Spy's last secrets revealed: from traitor's confession to the Queen's involvement

Newly declassified files detail investigations into Kim Philby and Britain’s most notorious double agents, the Ring of Five’

- TARA COBHAM

Kim Philby was the quintessential spy, a man who charmed and betrayed in equal measure.

To his colleagues in MI6, he was the consummate professional, rising swiftly through the ranks of Britain’s foreign intelligence service. To Moscow, he was its most prized asset, a double agent who passed secrets for nearly three decades. And to his closest friend, Nicholas Elliott, he was a man capable of the ultimate treachery.

The newly released files from the National Archives offer a vivid glimpse into Philby’s chilling career as a Soviet mole inside MI6, from his recruitment as a young communist in 1934 to his dramatic defection to Moscow in 1963.

Packed with confessions, lies, and betrayals, these documents reveal the calculated deceit of a man who changed the course of Cold War espionage and whose actions led to untold deaths.

Philby’s confession to Elliott stands out as the most extraordinary document in the newly released files – a carefully crafted mix of truths, evasions, and outright lies. The recorded conversation, secretly captured by Elliott, allowed Philby just enough time to alert his KGB handlers and arrange his escape.

Now made public for the first time, the transcripts offer an unparalleled glimpse into the psyche of Britain’s most infamous traitor and the devastating personal betrayal of a friendship that once seemed unshakable.

The Cambridge Five

Philby was part of the “Ring of Five” – former Cambridge University students who passed information to the Soviets from the 1930s to the 1950s. The group included Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, and John Cairncross.

Philby, often seen as the ringleader, also recruited Burgess and Maclean, later tipping them off in 1951 when Maclean was about to be unmasked. Their dramatic defections to the Soviet Union marked a turning point in Cold War espionage.