Royals Declassified | Channel 4 We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Was the Queen's art adviser Anthony Blunt really a Soviet spy? Truth Back in the 1930s, he'd had an affair with a Nazi spy. Then he confessed in exchange for immunity from prosecution, and remained in the palace for eight more years. Did Anthony Blunt blackmail Prince Philip? 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. Let us know in the comments below. Youll recall that the palace worked tirelessly to bury those. The Crown Got It Right: Anthony Blunt, Queen Elizabeth's Art Curator, Was a Soviet Spy. The Queen did learn about his spying in the 1960s, and she did keep it quiet (above is a real picture of the Queen in that era. For the first 19 of those years, he operated undetected as a spy for the Soviet Union. After all, he did variously work at the BBC, the Foreign Office, MI5, and MI6, and provided the Soviets with 4,604 documentsmore than double Blunt's total. Did Prince Philip's Mother Really Turn Up? Was Prime Minister Anthony Eden addicted to drugs? Anthony Blunt (1907-1983) was a highly-respected art historian and member of the Royal Household who was unmasked as a Soviet spy. (This being despite the U.S.S.R.'s own regressive ideas about sexuality.). Like many of The Crown's storylines, this improbable ordeal is based in fact. The Kremlin knew their education, and the British class system, would ensure they got jobs at the top of society. Also, well give you Esquires A-to-Z of Mens Fashion for FREE. Instead, he was granted immunity from prosecution and was supposed to tell MI5 everything he knew about the Soviets operations in exchange. 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. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. April 04, 2021 - 20:24 BST Emmy Griffiths. In exchange for his full cooperation when his part of the spy ring known as The Cambridge Five was exposed, Blunt was granted full anonymity and immunity from prosecution in 1964. This scandal and Philip's suspected links to it were dramatised in the second season of The Crown. Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt all met at the University of Cambridge, where Blunt was an academic and the other three were undergraduates. View our. In the memoir, he described how the atmosphere at Cambridge was so intense, the enthusiasm for any anti-fascist activity was so great.. Prince Philip's love of racy London society found him vulnerable to She did go, but she behaved terribly the whole time. Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. In exchange for his full cooperation when his part of the spy ring known as The Cambridge Five was exposed, Blunt was granted full anonymity and immunity from prosecution in 1964. Did Philip and Elizabeth fight over their last name? The Crown only tells part of the story. Despite the suspicion surrounding Philby, he avoided detection until 1963, when he too defected to the USSR. Despite the scene showing Anthony Blunt suggesting he would out Philip's links to the Profumo Affair scandal that were previously dramatised in The Crown, there is no evidence that the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures delivered such a threat to the Duke of Edinburgh in real life. If this comes out, the monarchy would be very, very jeopardised. (In addition to being a friend of Ward's, Ivanov was also romantically involved with Keeler at the time.). Lauren Kranc is the assistant content strategy editor at Esquire, where she runs the brands social media accounts and covers pop culture and television, with entirely too narrow an expertise on true crime shows, .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux Open Up, The Spookiest Urban Legend in Every State, 'Succession' Showed It's Not Fun Ruling the World, Eight Shows to Watch After 'The Diplomat', The True Story Behind HBO's 'Love & Death', 'The Diplomat' Has Me Ready For More Keri Russell, The 'Black Mirror' Trailer Will Give You Anxiety. Its 1964, and the air in Buckingham Palace is rife with fear of communism as frustration with the tax-guzzling monarchy swells outside the palace gates. But it was Ward's prodding of Keeler to procure secrets from Profumo that would prove the most scandalous. In the following days, Blunt tried to keep his friends quiet about the disappearance. A year later, aged 57, Blunt confessed and it is believed the Queen was informed. Blunt said in his memoirs that he was a tutor at Trinity College when he was recruited by the NKVD, which later became the KGB. Was Prince Andrew injured in the Falkland Islands War? The Crown introduces a curious new figure in season three: a buttoned-up curator, well-practiced in the art of espionage.The Crown Got It Right: Anthony BluntAnthony BluntAnthony Frederick . 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. Any link to Stephen would have been disastrous for Philip. 