One of the original Cambridge "Ring of Five" recruited in 30ies. He was an intellectual and a homosexual. Knew (and often worked with ) Philby, Burgess, and McLean. Originally controller: OTTO, then HENRY. Worked for MI5 during WWII but left shortly thereafter, evidently with approval of Soviet controllers. He came under suspicion when Burgess and McLean defected in 1951 and was eventually unmasked by Michael Straight when he went to the FBI in 1964. Blunt was offered immunity, even before interrogators attempted to question him. He accepted and agreed to give information. Said he had not been a spy after WWII (when Russians were allies of Britain) but that was probably a lie.
Blunt was the Director of the prestigious Courtland Institute and held the position of Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures which made him a frequent visitor to the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace. Queen agreed to giving him immunity and allowing him to retain positions and honors in order not to alert the Russians (who probably knew anyway).
His case was kept strictly secret until he was exposed publically in 1979. He died in 1983.
