Sir Anthony Blunt was a spy in the Queen’s household, and, yes, the story is true. His theatre director credits include The Lady’s Not for Burning, As You like It, The Romans in Britain and Waste. The Crown is a historical drama streaming television series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, created and principally written by Peter Morgan, and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Netflix.Morgan developed it from his drama film The Queen (2006) and especially his stage play The Audience (2013). The newest season of The Crown covered more familiar ground, since modern-day royal fans tend to all be pretty aware of the ins and outs of Princess Diana and Prince Charles' doomed marriage. He was also removed of his knighthood. It’s a true story. He was part of a spy ring known as the Cambridge Five. [BEHIND-THE-SCENES], The Crown season 3: What happened at Aberfan? Express. The answers are yes. Sir Anthony Blunt is introduced in the first episode of The Crown, season three, called Olding, which was Blunt’s KGB Code name. Blunt, also a distant cousin of the Queen’s, was recruited, according to Radio Times, to be a Russian spy while studying at Cambridge and passed information to Russian handlers. I might have joined the Communist Party, but Guy, who was an extraordinarily persuasive person, convinced me that I could do more good by joining him in his work. The Crown season 3: Cast vs real-life Royal Family in pictures. The Crown season 3: What happened at Aberfan? When's it set? The Crown Season 3 starts with Queen Elizabeth II’s suspicions that Russian spies have infiltrated the highest reaches of British government (Warning: There will be spoilers for The Crown, Season 3, episode 1 in this article.). The Crown season 3 cast: Why wasn't John Lithgow replaced. The Crown season 3: How did Winston Churchill die? Blunt was a British art historian who worked at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the first episode of the new season, which streamed on Netflix on November 17, 2019, Queen Elizabeth II (played now by Olivia Colman) grows suspicious that Prime Minister Harold Wilson is a mole. This is not the first time in his career West has played the role of Blunt. THE CROWN season 3 is streaming on Netflix now. A KGB spy worked in Buckingham Palace For Decades, and The Crown season 3 tells part of the story. The Times reports that Blunt was primarily known as a Nicolas Poussin expert. Queen Elizabeth II attends a performance at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), to celebrate the drama school’s Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary), London, UK, November 1964. Sir Anthony Blunt was a spy in the Queen’s household, and, yes, the story is true.. For his role as Leonard Bast, he was nominated for the best supporting actor at the 1993 BAFTAs. Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian who in 1964, after being offered immunity from prosecution, confessed to having been a spy for the Soviet Union . By Fred. Last … By the end of the episode, MI5’s director douses the Queen’s suspicions about Wilson, saying that, although there were clearly attempts by the KGB to recruit Wilson while he was on trade missions to that country, the evidence was weak that they succeeded. Season 3 of Netflix's The Crown finally premiered on November 17.; During the first episode, "Olding," we're introduced to a new cast that includes Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, and Olivia Coleman as Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty The Queen is back — and she is looking very different.Netflix's historical-fiction saga The Crown has changed its entire royal family cast in their third installment, premiering Season 3 in 2019. What I did not realise at the time is that I was so naïve politically that I was not justified in committing myself to any political action of this kind.”. Philip confronts Blunt only to be met with blackmail over the Profumo affair, the Russian spy sex scandal that had toppled a conservative prime minister. Previously, Andrew was the Crown Counsel at Agricultural Land Commission. CP Scott: "Comment is free, but facts are sacred" The third season’s story line about Blunt, the queen’s art adviser who was revealed to be a Soviet spy, was ripped from the headlines. Then in November 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) outed Blunt in the House of Commons and he was stripped of his Knighthood by the Queen immediately. Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Claire Foy will be passing her Queen Elizabeth II crown to Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman. West is the son of Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales and Not Going Out’s Timothy West. However, it then turns out that there’s a different mole, this one in Buckingham Palace no less. When's it set? Blunt wrote in his memoirs that he was influenced by Burgess, according to The Independent, which quoted him as writing, “I was thus faced with the most important decision of my life. The appointment of Ray Finkelstein to run Victoria’s royal commission into Crown spells bad news for the casino giant, legal eagles engaged for the inquiry say. It describes Blunt’s background. ; We also meet Anthony Blunt (Samuel West) who we soon learn is a former Soviet spy turned royal art curator. Daily Mail labeled Blunt “a crashing snob” who was the “Fourth Man” in the Cambridge Spy Ring that included Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby (there was later a fifth member). Menu. The big speech is likely a dramatisation for The Crown. W e have reached season three of The Crown, and Claire Foy’s youthful Elizabeth has been blown away, replaced by Olivia Colman. 4 GOP leader that comes amid a slew of retirements from top Senate Republicans. Was there really a cover-up? Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) tells the Queen about conspiracy theories he heard at a luncheon. Get Full Access To Andrew's Info. The Crown has found success by dramatizing the lives of Queen Elizabeth, her family, and their acquaintances. Latest opinion, analysis and discussion from the Guardian. In 1964, Blunt confessed to MI5 to being part of the Cambridge Spy Ring. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. Sir Anthony Blunt in The Crown: What’s the Real Story? In 1964, the queen found out Anthony Blunt, custodian of the royal family’s art collection, had been a spy. When Thatcher revealed he was a spy, he was finally let go as the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, which the Times describes as a position curating the Royal Family’s art collection. At first, Prime Minister Harold Wilson (played Jason Watkins) is rumoured to be the spy working within the highest levels of the British state. [SHOW HISTORY], The Crown season 3: Cast vs real-life Royal Family in pictures [PICTURES]. GettyThe Queen Elizabeth II poses with Prince Edward, 13 June 1964 in London. Was there really a cover-up? They don’t want the embarrassment or worsening relationships with the Americans, so the Queen agrees to play along. Season 3 of “The Crown,” which begins in 1964 and runs into the ’70s, stars a new actress, Olivia Colman, right, as Queen Elizabeth II, pictured here in 1970. Three of the other members of the Cambridge ring defected to Russia, according to The Times. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, In 2003, West starred in the four-part BBC series Cambridge Spies in 2003 about the Cambridge Four from 1934 until he defection of Guy Burgess and Donald MacLean to the Soviet Union in 1951. He was an author and intellectual, writing a book called Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450-1600, but some considered him a “prig,” The Guardian reported. Andrew Blunt is the Crown Counsel at Service BC Centre based in Princeton, British Columbia. Covering many events within recent memory, the fiction is constantly being fact-checked against history. The Crown: Was the Queen in love with Lord ‘Porchie’ Porchester? Blunt was publicly accused by investigative journalist Andrew Boyle in his book Climate of Treason. Export. According to Daily Mail, Blunt’s familial ties to the Royal Family came through his mother, Hilda, who was a second cousin of the Queen Mother’s father, the Earl of Strathmore. He explained that Cambridge was “rife with Marxist sympathizers” fueled by the ascendance of Adolf Hitler and the Spanish Civil War. Is it a real story. Daily Mail reports that Blunt died four years after being exposed. The fourth season of The Crown largely focuses on Princess Diana and the dissolution of her marriage to Prince Charles. Sir Anthony Blunt and Queen Elizabeth II. "The Crown" Olding (TV Episode 2019) Samuel West as Anthony Blunt. According to BBC, when he was caught, Blunt wrote in his memoir that he gave MI5 “all the information that I had about the Russian activities.”. He then went on to star in the films Carrington, Jane Eyre, Notting Hill and Van Helsing. His secret remained safe until Margaret Thatcher revealed all in 1979. Instead, he was granted immunity from prosecution and was supposed to tell MI5 everything he knew about the Soviets’ operations in exchange. Share . Divine intervention trumped divine right on Saturday, when the BBC broadcast its astounding interview with Prince Andrew the night before the third series of The Crown … Blunt kept that job when Elizabeth took the throne, and she knighted him in 1956, according to The Telegraph. Instead of being charged with any crimes, he was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for information and remained in his post as Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures. The Crown season 3 location: Where is The Crown filmed? The Crown season 3 includes The Queen and Prince Philip learning that Anthony Blunt was a KGB spy - but did he really threaten Prince Philip with blackmail? After World War II, he wrote that his beliefs changed. The Crown (TV Series 2016– ) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The understanding that he wouldn’t be publicly revealed lasted for 15 years. Was he really a Soviet spy, and was he real? READ NEXT: Was Harold Wilson a Russian Spy? In the memoir, he described how “the atmosphere at Cambridge was so intense, the enthusiasm for any anti-fascist activity was so great.”. As Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview showed, the real life of the Royal family is compulsively gripping. More than a decade later in 1979, the truth about Blunt was made public. Blunt, who was first elected to the Senate in … His partner is playwright Laura Wade and together, the couple have two young daughters who were born in 2014 and 2017. He’s Sir Anthony Blunt, the Queen’s surveyor of pictures. READ MORE The Crown: Who was spy Anthony Blunt? Sir Anthony Blunt was a member of the Queen's household when he was revealed to be a Russian spy, according to The Crown Season 3 on Netflix. The Netflix show shows the Queen and Prince Philip tolerating Blunt after the British intelligence services decide it’s best not to out them. The Crown season 3 cast: Who plays Prince Philip? Copyright © 2021 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. In episode 1, the Queen learnt that her trusted Art Advisor, Sir Anthony Blunt, was once a Soviet Spy. In 2009, Blunt’s memoirs were published. On the small-screen, West is best known for playing Edward Heath in Margaret Thatcher - The Long Walk to Finchley and John Wyndham in Random Quest. Season three of The Crown has arrived—we already knew we had a lot to look forward to, from … Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. But even though most of us know a lot about the queen of people's hearts, some of the storylines in season 4 of The Crown revealed things about the royal family that were much more … Anthony Blunt was the art curator for Queen Elizabeth & the royal family. He was “the son of the chaplain to the British Embassy in Paris, he had had an exemplary school career, winning a scholarship in mathematics to Trinity College, Cambridge, before going on to become director of the Courtauld Institute, surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, a knight of the realm, and a great expert on French art of the seventeenth century, particularly Poussin.”