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How the Spy Who Gave Away England’s Biggest Secrets Escaped From Prison
A new book examines the motives and secrets of George Blake, a British double agent who escaped to Russia after being caught for betraying his country.
By Simon Kuper May 11, 2021
In 2012, the Paris-based veteran journalist Simon Kuper reached out to a friend in Moscow and asked if there was any way he could help arrange a meeting with George Blake, the English double agent who spied for the Soviet Union for 17 years. It was a long shot, Blake had been keeping a low profile for political reasons, but the answer came back yes, and not long after Kuper found himself in the backyard of Blake’s dacha near the Russian capital.
The Times (Великобритания): принц Майкл Кентский «торговал доступом» к путинистам inosmi.ru - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inosmi.ru Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Brandishing a pair of oversize scissors, she joked: ‘I’d go anywhere for a hot meal!’
It was a dig at critics, who’d been moaning that the gig was unbecoming of a British royal. But the light-hearted remark also laid bare a more serious truth: that despite their blue-blooded pedigree, the Princess and her husband, Prince Michael, had grown accustomed to being perennially short of cash.
The Prince and Princess Michael of Kent photographed at Nether Lypiatt Manor, their unconventional pursuit of money continues to make headlines
Prince Michael and Putin were joint patrons of an event at Kensington Palace promoting sambo, an obscure Russian martial art (pictured, Prince Michael and Putin in London in 2003)
После победы тайный агент Маклейн отказался от пожизненной пенсии, предложенной Сталиным sobesednik.ru - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sobesednik.ru Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
George Blake, who died last year aged 98, is less well known than his fellow spies educated at Cambridge. He was not recruited by his peer group, he operated alone, he was not part of the Establishment and perhaps, as a result, he was treated more harshly than his fellow traitors.
An MI6 officer, apparently recruited by the Russians after being captured in 1950 during the Korean War, he was himself betrayed by a defector, Michael Goleniewski, in 1961. Sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966 with the help of two peaceniks and an Irish petty criminal and spent over 50 years in Russian exile.