Surprising revelations about the active role of the monarch in British intelligence
The British Royal Family and the intelligence community are two of the most mysterious and mythologized actors of the British State. Crown, Cloak, and Dagger offers a new history of how the two have been inextricably linked from the reign of Queen Victoria to the present.
Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac unveil a wealth of archival detail that changes our understanding of the role of the monarch in politics, intelligence, and international relations. 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 “copy No. 1” of every intelligence report. Attempted assassinations and kidnappings, the abdication crisis, world wars and the Cold War, and the death of Princess Diana are just some of the topics covered in the book.
Fascinating and fast-paced, Crown, Cloak, and Dagger demonstrates that the British monarch continues to be far more than a figurehead. This book will inform as well as entertain anyone with an interest in history, espionage, and the royals.
Table of Contents
British Royal Family Tree Since Victoria
Introduction: 007
Part I: The Rise and Fall of Royal Intelligence
1. Queen Victoria: Assassins and Revolutionaries
2. Queen Victoria's Secrets: War and the Rise of Germany
3. Queen Victoria's Great Game: Empire and Intrigue
4. Queen Victoria's Security: Anarchists and Fenians
5. Edward VII and the Modernization of Intelligence
Part II: Royal Relations and Intrigues
6. King George V and the First World War
7. King George V and the Bolsheviks
8. Abdication: Spying on Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
Part III: Royals and Spies at War
9. Outbreak of the Second World War
10. War in the Americas, 1941-1942
11. The end of the Second World War, 1943–1945
Part IV: Royal Secrets
12. Queen Elizabeth II: Coronation and Cold War
13. Queen Elizabeth's Empire: Intrigue in the Middle East
14. The Global Queen
Part V: Protecting the Realm and the Royals
15. Terrorists and Lunatics, 1969–1977
16. Terrorists and Lunatics, 1979–1984
17. The Diana Conspiracy
Conclusion: The Secret Royals
Appendix: Ruling the Past, A Note on Methods
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Reviews
"The riveting Crown, Cloak, and Dagger details the complicated relationship between the royals and the intelligence services. It contributes to the growing field of intelligence history and to our understanding of the ways in which the acquisition of information allowed British monarchs to provide informed advice, or challenges, to prime ministers."—Mary Kathryn Barbier, professor of history, Mississippi State University, vice president, North American Society for Intelligence History,
"Two historians at the top of their game bring clarity to two of the most misunderstood components of British life. In so doing, Aldrich and Cormac cast the rise and fall of the British Empire in a new light, as well as the history of the twentieth century. Gripping stuff!"—Andrew L. M. Hammond, historian and curator, International Spy Museum and SpyCast
"Aldrich and Cormac’s relentlessly entertaining survey offers plenty of intriguing details about how the Crown and the secret services have interacted under different monarchs. Sometimes sobering and sometimes shocking, this deeply researched history is a page-turner for royal watchers, national security practitioners, and fans of espionage fiction alike. Truly splendid."—David Priess, former CIA officer, author of The President's Book of Secrets
"This is the book that all scholars of intelligence and royal watchers have been waiting for. A must read. Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac have done an incredible job of opening the veil on this most secretive area of the British state."—Calder Walton, assistant director, Applied History Project and Intelligence Project, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School, author of Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West,
"For both aficionados of the royal family and serious students of the history of intelligence, this is a remarkable and fascinating read, made possible by the author's extraordinary access to royal and official government archives only recently opened to researchers."—New York Journal of Books
"Quite interestingly, convincingly, and informatively, Crown, Cloak, and Dagger puts into historical light and context the secret relationship or partnership between the royals and the British intelligence services."—The Cipher Brief
"Readers will find Crown, Cloak, and Dagger a page-turner."—CHOICE connect
About the Author
Richard J. Aldrich is a professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Warwick University and author of GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency.
Rory Cormac is a professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham and author of How to Stage a Coup and 10 Other Lessons from the World of Secret Statecraft.