. Later, he was discovered as a Russian spy. West began his acting career in London’s West End, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appearing in plays such as Les Parents Terribles and Arcadia. It's a controversial storyline that has both shocked and intrigued fans of The Crown, but how true is the upcoming plot, about the illicit affair between Princess Anne and Andrew Parker Bowles? You can unsubscribe at any time. order back issues and use the historic Daily Express The Crown: Who was spy Anthony Blunt? Warning: Contains spoilers for The Crown, season 3.. It’s true, Daily Mail reports, that MI5 confronted Blunt in 1964 and he confessed to being a KGB spy. However, was the Blunt story true? Who plays Blunt in … In 1956, Blunt was knighted for his work as Surveyor and his services to the Royal household. Andrew Blunt Contact Information. But he didn’t want to come forward on his own because he was loyal to other British spies for Russia. Paul Serran’s Lord Mountbatten: The Grandfather of All Royal British Sex Scandals, is an interesting and timely article. According to The New York Times, he described how he started spying for the Soviets in the 1930s and called it “the biggest mistake of my life.” He was actively involved in spycraft, even giving the Russians the names of people working secretly for Great Britain. What “The Crown” doesn’t reveal is what happened 15 years later, when Blunt’s identity as a spy was revealed by Andrew Boyle, a Scottish journalist, in his book “The Climate of Treason.” After receiving information from Michael Straight (Paul Hilton), a close friend of Blunt’s and a former speechwriter for President Franklin Roosevelt, the police questioned Blunt about his ties to the Cambridge Spy ring in 1963. The Crown shows the Queen subtly (not so subtly) having a dig at Blunt in a speech and then freezing him out of her life. newspaper archive. The Crown season 3 is streaming on Netflix now ), The Guardian discusses a book about Blunt by Miranda Carter. Other credits include Frank Edwards in Mr Selfridge and Sir Walter Pole in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Royal family tree: Who was Lord Louis Mountbatten? The Crown season 3 location: Where is The Crown filmed? Here, how Blunt's true story compares to The Crown season 3's plot line. West portrays Sir Anthony Blunt in The Crown season three. Season four of The Crown covers much more recent history than previous series – bringing the royals into the 1980s – but none the less compelling for it. Sir Anthony Blunt was a leading art historian and the director of the highly respected Courtauld Institute. He wasn’t publicly revealed as a spy until 1979 when Margaret Thatcher revealed he had been such. He was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II’s father, George VI (Jared Harris) as Surveyor of the King’s Pictures in 1945 and retained the title when Elizabeth became Queen in 1945. The Crown season 3: Fans in tears after ‘harrowing’ Aberfan episode, Prime Minister Harold Wilson (played Jason Watkins) is rumoured to be the spy. The Crown season 3: Who was Harold Wilson? So why has Peter Morgan, creator and writer of The Crown , … However, it turned out the real Soviet spy was the Queen’s (Olivia Colman) Art Curator, Sir Anthony Blunt (Samuel West), who had been working for the Royal Family since 1945. In 1964, Blunt admitted to MI5 that he was part of a Soviet spy ring whi… GettyHer Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt on Monday added his name to the stream of Republican senators who announced they will retire in 2022, a year when … Queen Elizabeth’s father, George VI, appointed Blunt Surveyor of the King’s Pictures in 1945; the role is responsible for conserving all artworks that belong to the crown. When did he come to power? It’s the 1960s now, and Communist paranoia was at its height. Wikimedia Commons/Getty Samuel West stars as Sir Anthony Blunt in The Crown season 3, Samuel West is an English actor, theatre director and voice actor. The 53-year-old’s breakthrough screen role in 1992 film Howard’s End, starring alongside Dame Emma Thompson, his The Crown co-star Helena Bonham Carter and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. Here's what you should know about Anthony Blunt who … The Crown season 3 is streaming on Netflix now. When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. He is an English actor, theatre director and voice actor from London, England. However, the publication reports that few were allowed in on the secret outside of Queen Elizabeth II. Powered by. Blunt said in his memoirs that he was a tutor at Trinity College when he was recruited by the NKVD, which later became the KGB. The Queen did learn about his spying in the 1960s, and she did keep it quiet (above is a real picture of the Queen in that era. Then in November 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) outed Blunt in the House of Commons and he was stripped of his Knighthood by the Queen immediately. Prince Andrew is currently a controversial figure, but Tom Byrne has taken portraying the Queen's middle son in stride. The Crown season 3: What was the Cambridge spy ring? Blunt was publicly accused by investigative journalist Andrew Boyle in his book Climate of Treason. Warning: Contains spoilers for season three of The Crown. READ MORE: Prince Andrew’s blunt Brexit intervention in TV interview Netflix's The Crown made a sneaky jibe at Prince Andrws (Image: GETTY) Prince Andrew… Even her mother was kept in the dark. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri announced on Monday that he will not run for reelection in 2022, a surprise decision from the No.