The Notorious Tale of a KGB Agent Who Spied on the Buckingham Palace
He remained in Queen’s service long after the confession
Recently, I started watching the cinematographically opulent series on Netflix — The Crown (season 4) — that circles around the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. While I found it exceptionally nail-biting, I planned to watch the previous season and started with season 3 — episode 1.
And spot-on, the episode had exciting revelations with twists & turns. The episode opens with the election and winning of Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, following 13 years of conservative rule in Britain. Although Wilson was a long suspected Soviet Union spy, it was never proven. The show took an exciting turn when the real spy was exposed and that became a pointer for me to research more on the subject.
A distinguished art historian who worked in the Buckingham palace for more than 27 years — Anthony Blunt. He exchanged more than 1800 confidential documents with the Soviet Union throughout WWII even before Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne.
Even after Blunt confessed to the British intelligence services and the Queen was intimated of his treachery, he remained as a royal art curator for more than eight years until he was unmasked in 1979.
