip. However, it is soon revealed that the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Sir Anthony Blunt, is the real culprit and is the Soviet spy in question. Blunt, however, turns the tables on Philip, threatening. Written by the Queen's uncles, the Dukes of Windsor and Kent, to their German relatives, the correspondence is likely to show the depth of their Nazi sympathies and would have proved hugely embarrassing had it been released in the Cold War years. Soviet spy Anthony Blunt gave the KGB 'blackmail' letters from Queen's uncles that showed the depth of their Nazi sympathies - and the Kremlin could still have them today Copies of the letters. During the war one was simply thinking of them as Allies et cetera, but then with the information about the camps it was episodes of that kind.". But it wasnt Buckingham Palace which was culpable here, it was the intelligence services because they failed to detect Blunt.. A KGB spy worked in Buckingham Palace for decades. He was a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. They were tasked with retrieving nearly 4,000 letters written by Queen Victoria to her dowager daughter Empress Victoria, which were stored at the latter's former home, Friedrichshof Castle, near Frankfurt then occupied by the Americans. Sir Anthony Blunt, is a KGB spy. Did Edward VII want to marry Catherine of Aragon? Clive Irving, author of The Last Queen, told the programme: 'Churchill sanctioned this mission, as well as George VI, because they both understood the threat potentially caused by knowledge of how far back this sympathy with the Nazis ran through the Royal Family. But it was Ward's prodding of Keeler to procure secrets from Profumo that would prove the most scandalous. Did Prince Phillip defeat William of Orange? Wikimedia Commons/Getty Did Henry VIII marry Catherine of Aragon? Bowle remembered Blunt from his school . Blunt received far more than immunity from prosecution. He was also an MI5 agent. Prince George, the Duke of Kent, was killed in an air crash in 1942. 06:24 EDT 04 Apr 2021. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
