New archives have revealed that Queen Elizabeth was not aware of a Soviet spy in the palace for many years to come. Surprisingly, this person was given knighthood as well and was highly adored by the Queen herself. Let’s take a look at deep conspiracy.
The person in question is Anthony Blunt who was the chief art curator to the royal family. He was referred to as Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 until November 1979 and was an art historian. He would survey the queen’s pictures and occasionally her private collection to the public. It was smooth sailing until it was discovered that he lived a double life – an art historian by day and a Soviet spy by night. However, the late Majesty was not aware of this development.
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Britain’s National Archives declassified a bunch of articles which also included documents from MI5 as per NBC News. These documents unraveled the history of a Civil War scandal brewing right at the heart of the British establishment which is supposed to be the safest spot for the royals.
The documents explain that Anthony Blunt confessed to being a Soviet spy and a part of a notorious group called the Cambridge Five spy ring. This ring included Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, John Cairncross, and Donald Maclean. At the time, the security services ardently worked at hiding Blunt’s true identity with only a handful of officers privy to this knowledge. All the efforts were made to keep Queen Elizabeth II in the dark.
Even Queen Elizabeth’s private secretary Martin Charteris was only told that Blunt was being interrogated for his connections to Guy Burgess who fled to the Soviet Union. Historian Chris Sith told NBC News, “To have informed Her Majesty or anyone else for that matter would have been potentially defamatory; it would also have been deemed embarrassing to Her Majesty.”
He further explained Anthony Blunt had established himself as a prominent figure in the royal family by the time his true identity was revealed. Later revealing the truth would be embarrassing for the family and Smith thinks this way it “would also have allowed the palace to truthfully deny that Her Majesty had any knowledge of Blunt’s espionage activities, shielding her from personal embarrassment.”
‘Spying never ends; it’s the eternal game.’
Novelist and Spy Insider Ava Glass, reflects on traitor Anthony Blunt’s “surprising” royal access and how “you’d need incredible skill to escape detection.”https://t.co/JrNVSK1p72
📺 Sky 501, Freeview and YouTube pic.twitter.com/x1L3wFRiau
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 14, 2025
Up until 1972, only Charteris and MI5 deputy Philip Moore knew about Blunt’s identity as per then-MI5 Director General Michael Hanley. The latter writes in the documents about Queen Elizabeth’s knowledge of the secret, “Charteris thought that the queen did not know and he saw no advantage in telling her about it now; it would only add to her worries.” Hence, when Blunt fell ill in 1973, the Queen was informed of the treachery.
Surprisingly, Queen Elizabeth II dealt with the whole situation quite nonchalantly. Charteris reported, as per the documents, “She took it all very calmly and without surprise: she remembered that he had been under suspicion way back in the aftermath of the Burgess/Maclean case. Obviously somebody mentioned something to her in the early 1950s, perhaps quite soon after the succession.”
Blunt continued to work as an adviser for Queen Elizabeth II for years to come until his retirement at the age of 65. After he became seriously ill due to cancer, he passed away at the age of 75 in the year 1983.
