Queen kept in dark over Palace traitor for years, MI5 papers reveal

Anthony Blunt confessed in 1964 to being a Soviet agent, but Elizabeth II was not informed.

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Art historian Anthony Blunt was for decades Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, overseeing the official Royal Art Collection, and in 1964 admitted he had been a Soviet agent since the 1930s.

Papers released by MI5 show that although Blunt confessed to them he had spied for the Russians during World War Two, the late queen herself was not officially told for nearly nine years.

When she was informed of the full story in the 1970s, she was characteristically unflappable, taking it "all very calmly and without surprise", according to the declassified files released to the National Archives.

The decision to formally inform the queen came amid growing concerns in Whitehall that the truth would inevitably come out after Blunt, who had been seriously ill with cancer, died. Journalists were already investigating the story and they were no longer constrained by concerns of libel.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr842lejjxo

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