• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home World News Asia

Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t told about Soviet spy in her palace, declassified MI5 files show

January 15, 2025
in Asia
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
0
Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t told about Soviet spy in her palace, declassified MI5 files show
6
SHARES
14
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Sir Anthony Blunt, a Soviet spy and former Surveyor of Queen Elizabeth’s pictures.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t told details of her long-time art adviser’s double life as a Soviet spy because palace officials didn’t want to add to her worries, newly declassified documents reveal.

The files about royal art historian Anthony Blunt are among a trove from the intelligence agency MI5 released Tuesday by Britain’s National Archives. They shed new light on a spy ring linked to Cambridge University in the 1930s, whose members spilled secrets to the Soviet Union from the heart of the U.K. intelligence establishment.

Mr. Blunt, who worked at Buckingham Palace as Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, was under suspicion for years before he finally confessed in 1964 that, as a senior MI5 officer during World War II, he had passed secret information to Soviet agents.

In one of the newly released files, an MI5 officer notes that Mr. Blunt said he felt “profound relief” at unburdening himself. In return for the information he provided, Mr. Blunt was allowed to keep his job, his knighthood and his social standing — and the Queen was apparently kept in the dark.

In 1972, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, told MI5 chief Michael Hanley that “the Queen did not know and he saw no advantage in telling her about it now; it would only add to her worries and there was nothing that could done about him.”

The government decided to tell the monarch in 1973, when Mr. Blunt was ill, fearing a media uproar once Mr. Blunt died and journalists were able to publish stories without fear of libel suits.

Mr. Charteris reported that “she took it all very calmly and without surprise,” and “remembered that he had been under suspicion way back” in the early 1950s. Historian Christopher Andrew says in the official history of MI5 that the Queen had previously been told about Mr. Blunt in “general terms.”

Mr. Blunt was publicly unmasked as a spy by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons in November 1979. He was finally stripped of his knighthood, but never prosecuted, and died in 1983 at the age of 75.

Files held by Britain’s secretive intelligence services usually remain classified for several decades, but the agencies are inching toward more openness. Some of the newly released documents will feature in an exhibition, entitled “MI5: Official Secrets,” opening at the National Archives in London later this year.

Two of the Cambridge spies, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, fled to Russia in 1951. A third, Kim Philby, continued to work for foreign intelligence agency MI6 despite falling under suspicion. As evidence of his duplicity mounted, he was confronted in Beirut in January 1963 by his friend and fellow MI6 officer Nicholas Elliott.

The declassified files include Mr. Philby’s typed confession and a transcript of his discussion with Mr. Elliott.

In it, Mr. Philby admitted he had betrayed Konstantin Volkov, a KGB officer who tried to defect to the West in 1945, bringing with him details of moles inside British intelligence — including Mr. Philby himself. As a result of Mr. Philby’s intervention, Volkov was abducted in Istanbul, taken back to Moscow and executed.

Mr. Elliott reported that Mr. Philby said that if he had his life to lead again, he would probably have behaved in the same way.

“I really did feel a tremendous loyalty to MI6. I was treated very, very well in it and I made some really marvellous friends there,” Mr. Philby said, according to the transcript. “But the overruling inspiration was the other side.”

Mr. Philby told Mr. Elliott that the choice faced now that he was exposed was “between suicide and prosecution.” Instead, he fled to Moscow, where he died in 1988.

The Cambridge spies have inspired myriad books, plays movies and TV shows, including the 2023 series “A Spy Among Friends,” starring Guy Pearce as Philby and Damian Lewis as Elliott. Blunt featured in a 2019 episode of “The Crown,” played by Samuel West.

Published – January 15, 2025 02:35 pm IST

Previous Post

January 15, 2025 1000 UTC

Next Post

Biden promised to turn the page on Trump. Now he’s being replaced by him

Related Posts

Israeli military kills at least five Palestinians near aid sites, medics say

Israeli military kills at least five Palestinians near aid sites, medics say

June 8, 2025
5
The Straits Times logo

Trump’s travel ban on 12 countries goes into effect early Monday

June 8, 2025
3
Next Post
Biden promised to turn the page on Trump. Now he's being replaced by him

Biden promised to turn the page on Trump. Now he's being replaced by him

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0
ET logo

BJP replying to Rahul’s Maharashtra poll questions instead of EC confirms match-fixing: Chennithala todayheadline

June 8, 2025
Caffeine brain scans

Caffeine Has a Weird Effect on Your Brain While You’re Asleep : ScienceAlert todayheadline

June 8, 2025
two side-by-side space telescope photos showing a comet with six dust tails

China’s Tianwen 2 spacecraft sends home 1st photo as it heads for mysterious ‘quasi-moon’ asteroid

June 8, 2025
Crohn's disease

Genetic mutation linked to iron deficiency in Crohn’s disease patients

June 8, 2025

Recent News

ET logo

BJP replying to Rahul’s Maharashtra poll questions instead of EC confirms match-fixing: Chennithala todayheadline

June 8, 2025
3
Caffeine brain scans

Caffeine Has a Weird Effect on Your Brain While You’re Asleep : ScienceAlert todayheadline

June 8, 2025
4
two side-by-side space telescope photos showing a comet with six dust tails

China’s Tianwen 2 spacecraft sends home 1st photo as it heads for mysterious ‘quasi-moon’ asteroid

June 8, 2025
4
Crohn's disease

Genetic mutation linked to iron deficiency in Crohn’s disease patients

June 8, 2025
3

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

ET logo

BJP replying to Rahul’s Maharashtra poll questions instead of EC confirms match-fixing: Chennithala todayheadline

June 8, 2025
Caffeine brain scans

Caffeine Has a Weird Effect on Your Brain While You’re Asleep : ScienceAlert todayheadline

June 8, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co