Putin’s ‘secret files’ claiming 1930s Dukes admired Nazis
VLADIMIR Putin may hold secret files on the wartime generation of thewindsors which could be used to blackmail the
Royal Family and “bring down the dynasty”, a documentary will claim.
The so-called “Tony Files” were allegedly passed to the Russians by notorious spy
Sir Anthony Blunt, once Keeper of the
King’s Pictures who later worked with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. He was outed as a traitor by Margaretthatcher in 1979.
The Channel 4 documentary says the files may include letters giving details of the
Duke of Kent and the Duke ofwindsor expressing fascist sympathies and support for the Nazis in the 1930s, and for the policy of appeasement towards Hitler.
Historian Kate Williams said: “Many members of the aristocracy had a lot of sympathy for how the Nazis were doing things, including their rigid hierarchy and even white supremacy.these were very appealing for members of the aristocracy.”
But the show, called Queen Elizabeth And The Spy Inthe Palace, does admit “there is no firm evidence” that the letters or a file exists.
Russian journalist Gennady Sokolov, thought to have close ties with the Kremlin, said in a 2014 interview shown in the programme: “If the letters discovered by Blunt were published in due time, it would lead to a huge scandal, the result of which could be the fall of the dynasty.”
President Putin was taught by spymaster Yuri Modin, who controlled the so-called Cambridge spies of which Blunt was one.
Blunt was educated at Marlborough and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was turned to Communism by Russian spy Guy Burgess. His first job was with MI5 where, according to historians, he sent more than 1,800 top secret documents to Moscow.
Historian and author Andrew Lownie said: “Blunt was part of the planning staff for D-day. He passed files to the Russians which could easily have made it into German hands and betrayed the whole operation.”
In 1945 Blunt was made Keeper of the King’s Pictures. In August he was sent on a special mission by the King to Germany to recover “art treasures” belonging to the Royal family, and what were said to be letters written by Queenvictoria.
It was during this visit he apparently found other letters, relating to the Duke of Windsor and Duke of Kent, which he put on microfiche and then sent to Moscow.
In 1964 the CIA told MI5 that Blunt was a traitor, but he would continue to work for the Palace and the Queen for another 15 years untilthatcher came to office in 1979.
According to the film, Blunt was “offered immunity if he just told them everything”.
● Queen Elizbaeth And The Spy In The Palace, Channel 4 tonight, 9pm