Podcasts History History Unplugged Podcast Crown, Cloak, and Dagger: How the British Royal Family Spied on Others and Was Spied on in Turn

Crown, Cloak, and Dagger: How the British Royal Family Spied on Others and Was Spied on in Turn

Published: Nov. 21, 2023, 11 a.m.

b'The British Royal Family and the intelligence community are two of the most mysterious and mythologized actors of the British State. From the reign of Queen Victoria to the present, they shared a complicated relationship, with some monarchs working hand-in-glove with their spies, while others detesting them. Nevertheless, successive queens and kings have all played an active role in steering British intelligence, sometimes against the wishes of prime ministers. Even today, the monarch receives \\u201ccopy No. 1\\u201d of every intelligence report.

Today\\u2019s guests are Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac, authors of \\u201cCrown, Cloak, and Dagger: The British Monarchy and Secret Intelligence from Victoria to Elizabeth II.\\u201d We explore attempted assassinations and kidnappings, the abdication crisis, world wars and the Cold War, and the death of Princess Diana, all within the complex interconnection of the British Monarchy and its spy corps.
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