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. In that time he also successfully retrieved from Germany sensitive letters between the Duke of Windsor (the Queens uncle who abdicated the throne) and Hitler, which we saw in The Crown season two. As someone outside the establishment, she was furious at the apparent conspiracy to protect a traitor because he was one of them. Keeler served six months in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice. The Crown introduces a curious new figure in season three: a buttoned-up curator, well-practiced in the art of espionage.The Crown Got It Right: Anthony BluntAnthony BluntAnthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 - 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian who in 1964, after . All of the significant dates and events shown in Season 3 did happen. The Crown season 3 revisits scandal of how the Queen covered - The Sun Blunt remained in his prestigious palace role until 1972. Philip's involvement last season was made up. Carter writes that between his confession in 1964 and his eventual exposure in 1979, Blunt did his best to avoid the Queen while carrying out his work for the royal family. The 'fifth man' in the spy ring has never been definitively identified, but was named as John Cairncross by KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky. Did Henry VIII marry Catherine of Aragon? He wasnt publicly revealed as a spy until 1979 when Margaret Thatcher revealed he had been such. Daily Mail reports that Blunt died four years after being exposed. She did go to the White House, where she made a very dull toast, and that was all. The older man recruited the students to the Soviet cause before the Second World War - and they remained devoted to the USSR even after the start of the Cold War. He began working for the Royal Collection during these years, writing a catalogue of the French old master drawings at Windsor Castle. He joined the British Army when World War Two broke out in 1939, serving with the intelligence services in France before being evacuated at Dunkirk in 1940. 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Moreover, the Queen not showing up until after the mass funeral is also correct, though whether she stayed away out of a failure to empathize or because she believed showing up would make the situation worse is arguable. Anthony Blunt: The Russian Spy Who Collected Royal Secrets If you're curious about the Profumo Affair, and how Prince Philip was connected to it, read on: It was one of the 20th century's biggest political scandals on the other side of the pond, but many Americans have never heard of the infamous Profumo Affair. Blunt flipped the script on Philip, threatening to reveal his involvement in the Profumo Affair if he crossed him. Are you a fan of The Crown? Educated at Marlborough College, Blunt was a contemporary of John Betjeman and British historian John Edward Bowle. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Chef baffles fans with plan to add semen-based dish to menu as some 'sickened' by it, If you're adventurous with your food, DiverXO in Madrid may be your perfect restaurant - chef David Muoz is soon to be serving a dish that contains fish semen in it, Kids cartoon characters that use AI to customize responses help children learn. Blunt, played in The Crown by Sam West, 53, was a member of the infamous Cambridge Five a spy ring of left-wingers at the university who were recruited as agents for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Get access to this video and our entire Q&A library, The Royal Family: History, Roles & Powers. MI6, too, had apparently been aware of their relationship. 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. (He would still work as an advisor for the Queen's pictures for yearsan honorary post offered by the Lord Chamberlain, who didn't know about Blunt's treason.). However, was the Blunt story true?. Her press secretary, Bernard Ingham, recalls: She didnt see why the system should cover things up. The Times reports that Blunt was primarily known as a Nicolas Poussin expert. Prince George, the Duke of Kent, was killed in an air crash in 1942. 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. In his memoirs he would write: The atmosphere in Cambridge was so intense, the enthusiasm for any anti-fascist activity so great, that I made the biggest mistake of my life.. In them, Blunt confesses that spying was the biggest mistake of my life. Perhaps well meet him again in season four of The Crown to watch his public fall from grace. The Crown Season 3 starts with Queen Elizabeth IIs suspicions that Russian spies have infiltrated the highest reaches of British government (Warning: There will be spoilers for The Crown, Season 3, episode 1 in this article.). 17:05 EDT 03 Apr 2021 French mass in May 1 show of anger against Macron pension reform. Here we look back at some of his biggest gaffes and royals scandals. "I said that there had been no impropriety," Profumo wrote in his letter of resignation, per the New York Times. Blunt served in the British Army in WWII, often passing British intelligence on the Germans off to the Soviet Union. The Crown season 3 includes The Queen and Prince Philip learning that Anthony Blunt was a KGB spy - but did he really threaten Prince Philip with blackmail? The following year, Blunt was the fourth member of the Cambridge Five to be identified. Blunt, however, turns the tables on Philip, threatening. .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}The Crown introduces a curious new figure in season three: a buttoned-up curator, well-practiced in the art of espionage. Learn about the British royal family tree and how the monarch is selected. It hasn't been broadcast since 1972, but clips exist on YouTube. She publicly outed him in the House of Commons in November of that year and a media storm followed. Hes Sir Anthony Blunt, the Queens surveyor of pictures. (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.). According to the documentary, he microfilmed the letters and sent them to Moscow in a diplomatic bag. Was Nat Turner arested for the rebellion? That doesn't mean this is all made up, a la Downton Abbey. Did The Queen Really Employ A Russian Spy In Buckingham Palace? Did Sir Thomas Lumley marry Elizabeth Plantagenet? A helicopter and police officers with torches were seen scouring the area after four other youths were helped by emergency services. The story of the unlikely traitors has been dramatised several times, including in John le Carr's classic book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and a 2003 BBC series titled Cambridge Spies. Was Confessions of Nat Turner a true story? It also suggests that Blunt blackmailed Prince Philip with a portrait of him done by osteopath Stephen Ward, referencing the scandal that rocked the royal marriage in season two. According to The New York Times, he described how he started spying for the Soviets in the 1930s and called it the biggest mistake of my life. He was actively involved in spycraft, even giving the Russians the names of people working secretly for Great Britain. 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. He was an author and intellectual, writing a book called Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450-1600, but some considered him a prig, The Guardian reported. Hopefully that could lead to answers as to exactly who knew what, when they knew it and why a KGB agent was allowed to operate, then remain, in Buckingham Palace., News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) tells the Queen about conspiracy theories he heard at a luncheon. See full answer below. And she did come back to live at Windsor (where she was born) after the 1967 Military junta, where she lived out the last years of her life. 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. GettyThe Queen Elizabeth II poses with Prince Edward, 13 June 1964 in London. 'The Crown' Devotes Episode to Royal Art Surveyor Anthony Blunt How historically accurate is "The Crown"? - CBS News Now it's the late 1960s, and a new set of actors have taken over to cover QEII's middle age period. From Elizabeth's accession on February 6, 1952, until he died in 2021, he served as the British monarch's consort, making him the longest-serving royal consort in history. Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux Open Up, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. In her biography, Anthony Blunt: His Lives, Miranda Carter quotes Blunt's description of his fellow academics in January 1934, upon returning from abroad: "[I] found that the intellectuals whom I had known before I went away were all coming the influence of Communism." Coffee machine broken? "I think, absolutely, that Blunt would never have been recruited if he hadn't been so friendly with Burgess," Lownie says. Ward was also the high-class pimp who, in 1963, introduced call girl Christine Keeler to War Minister John Profumo. But it's. He was a member of the notorious Thursday Club, which met in Soho every week for boozy lunches, sometimes stretching long into the night. Blunt remains one of Britain's most notorious double agents. Anthony Blunt | British art historian and spy | Britannica The Netflix show shows the Queen and Prince Philip tolerating Blunt after the British intelligence services decide its best not to out them. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Prince Philip has died aged 99, the royal family confirmed. And then, rather quickly, we're hit with the real story. He adds: I also think there was a hope on the part of the intelligence services that they could get something extra out of Blunt or get something back from the Russians somehow.. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Tomorrows opening episode of the third series The Crown revisits the spy scandal and features a stunned Queen, played by Olivia Colman, 45, complicit in covering it up, KGB agent Sir Anthony Blunt operated from the heart of the establishment and, when his crimes were finally exposed to the world, it emerged he was third cousin of the Queen Mother, Blunt, played in The Crown by Sam West, 53, above, was a member of the infamous Cambridge Five, The Queen at the Courtauld Institute of Art with secret agent Anthony Blunt, Blunt with the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, Robert Lacey, one of the historians advising the Netflix show says the Queen would have been horrified but also bewildered by Blunt's actions, In November 1979, the then newly elected Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, blew Blunt's story wide open in the House of Commons, Like fellow spy Guy Burgess, pictured, Blunt was already leading a double life because of his homosexuality which at the time was illegal in Britain, The Crown season 3 revisits scandal of how the Queen covered up for cousin who was a secret Russian KGB agent, Inside Keith Lemons 50th birthday celebrations as he throws star-studded fancy dress party, Bobby Davro devastated as fiance Vicky Wright is given heartbreaking cancer diagnosis, BBC presenter suffers shocking racist abuse outside pub while waiting for his wife on night out as he shares shock vid, third series of Netflix royal drama The Crown, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Despite being discovered, it is decided to keep his treachery a secret so as to save face and humiliation for the Royals and intelligence services, becoming free from prosecution and keeping his position, to The Queen's chagrin. He worked alongside Yevgeni Mikhailovitch Ivanov, a Soviet spy working undercover at his country's embassy in London, to extract information from Profumo. It also suggests that Blunt blackmailed Prince Philip with a portrait of him done by osteopath . Was he really a Soviet spy, and was he real? Wikimedia Commons/Getty He maintained his love of Communism came from his hatred of the rise of the far Right across Europe in the Thirties, and claimed he later saw the error of his ways. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. As a distant cousin of the Queen Mother, Blunt was a trusted member of the Household after joining the Palace in 1945. Robert Lacey, one of the historians advising the Netflix show, believes the Queen only protected the traitor under extreme pressure. 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. ), Ward was a colorful character: by trade, an osteopath, but also a socialite, artist, andmost unfortunate for Profumoa Soviet ally. At the end of The Crown's first episode of season three, Prince Philip tries to castigate Anthony Blunt for betraying his country. Did Peter abdicate the throne to Catherine the Great? Queen Elizabeth: Love, Honour and Crown: the true story behind Anthony Born in Bournemouth, Blunt was the son of a vicar and third cousin of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who would eventually become the wife of King George VI and then the Queen Mum. This was early in her prime ministership and she wanted to tell the civil service to know who was boss.. The Crown season 3: Did spy Anthony Blunt really Was Philip II the first king of an absolute monarchy? This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Later, as journalists neared the truth about Blunt, Margaret Thatcher outed him in speech to the House of Commons. It also suggests that Blunt blackmailed Prince Philip with a portrait of him done by osteopath Stephen Ward, referencing the scandal that rocked the royal marriage in season two. Watch the trailer below: Chloe is a News Writer for Townandcountrymag.com, where she covers royal news, from the latest additions to Meghan Markles staff to Queen Elizabeths monochrome fashions; she also writes about culture, often dissecting TV shows like The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Killing Eve. The revelation of her sex with him helped bring down the Tory Government a year later. Blunt was born in Hampshire country in the south of England and was educated at Cambridge. Did Edward VII want to marry Catherine of Aragon? When the Queens dad died in 1952, he became Surveyor of the Queens Pictures and was knighted by Her Majesty four years later. In 2009, Blunts memoirs were published. No further evidence tying Philip (or Margaret) to the scandal has emerged in the decades since. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Your Question: Does The Queen Have A Art Historian At The Palace View our online Press Pack. According to Daily Mail, Blunts familial ties to the Royal Family came through his mother, Hilda, who was a second cousin of the Queen Mothers father, the Earl of Strathmore. Later, Ivanov would claim that he managed to photograph some of Profumo's secret documents, among other acts of espionage. Did Henry VIII promise leniency to Catherine Howard? The Crown Only Tells Part of the Story. That, combined with their concern for workers' welfare, made Marxism seem appealing. , updated He also gets credit for bringing Blunt over to the Soviet side. Did Henry VIII divorce Catherine of Aragon? 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. It was an undignified end for a man who had shown so much promise. Although Blunt would indeed be exposed as a spy, Carter dismisses the story that Keeler "most improbably" claimed. Michael Straight, an American whom Blunt had attempted to recruit at Cambridge, informed British intelligence of Blunts espionage after years of wrestling with the knowledge. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (KCVO) in recognition of his services. 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. He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, when he was 18 years old, after receiving his education in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It wasn't until 1979, when he was outed by Thatcher, that he lost both job and knighthood. (The whole immunity deal was, of course, arranged to keep this secret.) Anthony Blunt appears first as a courteous and knowledgeable professional, well-liked even by Queen Elizabeth, who readily admits her limited understanding of his chosen field. He was part of a spy ring known as the Cambridge Five. Is 'The Crown' Season 3 Historically Accurate? Let's Break It Down Was Queen Victoria a descendant of King David? The Queen was also informed of his confession. Philip confronts Blunt only to be met with blackmail over the Profumo affair, the Russian spy sex scandal that had toppled a conservative prime minister. Yes, we could have done that but we would not.' The Crown Got It Right: Anthony Blunt, Queen Elizabeth's Art Curator, Was a Soviet Spy, What the Stars of The Crown Look Like in Real Life, Everything We Know About 'The Crown' Season 3, latest additions to Meghan Markles staff, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Sir Anthony Blunt, is a KGB spy. 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. 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). Sir Anthony Blunt in The Crown: What's the Real Story? The Crown's claim: Sir Anthony Blunt blackmailed Prince Philip to keep quiet about his spy past after the royal grew frustrated by the truth being covered up ADVERTISEMENT Despite the.