Queen Left in Dark After Courtier Unmasked as Soviet Spy – MI5 Files
Newly released MI5 files reveal the Queen’s reaction to learning about Sir Anthony Blunt’s espionage activities
Queen Elizabeth, Sir Anthony Blunt, MI5, Soviet Spy, KGB, London, UK
London: So, it turns out that back in 1964, Sir Anthony Blunt, who was the Queen’s art advisor, confessed to being a Soviet spy since the 1930s. Can you believe that? He was part of a notorious spy ring while he was still a young academic at Cambridge.
During World War II, he was a senior MI5 officer and passed tons of secret info to the KGB. Yet, he kept his job in the British establishment because they feared a scandal if they fired him.
When the Queen finally got the full scoop in the 1970s, she took it pretty calmly. According to the MI5 files released recently, she didn’t seem surprised at all.
The decision to inform her came because there were worries that the truth would leak out after Blunt’s death, especially since journalists were already sniffing around the story.
In February 1973, Prime Minister Edward Heath made sure the Queen was briefed about it. MI5’s director general reported that her private secretary confirmed she had been told.
Interestingly, it seems she had some idea about Blunt’s shady dealings even before that. She acknowledged she was aware of suspicions when other spies fled to Russia in 1951.
There was a bit of back and forth about whether she should have been told sooner. Some thought she needed to know to handle any future encounters with Blunt.
It’s wild to think that both the Queen and then Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home were kept in the dark about Blunt’s confession. Home Secretary Henry Brooke didn’t want to add to their worries, which turned out to be a huge misjudgment.
MI5 was pretty tight-lipped about the whole situation, even with the government. It wasn’t until 1979 that Blunt was publicly outed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He passed away in 1983, stripped of his knighthood.
The files are being released now as part of a new exhibition at the National Archives, which will showcase MI5’s work. It’s fascinating stuff, especially the details of Blunt’s confession when he finally came clean.