The Queen's Soviet Spy

Sir Anthony Blunt, esteemed art historian and a favourite of the Royal family, was publicly revealed as a Soviet spy on 15th November, 1979, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher confirmed he had been part of the "Cambridge Five", a group of double agents who secretly passed sensitive information to the Soviet Union. Despite his confession to MI5 in 1964, Blunt continued his association with the royal household, working as a surveyor of the Queen's pictures until his retirement in 1972. The response in Parliament included disbelief and accusations of deliberate cover-ups to protect Blunt, leading, eventually, to his knighthood being rescinded. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how Blunt's privilege facilitated his double-dealing at the very highest levels of British society; ask whether his homosexuality influenced his relationship with Guy Burgess and his willingness to betray the British establishment; and explain how a fictional work - and some trigger-happy lawyers - led to his downfall… Further Reading: • ‘Art historian who spied for the Soviet Union’ (The Guardian, 1979): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/17/anthony-blunt-spy-sentenced-1979 • ‘Anthony Blunt: confessions of spy who passed secrets to Russia during the war’ (The Telegraph, 2009): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5889879/Anthony-Blunt-confessions-of-spy-who-passed-secrets-to-Russia-during-the-war.html • ‘Art historian, professor, writer, spy – the extraordinary story of Anthony Blunt’ (The British Academy, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Z4lucQar0 Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices