1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:08,076 NARRATOR: D-Day. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:11,016 --> 00:00:16,008 Behind the invasion lies a secret story never before told, 5 00:00:16,016 --> 00:00:19,064 of how King George VI, the Queen, 6 00:00:19,072 --> 00:00:22,040 and even Princess Elizabeth, the queen-to-be, 7 00:00:22,048 --> 00:00:27,000 were enlisted by MI5 to fool Hitler about D-Day. 8 00:00:28,084 --> 00:00:31,040 In this story of double agents and decoys, 9 00:00:31,048 --> 00:00:33,072 a groundbreaking investigation, 10 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:37,064 uncovers for the first time, the identity of the grandest 11 00:00:37,072 --> 00:00:40,056 and most secret of them all, 12 00:00:42,072 --> 00:00:46,044 George VI himself. 13 00:00:47,072 --> 00:00:50,044 The investigation further reveals how he was entrusted 14 00:00:50,052 --> 00:00:54,072 with one of Britain's greatest state secrets of World War II. 15 00:00:56,012 --> 00:00:59,012 How the royal household managed to lose it whilst it 16 00:00:59,020 --> 00:01:02,008 was in the King's possession, 17 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,028 that only the intervention of the Queen Mother saved the day, 18 00:01:08,020 --> 00:01:11,064 and how the monarchy emerged from the shame of appeasement 19 00:01:11,072 --> 00:01:16,032 to put itself at the heart of Britain's secret state. 20 00:01:23,048 --> 00:01:28,004 Ever since World War II, George VI's true role in D-Day 21 00:01:28,012 --> 00:01:29,080 remained a secret. 22 00:01:29,088 --> 00:01:32,092 Then Professor Richard Aldrich of Warwick University, 23 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,024 and Dr. Rory Cormac of Nottingham University, 24 00:01:36,032 --> 00:01:39,096 made a tantalizing discovery in the diaries of the 25 00:01:40,004 --> 00:01:44,016 King's Private Secretary Sir Alan Lascelles. 26 00:01:44,024 --> 00:01:46,092 RORY (off-screen): Alan Lascelles, known as Tommy, 27 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,004 was the King's Private Secretary, 28 00:01:49,012 --> 00:01:51,096 so the most senior courtier in the land and went on to be 29 00:01:52,004 --> 00:01:54,076 Private Secretary for Queen Elizabeth II as well. 30 00:01:54,084 --> 00:01:58,092 RORY (off-screen): He was very old fashioned, an old, world kind of man. 31 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,000 And he left a diary. 32 00:02:01,008 --> 00:02:04,012 And there's one very interesting clue in his diary 33 00:02:04,020 --> 00:02:07,068 giving insight, a snippet of insight, 34 00:02:07,076 --> 00:02:09,048 into the King's personal role in the 35 00:02:09,056 --> 00:02:10,080 D,-Day Deception Operation. 36 00:02:12,036 --> 00:02:14,084 NARRATOR: Lascelles' diary records a visit to Buckingham Palace 37 00:02:14,092 --> 00:02:18,084 in March 1944 by MI5 officers. 38 00:02:19,052 --> 00:02:22,060 ALAN (off-screen): Friday 3rd of March 1944. 39 00:02:22,068 --> 00:02:25,044 Two MI Men called on me yesterday, 40 00:02:25,052 --> 00:02:28,060 and explained how the King's visits in the next few months 41 00:02:28,068 --> 00:02:32,012 could assist the elaborate cover scheme whereby we are 42 00:02:32,020 --> 00:02:34,092 endeavoring to bamboozle the German Intelligence over the 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,048 time and place for 'Overlord.' 44 00:02:39,008 --> 00:02:40,080 RORY: And this is a really significant clue, 45 00:02:41,012 --> 00:02:46,072 because it just gives us a little hint that the King not only knew 46 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,068 about one of the biggest secrets of the war, 47 00:02:49,076 --> 00:02:52,052 but had an active and personal role in it himself. 48 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,008 NARRATOR: Then a second discovery gave further 49 00:02:59,016 --> 00:03:01,004 evidence of the King's role. 50 00:03:01,012 --> 00:03:05,040 In 1950, five years after the war's end, 51 00:03:05,048 --> 00:03:09,016 the MI5 officer who'd run the D-Day deception operation, 52 00:03:09,024 --> 00:03:12,036 John Masterman, sent a top secret document 53 00:03:12,044 --> 00:03:14,072 to Buckingham Palace. 54 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,056 It was an internal report Masterman had written for MI5, 55 00:03:18,064 --> 00:03:21,080 and it described every detail of the World War II deception 56 00:03:21,088 --> 00:03:23,084 operations he'd run. 57 00:03:25,004 --> 00:03:28,080 Masterman called it his 'secret book'. 58 00:03:28,088 --> 00:03:32,072 RICHARD (off-screen): This is one of the most secret documents 59 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,016 in British government. 60 00:03:34,024 --> 00:03:38,012 It captures a whole new art form of secret service, 61 00:03:38,020 --> 00:03:41,088 or at least an art form taken to a whole new level that 62 00:03:41,096 --> 00:03:44,052 Britain had developed during the second world war. 63 00:03:44,060 --> 00:03:47,088 NARRATOR: Masterman sent his 'secret book' to the King 64 00:03:47,096 --> 00:03:49,056 care of Alan Lascelles, 65 00:03:49,064 --> 00:03:52,080 who was still the King's private secretary. 66 00:03:54,036 --> 00:03:57,064 Lascelles replied to acknowledge safe receipt. 67 00:03:57,072 --> 00:04:00,056 ALAN (off-screen): Dear Masterman, Thank you so much for trusting me 68 00:04:00,064 --> 00:04:01,092 with the book. 69 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,044 RICHARD: I'm most grateful. 70 00:04:03,052 --> 00:04:05,048 It looks thrilling. 71 00:04:05,056 --> 00:04:07,096 RICHARD (off-screen): I know that my master will read it with as much interest 72 00:04:08,004 --> 00:04:11,004 and admiration as I shall myself. 73 00:04:11,012 --> 00:04:13,060 Yours sincerely, Alan Lascelles. 74 00:04:14,072 --> 00:04:16,044 NARRATOR: These two discoveries, 75 00:04:16,052 --> 00:04:19,080 the first hinting at the King's secret role in D-Day, 76 00:04:19,088 --> 00:04:23,012 the second showing that he was close enough to MI5 to be 77 00:04:23,020 --> 00:04:25,088 allowed sight of such a top, secret document, 78 00:04:25,096 --> 00:04:30,016 sent Aldrich and Cormac on a quest. 79 00:04:32,028 --> 00:04:35,080 What really was George VI's wartime role? 80 00:04:35,088 --> 00:04:40,052 And how had he come to be so trusted by MI5 81 00:04:40,060 --> 00:04:42,028 when, at the beginning of his reign, 82 00:04:42,036 --> 00:04:45,064 it had viewed him with suspicion? 83 00:04:49,056 --> 00:04:52,036 In December 1936 George's brother, 84 00:04:52,044 --> 00:04:55,036 Edward VIII, abdicated. 85 00:04:56,052 --> 00:04:59,032 The British Intelligence Services suspected Edward of 86 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,064 being a Nazi sympathizer. 87 00:05:01,072 --> 00:05:03,060 They even put him under secret surveillance, 88 00:05:03,068 --> 00:05:05,076 and tapped his phone. 89 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,088 MI5's suspicions about the monarchy continued, 90 00:05:09,096 --> 00:05:13,012 particularly the new King's attitude to the Prime Minister 91 00:05:13,020 --> 00:05:17,012 Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasing Hitler. 92 00:05:19,008 --> 00:05:22,096 RICHARD (off-screen): The intelligence services are watching 93 00:05:23,004 --> 00:05:26,024 everybody who was connected with appeasement. 94 00:05:26,032 --> 00:05:28,088 Chamberlain and also the royal family, 95 00:05:28,096 --> 00:05:33,088 because there are continual emissaries to Germany, 96 00:05:33,096 --> 00:05:38,024 and of course, there's the shadow of Edward VIII. 97 00:05:38,032 --> 00:05:42,044 RICHARD (off-screen): Edward VIII who is known to be close to Hitler, 98 00:05:42,052 --> 00:05:44,060 close to the Germans. 99 00:05:45,064 --> 00:05:48,048 NARRATOR: MI5 hoped that George would not follow in his 100 00:05:48,056 --> 00:05:50,068 brother's footsteps. 101 00:05:50,076 --> 00:05:54,056 RORY (off-screen): Everyone associates appeasement with Edward VIII. 102 00:05:54,064 --> 00:05:57,028 But King George wasn't a Nazi sympathizer, 103 00:05:57,036 --> 00:06:01,028 but he was an appeaser, because he did not want to go 104 00:06:01,036 --> 00:06:03,032 to war with Nazi Germany. 105 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,032 RORY (off-screen): Not only had he lived 106 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,036 through the horrors of the First World War, 107 00:06:08,044 --> 00:06:14,080 but also feared that a war might threaten to destroy 108 00:06:14,088 --> 00:06:16,048 the, the British Monarchy. 109 00:06:16,056 --> 00:06:20,072 Nazism, it didn't have such a threat to the British 110 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,076 establishment or the British Monarchy in a way that say 111 00:06:23,084 --> 00:06:25,060 Communism did. 112 00:06:25,068 --> 00:06:31,036 So there's this desire here to stave off war at all costs. 113 00:06:33,020 --> 00:06:37,088 CHAMBERLAIN (over TV): And here is the paper which bears his name 114 00:06:37,096 --> 00:06:39,076 upon it as well as mine. 115 00:06:41,052 --> 00:06:45,008 NARRATOR: For MI5, the Munich agreement of September 1938 116 00:06:45,016 --> 00:06:49,012 was a pivotal moment in its battle against appeasement. 117 00:06:51,032 --> 00:06:53,068 The Security Service expected King George VI 118 00:06:53,076 --> 00:06:55,084 to stay neutral. 119 00:06:55,092 --> 00:06:57,080 RORY (off-screen): The King is a constitutional monarch. 120 00:06:57,088 --> 00:07:02,008 It is not his job to weigh on the biggest and most 121 00:07:02,016 --> 00:07:05,056 controversial political issues of the day. 122 00:07:07,020 --> 00:07:09,024 NARRATOR: Instead, in this letter, 123 00:07:09,032 --> 00:07:13,020 unearthed by Rory Cormac, George wrote privately to Chamberlain, 124 00:07:13,028 --> 00:07:15,044 leaving no doubt where he stood. 125 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,072 RORY: My Dear Prime Minister, I am sending this letter... 126 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,000 GEORGE VI (off-screen): By my Lord Chamberlain, 127 00:07:22,008 --> 00:07:24,064 to ask you if you will come straight to Buckingham Palace, 128 00:07:24,072 --> 00:07:27,080 so that I can express to you personally my heartfelt 129 00:07:27,088 --> 00:07:32,068 congratulations on the success of your visit to Munich. 130 00:07:32,076 --> 00:07:35,008 Believe me. 131 00:07:35,016 --> 00:07:39,092 Yours very sincerely and gratefully, George RI. 132 00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:45,044 RORY: What we see here is the King personally backing one faction of, 133 00:07:45,052 --> 00:07:46,052 of, of the Cabinet, 134 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:48,064 Chamberlain's appeasement faction. 135 00:07:48,072 --> 00:07:51,080 RORY (off-screen): To the extent that after Chamberlain comes back from Munich, 136 00:07:51,088 --> 00:07:54,036 the King invites him straight round to Buckingham Palace 137 00:07:54,044 --> 00:07:58,080 and even engineers a photo shoot on the, on the balcony where again, 138 00:07:58,088 --> 00:08:00,084 he is publicly and visibly aligning himself 139 00:08:00,092 --> 00:08:04,032 with the political approach of appeasement. 140 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,008 RICHARD (off-screen): MI5 knows that the King is on 141 00:08:07,016 --> 00:08:08,036 board with appeasement, 142 00:08:08,044 --> 00:08:11,052 and remarkably the King is actually vying 143 00:08:11,060 --> 00:08:14,044 with Chamberlain to establish relations with Hitler. 144 00:08:14,052 --> 00:08:17,008 The King drafts a letter to Hitler. 145 00:08:17,016 --> 00:08:18,080 He says, "This is a letter to Hitler, 146 00:08:18,088 --> 00:08:22,048 not as one statesman to another, but one ex-serviceman 147 00:08:22,056 --> 00:08:23,092 to another". 148 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:25,096 RICHARD (off-screen): There's no doubt that the King 149 00:08:26,004 --> 00:08:28,080 is as keen on appeasement as is Chamberlain. 150 00:08:28,088 --> 00:08:32,044 And the security agencies are not sure what they 151 00:08:32,052 --> 00:08:33,056 think about this. 152 00:08:35,016 --> 00:08:37,096 NARRATOR: The Foreign Office blocked the King's letter. 153 00:08:38,004 --> 00:08:40,048 Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland 154 00:08:40,056 --> 00:08:44,000 finally put pay to appeasement. 155 00:08:44,008 --> 00:08:47,016 With Britain at war, MI5 realized the King 156 00:08:47,024 --> 00:08:50,044 could no longer be excluded from vital matters of state. 157 00:08:50,052 --> 00:08:54,032 Suspicion needed to be replaced by trust. 158 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,096 The opening moves were tentative. 159 00:08:58,004 --> 00:09:01,012 RORY (off-screen): The Intelligence Services agreed to special arrangements 160 00:09:01,020 --> 00:09:03,076 being made to supply confidential 161 00:09:03,084 --> 00:09:06,076 information to George VI on a daily basis. 162 00:09:06,084 --> 00:09:10,004 So we're talking about confidential stuff, 163 00:09:10,012 --> 00:09:13,036 nothing really classified, nothing really top secret. 164 00:09:13,044 --> 00:09:17,072 RORY (off-screen): And a duty officer from the cabinet war room attended 165 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:21,036 Buckingham Palace every day and carried with him some of 166 00:09:21,044 --> 00:09:23,012 this confidential material. 167 00:09:23,020 --> 00:09:25,060 But they didn't trust the Palace enough to 168 00:09:25,068 --> 00:09:27,036 leave it there. 169 00:09:27,044 --> 00:09:29,068 He stood with the King asthe King read it and the Private Secretaries 170 00:09:29,076 --> 00:09:32,032 read it and then he carried it back home, 171 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,028 back to, back to the cabinet office. 172 00:09:38,024 --> 00:09:42,092 NARRATOR: On May 10th, 1940, German armies rolled into Belgium, 173 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,048 then France. 174 00:09:48,012 --> 00:09:51,000 The King had no option but to ask Winston Churchill 175 00:09:51,008 --> 00:09:53,080 to be Prime Minister. 176 00:09:53,088 --> 00:09:57,036 George's role as a symbol of national unity 177 00:09:57,044 --> 00:09:59,048 was now crucial. 178 00:09:59,056 --> 00:10:02,088 But full trust of the royal family remained elusive. 179 00:10:02,096 --> 00:10:06,084 The King had to find a way to earn it. 180 00:10:11,068 --> 00:10:15,012 NARRATOR: George VI, once a supporter of appeasing Hitler, 181 00:10:15,020 --> 00:10:17,016 now King of a nation at war, 182 00:10:17,024 --> 00:10:20,068 still lacked the full trust of MI5. 183 00:10:20,076 --> 00:10:22,096 His relationship with his new Prime Minister, 184 00:10:23,004 --> 00:10:26,004 Winston Churchill, was not an easy one either. 185 00:10:26,012 --> 00:10:30,012 Like MI5, Churchill had been on opposite sides to the King 186 00:10:30,020 --> 00:10:32,076 over appeasement and temperamentally, 187 00:10:32,084 --> 00:10:35,016 the two men were very different, 188 00:10:35,024 --> 00:10:37,048 Churchill charismatic and bullish, 189 00:10:37,056 --> 00:10:40,032 George shy and reticent. 190 00:10:42,036 --> 00:10:44,092 Then, as war tested both men's mettle, 191 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,028 came a critical moment. 192 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,024 MAN (over TV): Now Adolf Hitler stood, 193 00:10:50,032 --> 00:10:54,024 just as Napoleon had stood more than 100 years before, 194 00:10:54,032 --> 00:10:58,040 and looked across the English Channel to the one fighting obstacle 195 00:10:58,048 --> 00:11:02,052 that stood between him and world domination. 196 00:11:02,060 --> 00:11:05,028 NARRATOR: In the autumn of 1940, MI6, 197 00:11:05,036 --> 00:11:08,012 fearing a Nazi invasion, made preparations to 198 00:11:08,020 --> 00:11:11,056 evacuate the royal family to Canada. 199 00:11:11,064 --> 00:11:14,056 Churchill put the intelligence agency's intricate plan 200 00:11:14,064 --> 00:11:16,020 to the King. 201 00:11:16,028 --> 00:11:17,060 RICHARD (off-screen): It's elaborate. 202 00:11:17,068 --> 00:11:19,044 There are converted armored cars. 203 00:11:19,052 --> 00:11:22,000 There's a chain of stately homes. 204 00:11:22,008 --> 00:11:26,036 The royal family are going to be rushed to the port at 205 00:11:26,044 --> 00:11:29,044 Liverpool, taken away to Canada. 206 00:11:29,052 --> 00:11:32,072 RICHARD (off-screen): The king's response is, "We're not going". 207 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,056 Not even the children are going to be evacuated. 208 00:11:35,064 --> 00:11:39,008 Everybody is going to stay, everybody is going to fight. 209 00:11:39,016 --> 00:11:42,008 At this point, what they're expecting is a German invasion 210 00:11:42,016 --> 00:11:45,072 led by German paratroopers, and the king says, 211 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,060 "I want to get my German. 212 00:11:47,068 --> 00:11:50,028 I want to kill at least one of the invaders, 213 00:11:50,036 --> 00:11:53,072 and we will all fight to the last". 214 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,072 RICHARD (off-screen): When Churchill hears about this he says, 215 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,012 "Well, really, you need to be able to kill more than one German". 216 00:11:59,084 --> 00:12:02,040 NARRATOR: Out of the blue, a specially gift, 217 00:12:02,048 --> 00:12:05,048 wrapped package arrived at Buckingham Palace. 218 00:12:05,056 --> 00:12:09,072 The sender's address was marked '10 Downing Street.' 219 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:14,020 Inside was a gleaming early Christmas present. 220 00:12:14,028 --> 00:12:17,004 RICHARD (off-screen): Churchill sends the king a Tommy Gun. 221 00:12:17,012 --> 00:12:20,032 And we know, actually, after this, not only the king, 222 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,004 but the royal family and indeed equerries, 223 00:12:23,012 --> 00:12:25,048 they're all practicing at Windsor 224 00:12:25,056 --> 00:12:27,024 and several other locations. 225 00:12:27,032 --> 00:12:29,052 With pistols, with rifles, 226 00:12:29,060 --> 00:12:32,028 but also with Churchill's Tommy Gun. 227 00:12:36,020 --> 00:12:39,040 RICHARD (off-screen): The queen actually enjoys taking pop shots at rats. 228 00:12:39,048 --> 00:12:40,080 It's the Blitz, 229 00:12:40,088 --> 00:12:42,056 there's lots of rats in Buckingham Palace garden. 230 00:12:42,064 --> 00:12:46,052 The King is actually showing this off, 231 00:12:46,060 --> 00:12:50,004 to Cabinet ministers, to visiting diplomats. 232 00:12:50,012 --> 00:12:53,012 And he's sending out the message, 233 00:12:53,020 --> 00:12:57,024 "We're not gonna run. We're not gonna run". 234 00:12:58,016 --> 00:13:03,064 And so it's, its real, but it's also a performance. 235 00:13:06,076 --> 00:13:09,056 NARRATOR: But the King still did not have access to 236 00:13:09,064 --> 00:13:11,096 all state secrets. 237 00:13:12,004 --> 00:13:16,080 At times, he resorted instead to a DIY approach. 238 00:13:16,088 --> 00:13:20,048 Through the royal families of Europe to whom he was related, 239 00:13:20,056 --> 00:13:24,084 he already had an intelligence network of his own. 240 00:13:24,092 --> 00:13:28,052 George's personal use of his own private network could 241 00:13:28,060 --> 00:13:31,072 potentially create problems for the Secret Service, 242 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,008 and the Prime Minister too. 243 00:13:34,016 --> 00:13:36,080 One intelligence officer recorded that the King... 244 00:13:36,088 --> 00:13:40,044 MAN: Received a couple of bottles of 1941 Burgundy, 245 00:13:40,052 --> 00:13:43,004 one of which he served to Churchill at one of their 246 00:13:43,012 --> 00:13:45,080 regular Tuesday luncheons 'a deux.' 247 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,076 Churchill asked sharply how the King had got hold of it, 248 00:13:49,084 --> 00:13:55,004 and was much put out to be told "Kings have their Secrets too." 249 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:57,088 RORY (off-screen): The King might well be joking 250 00:13:57,096 --> 00:13:59,032 but Churchill's a bit alarmed. 251 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,088 Churchill fears that the King has resurrected some of 252 00:14:03,096 --> 00:14:09,052 the Royal family's private network of, of contacts 253 00:14:09,060 --> 00:14:11,048 to gather his own information. 254 00:14:11,056 --> 00:14:15,008 NARRATOR: The King was able to secure the wartime vintage 255 00:14:15,016 --> 00:14:19,044 from occupied France, because the royal pilot Mouse Fielden 256 00:14:19,052 --> 00:14:24,024 also happened to fly missions for the Special Operations Executive, 257 00:14:24,032 --> 00:14:28,032 or SOE, which Churchill had created to, 258 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:33,012 in his own words, set Europe ablaze. 259 00:14:33,020 --> 00:14:37,092 And if that wasn't enough, George VI's wife the queen 260 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,084 had her own private contacts too. 261 00:14:41,048 --> 00:14:43,020 RICHARD (off-screen): We have to bear in mind, 262 00:14:43,028 --> 00:14:47,056 the Queen actually is someone who has the closest relations 263 00:14:47,064 --> 00:14:49,004 with the intelligence services. 264 00:14:49,012 --> 00:14:50,060 Her brother's in SOE. 265 00:14:50,068 --> 00:14:54,036 So actually, Buckingham Palace is almost an outpost, 266 00:14:54,044 --> 00:14:58,064 an outstation, if you like, of the intelligence services. 267 00:15:00,004 --> 00:15:04,064 RORY: And so, the solution would seem to be to give the 268 00:15:04,072 --> 00:15:07,032 King a bit more access to official 269 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,056 British secret material. 270 00:15:09,064 --> 00:15:13,052 NARRATOR: Slowly but surely, the King was inching his way 271 00:15:13,060 --> 00:15:16,040 to the heart of the Secret Service. 272 00:15:16,048 --> 00:15:21,080 And finally in 1943, George VI took an active part in the war 273 00:15:21,088 --> 00:15:23,064 of deception. 274 00:15:23,072 --> 00:15:26,036 His first personal encounter with it was the use of 275 00:15:26,044 --> 00:15:29,004 disinformation to fool the enemy about a hazardous 276 00:15:29,012 --> 00:15:33,040 mission he embarked on in June 1943. 277 00:15:36,096 --> 00:15:40,036 MAN (over TV): The Maltese were a people of old traditions and simple 278 00:15:40,044 --> 00:15:42,020 manners of life. 279 00:15:42,028 --> 00:15:44,076 But Hitler turned that island into a target 280 00:15:44,084 --> 00:15:47,004 of perpetual fire. 281 00:15:51,044 --> 00:15:54,000 NARRATOR: The King flew to North Africa and then the 282 00:15:54,008 --> 00:15:57,016 island of Malta to thank its people for resisting three 283 00:15:57,024 --> 00:16:00,056 years of Nazi siege and bombardment. 284 00:16:00,064 --> 00:16:04,004 But with the Luftwaffe still menacing Malta's skies, 285 00:16:04,012 --> 00:16:06,052 there was real danger. 286 00:16:06,060 --> 00:16:11,004 British intelligence's answer was Operation Loader. 287 00:16:12,004 --> 00:16:16,028 RORY: Operation Loader was a deception operation in which 288 00:16:16,036 --> 00:16:18,092 the King was personally involved. 289 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,084 It was the attempt to provide cover 290 00:16:22,092 --> 00:16:25,004 for his visit to North Africa. 291 00:16:25,012 --> 00:16:28,068 And it's very, very dangerous to escort the King across the 292 00:16:28,076 --> 00:16:32,068 Mediterranean where Germans had been in active operation. 293 00:16:32,076 --> 00:16:36,084 And so, Buckingham Palace put out a false line that the King 294 00:16:36,092 --> 00:16:41,012 was visiting troops in Portsmouth at this time. 295 00:16:41,020 --> 00:16:45,068 RORY (off-screen): And yet there was a mysterious General Lyon who was on board 296 00:16:45,076 --> 00:16:50,052 the plane and who landed in Algiers. 297 00:16:50,060 --> 00:16:54,000 NARRATOR: Stories appeared in the press that 'General Lyon' 298 00:16:54,008 --> 00:16:56,028 was visiting General Eisenhower, 299 00:16:56,036 --> 00:16:58,056 Supreme Commander in Chief of Allied Forces, 300 00:16:58,064 --> 00:17:00,028 in North Africa. 301 00:17:00,036 --> 00:17:04,064 On June the 7th 1943 he landed in Algiers. 302 00:17:04,072 --> 00:17:08,016 For Eisenhower at least, it was no surprise that 'General Lyon' 303 00:17:08,024 --> 00:17:12,072 was none other than - the King Emperor, - George VI. 304 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:16,012 RORY: After leaving Algiers, General Lyon carried on to 305 00:17:16,020 --> 00:17:19,040 Malta and this was an important morale 306 00:17:19,048 --> 00:17:21,044 boosting mission. 307 00:17:21,052 --> 00:17:25,012 The people of Malta had been under barricade for a long, 308 00:17:25,020 --> 00:17:28,044 long time and really appreciated the King making a 309 00:17:28,052 --> 00:17:30,072 very dangerous journey. 310 00:17:31,076 --> 00:17:35,036 NARRATOR: Operation Loader was a success and George returned 311 00:17:35,044 --> 00:17:39,024 home to Buckingham Palace safe and sound. 312 00:17:40,076 --> 00:17:44,000 It showed that the King could be a valuable asset to the 313 00:17:44,008 --> 00:17:46,004 deception planners. 314 00:17:46,012 --> 00:17:49,060 A few months later he was invited to a day out with the 315 00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:52,036 Special Operations Executive. 316 00:17:52,044 --> 00:17:56,020 RICHARD: In November 1943, the entire Royal Family, 317 00:17:56,028 --> 00:17:58,092 visit RAF Tempsford. 318 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,000 RICHARD (off-screen): This is not any RAF station. 319 00:18:02,008 --> 00:18:06,052 This is the location of the secret special duties flights 320 00:18:06,060 --> 00:18:10,020 that take the agents of SOE and the agents 321 00:18:10,028 --> 00:18:12,092 of MI6 to Europe. 322 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,040 RICHARD (off-screen): All the James Bond material is laid out 323 00:18:15,048 --> 00:18:17,040 for the Royal Family to see. 324 00:18:17,048 --> 00:18:19,004 There are daggers in handbags. 325 00:18:19,012 --> 00:18:22,044 There are compasses hidden in the top of lipsticks. 326 00:18:22,052 --> 00:18:24,068 There's all sorts of exploding devices. 327 00:18:24,076 --> 00:18:28,092 SOE like to disguise explosives as innocent 328 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,068 materials, wine bottles, dead animals, 329 00:18:31,076 --> 00:18:33,092 and the favorite of course, 330 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,092 is explosive disguised as horse poo. 331 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,044 RICHARD (off-screen): The Queen is absolutely thrilled by this and she calls 332 00:18:41,052 --> 00:18:43,072 the King over and says, "Look at this. 333 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,012 This is amazing". 334 00:18:45,020 --> 00:18:46,068 Exploding horse poo. 335 00:18:47,008 --> 00:18:49,044 NARRATOR: The King, it seemed, had earned his spurs. 336 00:18:49,052 --> 00:18:52,024 A few months later, he would be invited to join the 337 00:18:52,032 --> 00:18:56,016 greatest deception operation of the war. 338 00:19:04,096 --> 00:19:08,012 NARRATOR: In March 1944 with the visit to Buckingham Palace 339 00:19:08,020 --> 00:19:12,044 of two MI5 men, noted in his diary by King's Private Secretary 340 00:19:12,052 --> 00:19:15,056 Alan Lascelles, George the VII was invited 341 00:19:15,064 --> 00:19:18,072 to join the Allies greatest deception operation of the war, 342 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,052 fooling the Nazis about the timing and location 343 00:19:22,060 --> 00:19:27,000 of Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings. 344 00:19:29,024 --> 00:19:33,008 The man who devised the deception operation was the 345 00:19:33,016 --> 00:19:35,072 Oxford don, John Masterman. 346 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,084 Back in August 1914, Masterman had been teaching in Germany 347 00:19:39,092 --> 00:19:43,000 and was interned for the duration of the war. 348 00:19:43,008 --> 00:19:45,072 But he used his time there to learn the language, 349 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:49,048 and study the mind set of his German captors. 350 00:19:49,056 --> 00:19:51,072 DAVID (off-screen): It was important in many ways because 351 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,080 if you knew how they thought, 352 00:19:53,088 --> 00:19:57,092 it was much easier to, to deceive them 353 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,020 and lead them astray. 354 00:20:00,028 --> 00:20:02,028 DAVID (off-screen): Even with the, with the spies that the 355 00:20:02,036 --> 00:20:06,076 Germans sent over to us, he had a relationship with them, 356 00:20:06,084 --> 00:20:11,076 and in the end, he got them to spy for us. 357 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,080 NARRATOR: When war broke out, Masterman was signed up to the 358 00:20:17,088 --> 00:20:21,076 intelligence corps and then MI5 where he helped devise the 359 00:20:21,084 --> 00:20:24,080 Double Cross system, which used double agents to feed 360 00:20:24,088 --> 00:20:27,080 misleading information to the Nazis. 361 00:20:27,088 --> 00:20:31,036 DAVID: He was a Chairman of a subcommittee which dealt with 362 00:20:31,044 --> 00:20:33,060 the Double Cross System. 363 00:20:33,068 --> 00:20:35,096 DAVID (off-screen): The 20 Committee. 364 00:20:36,004 --> 00:20:38,012 XX. 365 00:20:38,020 --> 00:20:44,092 They were actually in control of 39 spies 366 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,020 working in different areas in Europe. 367 00:20:48,028 --> 00:20:49,084 DAVID (off-screen): And in England. 368 00:20:49,092 --> 00:20:52,004 They were all deceiving the Germans in some way 369 00:20:52,012 --> 00:20:53,092 or another. 370 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,040 NARRATOR: One of his team was a long serving MI5 officer, 371 00:20:57,048 --> 00:20:59,056 Tar Robertson. 372 00:20:59,064 --> 00:21:01,092 RORY: Tar Robertson was involved in working with 373 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,032 Masterman to coordinate the activities of all of these 374 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,084 double agents to make sure that the Germans were 375 00:21:07,092 --> 00:21:12,068 sufficiently confused and misled and that this very 376 00:21:12,076 --> 00:21:18,020 intricate and sophisticated web of lies, 377 00:21:18,028 --> 00:21:22,004 misinformation and some real information, 378 00:21:22,012 --> 00:21:25,056 was coordinated in such a way as to not breach British security 379 00:21:25,064 --> 00:21:28,012 whilst misleading the Germans. 380 00:21:29,060 --> 00:21:31,060 NARRATOR: The D-Day deception, 381 00:21:31,068 --> 00:21:35,080 code named Operation Fortitude, would be Double Cross's 382 00:21:35,088 --> 00:21:37,052 greatest challenge. 383 00:21:37,060 --> 00:21:41,040 Key to it were double agents known only as 'Garbo', 384 00:21:41,048 --> 00:21:44,052 'Freak' and 'Brutus'. 385 00:21:45,060 --> 00:21:49,020 Agent 'Brutus' was a Polish air force pilot who'd been 386 00:21:49,028 --> 00:21:52,068 parachuted by theBritish into German occupied France. 387 00:21:52,076 --> 00:21:55,008 The Nazis captured and tortured him, 388 00:21:55,016 --> 00:22:00,004 saying 'return to England and spy for us or be executed'. 389 00:22:00,012 --> 00:22:03,092 He pretended to change sides but his loyalty to the allied 390 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,076 cause never wavered. 391 00:22:06,084 --> 00:22:13,048 GERRY: When he eventually came to England he contacted 392 00:22:13,056 --> 00:22:17,092 the intelligence services here, presenting them with a, 393 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:23,060 what he believed to be an invaluable opportunity for him 394 00:22:23,068 --> 00:22:27,060 to work as I say, really as a, as a triple agent on the 395 00:22:27,068 --> 00:22:31,048 belief that the Germans were asking him to work and 396 00:22:31,056 --> 00:22:33,064 supply information to them. 397 00:22:33,072 --> 00:22:37,024 And at that point you start to see over the next two years, 398 00:22:37,032 --> 00:22:40,056 this extraordinary build, up of information in which 399 00:22:40,064 --> 00:22:43,068 he is part of the Double Cross Network supplying the Germans 400 00:22:43,076 --> 00:22:46,004 information to make them believe that the landings 401 00:22:46,012 --> 00:22:47,052 would take place in Calais. 402 00:22:49,036 --> 00:22:52,000 NARRATOR: The Nazis knew from the massing of troops in 403 00:22:52,008 --> 00:22:55,072 southern England that an invasion was coming. 404 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,076 The allies' aim was to deceive them into thinking the main 405 00:22:58,084 --> 00:23:03,004 landings would be at Calais, anywhere else, like Normandy, 406 00:23:03,012 --> 00:23:06,012 was just a sideshow. 407 00:23:07,016 --> 00:23:10,024 The King's movements, as reported in the British press, 408 00:23:10,032 --> 00:23:13,056 were a central part of the deception plan. 409 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,040 Rory Cormac has done a search of nearly 23,000 local and 410 00:23:18,048 --> 00:23:21,016 national newspapers printed in Britain between March 411 00:23:21,024 --> 00:23:25,064 and August 1944, three months before, 412 00:23:25,072 --> 00:23:28,084 and two months after D-Day. 413 00:23:30,016 --> 00:23:33,012 This historical detective work reveals that what has been 414 00:23:33,020 --> 00:23:35,076 seen until now as a random series of morale, 415 00:23:35,084 --> 00:23:38,036 boosting royal visits to troop concentrations 416 00:23:38,044 --> 00:23:41,072 was in fact a calculated program, 417 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,008 carefully choreographed with misleading 418 00:23:44,016 --> 00:23:47,060 reports from the double cross agents. 419 00:23:48,056 --> 00:23:50,084 RORY (off-screen): Here is a cutting from The Times newspaper, 420 00:23:50,092 --> 00:23:53,068 dated 10th of March 1944. 421 00:23:53,076 --> 00:23:58,016 And the headline is, "Canadians Inspected by the King." 422 00:23:58,024 --> 00:24:00,056 NARRATOR: MI5's plan was to drip feed 423 00:24:00,064 --> 00:24:03,044 the Germans information which would make them think 424 00:24:03,052 --> 00:24:05,072 they were piecing together the jig-saw 425 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,040 of the secret plan for D-Day. 426 00:24:08,048 --> 00:24:12,040 Newspapers covered the King's visits to key attack formations, 427 00:24:12,048 --> 00:24:15,052 but their locations were not revealed in print. 428 00:24:15,060 --> 00:24:19,072 Tantalizing clues however, made the Nazis think they were 429 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,008 doing the detective work, like reports from the Double Cross 430 00:24:23,016 --> 00:24:26,044 agents in London, which helped identify the troops the King 431 00:24:26,052 --> 00:24:28,028 was visiting. 432 00:24:28,036 --> 00:24:32,000 RICHARD: The whole secret of deception is to get the 433 00:24:32,008 --> 00:24:35,044 Germans to work these things out for themselves. 434 00:24:37,008 --> 00:24:40,016 NARRATOR: The first part of this deception was to suggest 435 00:24:40,024 --> 00:24:43,064 to the Nazis that a full, scale invasion or, perhaps, 436 00:24:43,072 --> 00:24:47,000 a large coastal raid, might be imminent. 437 00:24:48,084 --> 00:24:52,072 So, that same day, double agent Brutus fed back to 438 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:56,068 Berlin false information that ordinary traffic to the Isle of Wight 439 00:24:56,076 --> 00:25:01,068 had been stopped, to free the roads for troop movements. 440 00:25:01,076 --> 00:25:04,004 RORY (off-screen): Because the King is down in Hove, 441 00:25:04,012 --> 00:25:06,052 not far from the Isle of Wight, it suggests to the Germans 442 00:25:06,060 --> 00:25:08,024 that something might be up, 443 00:25:08,032 --> 00:25:11,020 maybe that war planning is being stepped up. 444 00:25:11,028 --> 00:25:13,012 There might be troops movements to the isle of Wight. 445 00:25:13,020 --> 00:25:16,088 RORY (off-screen): Visiting troops in Hove suggests that there might be 446 00:25:16,096 --> 00:25:19,024 some sort of attack on Normandy, 447 00:25:19,032 --> 00:25:22,024 but would there just be a diversionary attack to, to draw 448 00:25:22,032 --> 00:25:26,012 German attention away from the real invasion of Calais? 449 00:25:27,036 --> 00:25:29,076 RICHARD: The King's visit is working like a highlighter pen. 450 00:25:29,084 --> 00:25:33,092 He's identifying particular units that later they want the 451 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,076 Germans to follow. 452 00:25:35,084 --> 00:25:38,072 NARRATOR: The suggestion that the invasion was only days away 453 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:43,060 was a bluff, there were still nearly three months to D-Day. 454 00:25:45,036 --> 00:25:48,076 The second part of the deception was about location. 455 00:25:48,084 --> 00:25:52,016 Initially Hove implied some kind of force leaving from 456 00:25:52,024 --> 00:25:54,084 Sussex to Normandy. 457 00:25:54,092 --> 00:25:57,096 Then one of the Double Cross agents wired Berlin to say that the 458 00:25:58,004 --> 00:26:02,016 troops there were moved just after the King's visit to Dover, 459 00:26:02,024 --> 00:26:04,076 directly opposite Calais. 460 00:26:04,084 --> 00:26:08,048 RORY: it's aimed to confuse the Germans, 461 00:26:08,056 --> 00:26:13,008 about location of forces, about the order of battle and 462 00:26:13,016 --> 00:26:17,028 where and when the ultimate invasion is going to come from. 463 00:26:20,036 --> 00:26:23,032 NARRATOR: Another deception was to draw Nazi attention 464 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,040 away from the south to the north of England. 465 00:26:26,048 --> 00:26:29,028 This time royal involvement was to be ratcheted up, 466 00:26:29,036 --> 00:26:32,092 and for the first time, the queen, and queen, to be, 467 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,028 Princess Elizabeth were enlisted in the ruse. 468 00:26:36,036 --> 00:26:38,096 RORY (off-screen): This article comes from the Times , 469 00:26:39,004 --> 00:26:42,092 on the 24th March 1944. 470 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,044 The headline is, "The King With His Army, 471 00:26:46,052 --> 00:26:49,080 Tour with the Queen and Princess." 472 00:26:49,088 --> 00:26:53,052 RICHARD: The king goes north on the royal train to visit 473 00:26:53,060 --> 00:26:55,044 Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. 474 00:26:55,052 --> 00:26:58,028 These are attack formations. 475 00:26:58,036 --> 00:26:59,092 RICHARD (off-screen): They're in the east of the country, 476 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,020 so this very much reinforces the deception story they might 477 00:27:03,028 --> 00:27:05,008 be going east to Calais. 478 00:27:05,016 --> 00:27:08,008 They might actually be going east to attack Scandinavia. 479 00:27:08,016 --> 00:27:10,056 RORY (off-screen): It was the King's seventh such inspection, 480 00:27:10,064 --> 00:27:13,024 in recent weeks, but it was the first time the Princess 481 00:27:13,032 --> 00:27:16,096 had made a full, length tour, with her parents. 482 00:27:17,004 --> 00:27:18,072 RICHARD: When you have the queen, 483 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,008 when you have Princess Elizabeth, 484 00:27:21,016 --> 00:27:23,060 the whole royal family there, dramatic forces. 485 00:27:23,068 --> 00:27:27,028 RICHARD (off-screen): Airborne gliders, snipers, special forces, 486 00:27:27,036 --> 00:27:31,004 this just makes for really fantastic news coverage. 487 00:27:31,012 --> 00:27:34,020 So, this is a way in which the king is using the royal family 488 00:27:34,028 --> 00:27:37,084 to amplify the process of deception. 489 00:27:42,044 --> 00:27:45,060 NARRATOR: The King's role in Double Cross was working 490 00:27:45,068 --> 00:27:48,008 exactly as planned. 491 00:27:48,016 --> 00:27:52,040 On the 18th April, the King's Private Secretary Alan Lascelles 492 00:27:52,048 --> 00:27:54,048 wrote in his diary. 493 00:27:54,056 --> 00:27:57,044 ALAN (off-screen): Overlord has done a good job with the 'elaborate cover scheme' 494 00:27:57,052 --> 00:27:59,036 intended to bamboozle the Germans, 495 00:27:59,044 --> 00:28:03,004 and seems to have succeeded. 496 00:28:05,020 --> 00:28:07,084 NARRATOR: And according to Masterman's nephew David, 497 00:28:07,092 --> 00:28:10,048 the King was too keen to be kept fully in the loop 498 00:28:10,056 --> 00:28:12,044 by John Masterman. 499 00:28:12,052 --> 00:28:16,084 DAVID: I think he was informed about everything that was going on, 500 00:28:16,092 --> 00:28:19,048 I'm sure he said that the king wanted 501 00:28:19,056 --> 00:28:21,052 to be informed about everything. 502 00:28:23,048 --> 00:28:25,096 NARRATOR: A week later George inspected troop 503 00:28:26,004 --> 00:28:28,000 formations in Hampshire. 504 00:28:28,008 --> 00:28:32,008 The visit was then spun back to Berlin by MI5's double agents, 505 00:28:32,016 --> 00:28:36,036 Garbo and Freak, its aim to create confusion about 506 00:28:36,044 --> 00:28:39,096 what was real and what was just rehearsal. 507 00:28:40,004 --> 00:28:43,004 RORY (off-screen): Agent Garbo's report just a few days after the King 508 00:28:43,012 --> 00:28:47,032 makes this visit, backs up the narrative by suggesting that 509 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,052 invasion might be imminent from Hampshire. 510 00:28:50,060 --> 00:28:54,016 RORY (off-screen): Freak's report on the very same day adds even more 511 00:28:54,024 --> 00:28:58,048 credibility to this narrative by suggesting that there might 512 00:28:58,056 --> 00:29:01,080 well be some military exercises in the Channel and crucially, 513 00:29:01,088 --> 00:29:05,060 Freak warned that they couldn't rule out that 514 00:29:05,068 --> 00:29:07,036 this was an actual operation. 515 00:29:07,044 --> 00:29:10,052 And this is significant because it's designed to 516 00:29:10,060 --> 00:29:12,008 confuse the Germans. 517 00:29:12,016 --> 00:29:15,004 The Germans are thinking when it doesn't materialize well 518 00:29:15,012 --> 00:29:17,016 maybe it was just a, an exercise. 519 00:29:17,024 --> 00:29:19,080 And this lowers their defenses for when the 520 00:29:19,088 --> 00:29:21,068 ultimate D-Day comes. 521 00:29:24,076 --> 00:29:27,052 NARRATOR: The Royal deception operation was elaborate 522 00:29:27,060 --> 00:29:29,076 and complex. 523 00:29:29,084 --> 00:29:33,004 But it was not just limited to the British mainland. 524 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,060 In May 1944, the King embarked on his most dangerous mission, 525 00:29:38,068 --> 00:29:41,060 to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. 526 00:29:41,068 --> 00:29:45,036 Again, the paper omitted George's destination, 527 00:29:45,044 --> 00:29:48,080 but the mention of one clue made it very clear to the 528 00:29:48,088 --> 00:29:51,028 Nazis where the monarch was. 529 00:29:51,036 --> 00:29:53,032 RORY (off-screen): This is the front page of The Daily Mail , 530 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,096 from the 15th of May 1944. 531 00:29:56,004 --> 00:29:59,052 We see the report talking about cold and lonely Northern waters. 532 00:29:59,060 --> 00:30:03,092 and the headline is, "The King Takes Leave of His Fleet." 533 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,064 It says, "The King has taken leave of his captains in the 534 00:30:07,072 --> 00:30:09,060 Home Fleet, and has bidden them, 535 00:30:09,068 --> 00:30:12,096 their ships' companies and their ships God Speed 536 00:30:13,004 --> 00:30:14,088 before battle. 537 00:30:14,096 --> 00:30:16,060 NARRATOR: This part of the deception plan, 538 00:30:16,068 --> 00:30:19,068 called Fortitude North, was designed to suggest 539 00:30:19,076 --> 00:30:22,052 that a full scale allied invasion of Nazi, 540 00:30:22,060 --> 00:30:26,004 occupied Norway was being prepared. 541 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,072 RICHARD (off-screen): The king's visit to the Orkneys is remarkable. 542 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,016 The Orkneys are further away from 543 00:30:31,024 --> 00:30:32,080 London than they are from Norway. 544 00:30:32,088 --> 00:30:35,048 And of course, because they're quite close to Norway, 545 00:30:35,056 --> 00:30:38,092 they are fiercely patrolled by German U-boats, 546 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:40,076 by German fighters. 547 00:30:40,084 --> 00:30:43,044 RICHARD (off-screen): This is a hazardous mission, so the question is, 548 00:30:43,052 --> 00:30:45,012 why is the king going there? 549 00:30:45,020 --> 00:30:49,012 And the answer is to give credence to Fortitude North. 550 00:30:49,020 --> 00:30:53,060 So the king is taking actually quite a significant risk. 551 00:30:54,048 --> 00:30:56,020 NARRATOR: A few days after the King's visit 552 00:30:56,028 --> 00:31:00,016 double agent Garbo warned Berlin that an allied invasion of Norway 553 00:31:00,024 --> 00:31:03,084 was imminent and that it might be the first attack 554 00:31:03,092 --> 00:31:06,020 in the invasion of Europe. 555 00:31:06,088 --> 00:31:10,068 RORY: Its a deliberately complex deception operation, 556 00:31:10,076 --> 00:31:15,068 and this is why Double Cross and Fortitude is such a 557 00:31:15,076 --> 00:31:19,004 fascinating operation, and ultimately a successful operation, 558 00:31:19,012 --> 00:31:20,088 because it was so nuanced, 559 00:31:20,096 --> 00:31:23,084 because there were so many moving parts which were being 560 00:31:23,092 --> 00:31:27,024 coordinated by, by MI5. 561 00:31:30,052 --> 00:31:34,016 NARRATOR: On June, the 6th 1944, 562 00:31:34,024 --> 00:31:38,028 a fleet of 7,000 ships emerged from the early morning mist, 563 00:31:38,036 --> 00:31:41,028 heading for the Normandy beaches. 564 00:31:41,036 --> 00:31:44,012 The panic ridden German defenders radioed for 565 00:31:44,020 --> 00:31:46,040 urgent reinforcements. 566 00:31:46,048 --> 00:31:50,080 RICHARD: The response from Berlin is somnolent. 567 00:31:50,088 --> 00:31:56,004 RICHARD (off-screen): On the day of the invasion, Hitler is sleeping late. 568 00:31:56,012 --> 00:31:57,032 He's having a lie in. 569 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:58,096 No one wants to wake him. 570 00:31:59,004 --> 00:32:02,020 And when he does wake up, and he's told about this, 571 00:32:02,028 --> 00:32:06,084 because it's Normandy, because he's been fed all this 572 00:32:06,092 --> 00:32:09,020 deception material, he doesn't believe 573 00:32:09,028 --> 00:32:11,016 this is the main attack. 574 00:32:11,024 --> 00:32:13,024 He thinks this is a coastal raid. 575 00:32:13,032 --> 00:32:16,068 And so, really, he just shrugs it off. 576 00:32:18,008 --> 00:32:20,044 MAN (over TV): The armies of the United Nations have made their first 577 00:32:20,052 --> 00:32:22,072 landings on the soils of Western Europe. 578 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,092 This is D-Day. 579 00:32:27,064 --> 00:32:30,096 NARRATOR: The King, who had played a vital role in the 580 00:32:31,004 --> 00:32:34,036 deception plan broadcast to his people. 581 00:32:35,044 --> 00:32:38,072 GEORGE VI (over radio): Four years ago, 582 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:44,000 our Nation and Empire stood alone 583 00:32:44,008 --> 00:32:48,008 against an overwhelming enemy, 584 00:32:48,016 --> 00:32:51,020 with our backs to the wall. 585 00:32:51,028 --> 00:32:57,004 This time, the challenge is not to fight 586 00:32:57,012 --> 00:33:00,048 to survive, 587 00:33:00,056 --> 00:33:06,036 but to fight to win the final victory 588 00:33:06,044 --> 00:33:09,008 for the good cause. 589 00:33:15,044 --> 00:33:19,000 NARRATOR: A week later, the King and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 590 00:33:19,008 --> 00:33:22,012 sifted through piles of MI6 classified 591 00:33:22,020 --> 00:33:24,032 reports on D-Day. 592 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,028 The King, once denied full access to all intelligence 593 00:33:27,036 --> 00:33:30,076 material because his family was seen as a security risk, 594 00:33:30,084 --> 00:33:34,004 was now allowed to see everything. 595 00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:38,016 Two days later an eminent dignitary arrived in Normandy 596 00:33:38,024 --> 00:33:41,004 for the final phase of Double Cross. 597 00:33:41,012 --> 00:33:44,004 British intelligence would maintain the ruse that D-Day 598 00:33:44,012 --> 00:33:47,080 was only a diversionary attack right up until August, 599 00:33:47,088 --> 00:33:51,092 to give allied troops time to consolidate their positions. 600 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,060 The eminent dignitary was in fact none other, 601 00:33:55,068 --> 00:33:58,012 than King George VI. 602 00:33:58,020 --> 00:34:01,020 The Germans thought the Kings presence was a further attempt 603 00:34:01,028 --> 00:34:03,088 to distract the attention from Calais. 604 00:34:03,096 --> 00:34:07,036 But, as it would turn out, one extraordinary further 605 00:34:07,044 --> 00:34:11,020 twist would show that George still could not be entirely 606 00:34:11,028 --> 00:34:13,092 trusted with a secret. 607 00:34:17,088 --> 00:34:20,028 At the war's end, John Masterman, 608 00:34:20,036 --> 00:34:24,084 key player behind double cross system and D-Day deceptions, 609 00:34:24,092 --> 00:34:27,088 wrote a top secret MI5 report, 610 00:34:27,096 --> 00:34:31,020 detailing every aspect of the Double Cross system. 611 00:34:31,028 --> 00:34:37,000 It was also a template for future MI5 and MI6 operations. 612 00:34:37,008 --> 00:34:41,056 RICHARD (off-screen): This is one of the most secret documents in 613 00:34:41,064 --> 00:34:44,036 British government, it's a form of strategic leadership 614 00:34:44,044 --> 00:34:46,088 that Britain doesn't want to give away. 615 00:34:46,096 --> 00:34:49,032 during the Second World War, during the 1950s, 616 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,096 during the 1960s, and indeed Britain has set up a 617 00:34:53,004 --> 00:34:56,028 special department called the Department of Forward Plans, 618 00:34:56,036 --> 00:35:01,040 particularly to keep this kind of specialist expertise alive. 619 00:35:01,048 --> 00:35:04,092 NARRATOR: Masterman called the report his 'Secret Book'. 620 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,072 In 1950, five years after the war when he'd returned to 621 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,016 academic life at Oxford University, 622 00:35:11,024 --> 00:35:14,052 he sent his one and only personal copy of it to 623 00:35:14,060 --> 00:35:17,012 Buckingham Palace, for the private attention 624 00:35:17,020 --> 00:35:20,020 of King George VI. 625 00:35:20,028 --> 00:35:24,000 The King's private secretary, Sir Alan Lascelles, 626 00:35:24,008 --> 00:35:27,028 wrote to Masterman that it had arrived safely. 627 00:35:27,036 --> 00:35:30,068 RICHARD: Dear Masterman, I think it would be remiss of us both... 628 00:35:30,076 --> 00:35:32,084 ALAN (off-screen): If we didn't exchange a receipt. 629 00:35:32,092 --> 00:35:34,048 Here it is. 630 00:35:34,056 --> 00:35:36,084 NARRATOR: Lascelles passed the secret book on to the King. 631 00:35:36,092 --> 00:35:40,000 But then, as the months ticked by, 632 00:35:40,008 --> 00:35:43,060 came an extraordinary twist to the story. 633 00:35:43,068 --> 00:35:46,024 With no sign of his only copy of his secret book being 634 00:35:46,032 --> 00:35:48,028 returned by Buckingham Palace, 635 00:35:48,036 --> 00:35:51,060 Masterman was becoming a worried man. 636 00:35:51,068 --> 00:35:55,028 RICHARD (off-screen): On the 4th of October 1951 Masterman writes 637 00:35:55,036 --> 00:35:58,032 from Worcester College Oxford where he's provost and he 638 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,056 writes to Lascelles, and he says... 639 00:36:00,064 --> 00:36:03,024 JOHN (off-screen): I'm sorry to trouble you at a time like this... 640 00:36:03,032 --> 00:36:06,016 RICHARD: Of course the king is, is increasingly ill. 641 00:36:06,024 --> 00:36:08,064 JOHN (off-screen): But I'm wondering whether I ought to send you a 642 00:36:08,072 --> 00:36:11,040 reminder about the book which I lent to you. 643 00:36:11,048 --> 00:36:14,056 I see that it went in December and I'm beginning to be 644 00:36:14,064 --> 00:36:17,012 worried, probably quite unnecessarily... 645 00:36:17,020 --> 00:36:18,096 RICHARD: Lest it be overlooked. 646 00:36:19,004 --> 00:36:22,004 Yours sincerely, John Masterman. 647 00:36:22,012 --> 00:36:24,096 RICHARD (off-screen): And of course, it's almost a year that this book has been 648 00:36:25,004 --> 00:36:27,004 out of his possession. 649 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,056 NARRATOR: Lascelles was in an unenviable position. 650 00:36:32,064 --> 00:36:35,060 The King was never an easy person to approach, 651 00:36:35,068 --> 00:36:38,064 and now the lung cancer from which he was slowly dying, 652 00:36:38,072 --> 00:36:43,020 made any approach on a matter so serious as MI5's prize missing, 653 00:36:43,028 --> 00:36:45,048 perhaps even lost, top secret document, 654 00:36:45,056 --> 00:36:48,040 extremely awkward. 655 00:36:48,048 --> 00:36:51,020 CAROLINE: I think he admired him as a person, 656 00:36:51,028 --> 00:36:57,040 but he was at times difficult. 657 00:36:58,024 --> 00:37:03,064 CAROLINE (off-screen): He wasn't very easy because he did get very emotional about 658 00:37:03,072 --> 00:37:09,024 all sorts of things and needed help with his work. 659 00:37:09,032 --> 00:37:12,028 Well I think he used to go off in a rage, 660 00:37:12,036 --> 00:37:16,096 and almost like having a fit, 661 00:37:17,004 --> 00:37:21,064 and then people just had to soothe him and calm him down. 662 00:37:21,072 --> 00:37:24,076 The queen was very important in that way I think. 663 00:37:25,096 --> 00:37:29,072 MAN (over TV): On this day of mourning is a London silent and still. 664 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:34,048 Its citizens remembering that here in this very city 665 00:37:34,056 --> 00:37:39,048 their King had faced with them the dangers of the last war. 666 00:37:44,016 --> 00:37:46,080 NARRATOR: On February, the 6th 1952, 667 00:37:46,088 --> 00:37:48,088 the King died. 668 00:37:48,096 --> 00:37:51,072 There was still no sign of the secret book. 669 00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,092 Masterman feared the worst, either it had got into the 670 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,084 wrong hands or it was lost forever, 671 00:37:57,092 --> 00:38:00,064 along with the late George VI. 672 00:38:00,072 --> 00:38:04,052 Even more worryingly the incoming boss of MI5 was 673 00:38:04,060 --> 00:38:07,048 determined to tighten security. 674 00:38:08,064 --> 00:38:11,032 Masterman, now in desperate straits, 675 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:14,060 wrote one last time to Lascelles. 676 00:38:14,068 --> 00:38:17,028 JOHN (off-screen): Dear Lascelles, once more I have to apologize for 677 00:38:17,036 --> 00:38:20,012 ringing you when you must be overwhelmed with anguish. 678 00:38:20,020 --> 00:38:24,048 I want to ask to ask if you can manage to get my secret book 679 00:38:24,056 --> 00:38:25,072 to me. 680 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:27,088 I am nervous, I hope needlessly... 681 00:38:27,096 --> 00:38:30,008 RICHARD: With the change of Director General. 682 00:38:30,016 --> 00:38:32,052 And here is referring to Sir Dick White... 683 00:38:32,060 --> 00:38:34,000 ALAN (off-screen): I can't very well say 684 00:38:34,008 --> 00:38:36,096 that I haven't got it, or say where it is. 685 00:38:37,004 --> 00:38:40,028 RICHARD: Masterman's in a panic, because he's now convinced 686 00:38:40,036 --> 00:38:43,064 that the book is missing, and you can tell he's in a 687 00:38:43,072 --> 00:38:47,012 panic because he's not just writing, he's also ringing up. 688 00:38:47,020 --> 00:38:52,008 This is urgent, and, and really he can almost feel the 689 00:38:52,016 --> 00:38:54,056 new director general of MI5, Dick White, 690 00:38:54,064 --> 00:38:57,008 grabbing his collar. 691 00:38:57,016 --> 00:39:00,024 He, he's really like a schoolboy who feels that the 692 00:39:00,032 --> 00:39:03,072 headmaster is bearing down on him, and, 693 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,076 and he needs this book, and he needs it now. 694 00:39:09,016 --> 00:39:12,036 NARRATOR: Two months later Lascelles was finally able to 695 00:39:12,044 --> 00:39:15,016 convey some good news to Masterman. 696 00:39:15,024 --> 00:39:17,064 George's widow, now the Queen Mother, 697 00:39:17,072 --> 00:39:21,048 had been on a secret operation of her own. 698 00:39:21,056 --> 00:39:24,072 ALAN (off-screen): Dear Masterman, my trouble has been that all the 699 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,096 personal dispatch boxes have been out of my control. 700 00:39:28,004 --> 00:39:32,088 However, this very day, I got the Queen Mother to look at them, 701 00:39:32,096 --> 00:39:35,092 and sure enough, there it was. 702 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,012 It is now locked up in my room. 703 00:39:39,020 --> 00:39:41,056 A. Lascelles. 704 00:39:41,064 --> 00:39:45,036 CAROLINE: Ones guess is that the king confided in her and 705 00:39:45,044 --> 00:39:52,008 found her very important very necessary shoulder 706 00:39:52,016 --> 00:39:56,064 to lean on and he presumably he told her things that he 707 00:39:56,072 --> 00:39:58,000 wouldn't tell anybody else. 708 00:39:59,012 --> 00:40:03,000 NARRATOR: The Queen Mother had got Masterman out of jail. 709 00:40:03,008 --> 00:40:07,044 In 1972, he published his Secret Book. 710 00:40:07,052 --> 00:40:09,076 But even then, 28 years after D-Day, 711 00:40:09,084 --> 00:40:14,040 MI5 believed that Double Cross and all deception work should 712 00:40:14,048 --> 00:40:17,024 remain secret and tried to block him. 713 00:40:17,032 --> 00:40:21,064 Masterman thwarted them by publishing in America. 714 00:40:23,056 --> 00:40:26,072 But there was one thing he decided not to reveal, 715 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:30,040 the role of George VI in the D-Day deception, 716 00:40:30,048 --> 00:40:32,052 it has remained a secret, 717 00:40:32,060 --> 00:40:36,084 until Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac's investigation today. 718 00:40:40,028 --> 00:40:42,092 The monarchy's role in Britain's Secret State would 719 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,052 not die with George. 720 00:40:44,060 --> 00:40:47,072 His eldest daughter the young Queen Elizabeth II 721 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,080 would inherit his mantle. 722 00:40:49,088 --> 00:40:52,080 The Crown, once under the scrutiny, 723 00:40:52,088 --> 00:40:55,080 and even investigation of the Secret Service, 724 00:40:55,088 --> 00:41:00,000 was now its trusted friend and counselor. 725 00:41:02,032 --> 00:41:06,088 One extraordinary meeting demonstrates this intimacy. 726 00:41:06,096 --> 00:41:10,016 In 1955 the Prime Minister Anthony Eden, 727 00:41:10,024 --> 00:41:14,000 or AE, and the Head of the Foreign Office's Middle Eastern Desk, 728 00:41:14,008 --> 00:41:15,060 Evelyn Shuckburgh, 729 00:41:15,068 --> 00:41:17,068 traveled to Buckingham Palace. 730 00:41:17,076 --> 00:41:19,072 The Suez crisis was looming, 731 00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:22,044 and the empire alive with conspiracy. 732 00:41:22,052 --> 00:41:25,064 But one apparent friend was the young Harrow educated 733 00:41:25,072 --> 00:41:27,084 King Hussain of Jordan. 734 00:41:27,092 --> 00:41:30,044 However, the British feared he had fallen under the influence 735 00:41:30,052 --> 00:41:34,096 of his Nationalist and anti-British uncle, Nasser Shariff. 736 00:41:35,004 --> 00:41:38,096 Shuckburgh noted in his diary in 1955... 737 00:41:39,004 --> 00:41:41,068 RORY: I told her, the queen, 738 00:41:41,076 --> 00:41:45,020 the machinations of the wicked Uncle Nasser. 739 00:41:45,028 --> 00:41:48,028 The Queen said she didn't really think it a good idea 740 00:41:48,036 --> 00:41:51,080 to send Arabs to English public schools. 741 00:41:53,092 --> 00:41:55,064 EVELYN (off-screen): She had seen poor little Hussain, 742 00:41:55,072 --> 00:41:58,060 fresh from Harrow, a year or two ago and all he could 743 00:41:58,068 --> 00:42:01,004 do was stand stiffly to attention, saying... 744 00:42:01,012 --> 00:42:04,004 RORY: Saying, "Your Majesty and not another word." 745 00:42:04,012 --> 00:42:06,068 EVELYN (off-screen): As for Uncle Nasser, she said, 746 00:42:06,076 --> 00:42:07,096 she was surprised, 747 00:42:08,004 --> 00:42:10,028 nobody had found means of putting something 748 00:42:10,036 --> 00:42:12,040 in his coffee. 749 00:42:14,012 --> 00:42:16,060 It was not until afterwards that I thought of what I ought 750 00:42:16,068 --> 00:42:21,024 to have said to this, that it was dangerously like a remark, 751 00:42:21,032 --> 00:42:23,052 made on a famous occasion, by her predecessor, 752 00:42:23,060 --> 00:42:25,048 King Henry II. 753 00:42:26,024 --> 00:42:27,084 RORY: Of course, King Henry had said, 754 00:42:27,092 --> 00:42:30,084 just before the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 755 00:42:30,092 --> 00:42:34,064 Thomas Beckett, will nobody rid me of this troublesome priest? 756 00:42:36,060 --> 00:42:38,076 EVELYN (off-screen): Instead, I said, it was a good idea, 757 00:42:38,084 --> 00:42:40,092 which ought to be applied, to a number of people 758 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,040 in the Middle East. 759 00:42:42,048 --> 00:42:44,040 I promised to send her the gossip we have 760 00:42:44,048 --> 00:42:46,012 heard about Hussain. 761 00:42:46,020 --> 00:42:49,040 I was a little handicapped, by having a cigarette in my hand, 762 00:42:49,048 --> 00:42:52,076 which steadily burnt my fingertips, behind my back. 763 00:42:52,084 --> 00:42:56,024 RORY: AE was looking wonderfully fit and relaxed 764 00:42:56,032 --> 00:42:58,080 EVELYN (off-screen): And was very friendly to both of us. 765 00:42:58,088 --> 00:43:04,032 RORY: And that's, startling, because we never get a sense 766 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,096 of the Queen discussing these kinds of things, 767 00:43:07,004 --> 00:43:09,040 we never get a sense of her, her humor. 768 00:43:09,048 --> 00:43:11,088 RORY (off-screen): And, and we never get a sense of her 769 00:43:11,096 --> 00:43:13,052 talking to diplomats, 770 00:43:13,060 --> 00:43:16,052 about matters of state, particularly against the background, 771 00:43:16,060 --> 00:43:18,060 of a range of covert operations, 772 00:43:18,068 --> 00:43:20,076 being launched, by the foreign office and MI6, 773 00:43:20,084 --> 00:43:25,008 against countries across the Middle East, most famously, 774 00:43:25,016 --> 00:43:27,064 the other Nasser, the President of Egypt. 775 00:43:27,072 --> 00:43:29,044 RORY (off-screen): We think of the intelligence services, 776 00:43:29,052 --> 00:43:31,092 as the most secret institution in Britain, 777 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,064 well the Royal Family certainly give them a run for their money, 778 00:43:34,072 --> 00:43:36,064 at least in terms of historical documents. 779 00:43:36,072 --> 00:43:40,076 So, when the queen appears on a page you take notice. 780 00:43:40,084 --> 00:43:42,088 And when the queen starts talking about potentially 781 00:43:42,096 --> 00:43:45,064 assassinating somebody, you really take notice. 782 00:43:45,072 --> 00:43:48,008 NARRATOR: The queen's words were, no doubt, 783 00:43:48,016 --> 00:43:50,044 delivered in jest. 784 00:43:50,052 --> 00:43:52,092 Uncle Nasser was never was assassinated, 785 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:56,044 but the queen remains close to her Secret Service. 786 00:43:56,052 --> 00:44:00,080 From suspicion to trust, the relationship between 787 00:44:00,088 --> 00:44:04,004 the monarchy and British Intelligence had come full circle, 788 00:44:04,012 --> 00:44:07,064 a relationship which endures to this day. 789 00:44:07,072 --> 00:44:08,096 Captioned by Cotter Media Group.