Remember when the British Soviet spies, Burgess and McClean, hightailed it to Moscow after their cover was blown...and the third man, Kim Philby, disappeared from Beirut on a ship to Odessa, well there was a fourth man and his name was Anthony Blunt.
Urbane and Patrician, Blunt was the Communist recruiter for the other three, yet he did no time nor suffered ignominy. In fact, having been outed in 1963, he continued as art advisor to Queen Elizabeth and accepted at the top tables in English society.
Why such kid-glove treatment when men less connected did prison terms for traitorous deeds?
The answer is simple and it all goes back to another British traitor, Edward, Duke of Windsor.
Remember, he was the guy that married Wallis Simpson who later cuckolded him with whomever was discretely available. Edward was probably homosexual and definitely a Nazi sympathizer...
And what's that to do with our communist, art historian, Blunt?
Evidently, Edward, or David as he was called, paid a visit to the German Embassy in then neutral Holland and spilled the beans on Allied preparations for countering the German plans for invasion. German documents reveal their knowledge of this and it was Blunt, as a member of MI5, who was dispatched to Berlin in '45 to sweep up the proof of his foolish flirtation with evil.
Thus the soft touch later when Blunt was revealed as a Soviet agent. He had tabs on the Royals and they needed to take care of someone who could embarrass. So why break open the silenced pistols when a glass or two of mature claret and convivial conversation would do the trick.
Honi soit qui mal y pense.
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