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The Spy Who Painted the Queen: The Secret Case Against Philip de László
The only book to examine MI5's secret evidence that high society painter Philip de Laszlo was an Austrian spy in World War I—with a shocking conclusion In 1917, noted society portrait painter Philip de László, who painted such luminaries as the Pope, the Austrian emperor, King Edward VII, and Prince Louis Battenberg, was subjected to a secret tribunal which interned him for trading with the enemy. De László had pulled strings to be naturalized as British at the outbreak of World War I, but in 1919 he was referred to a public committee to revoke his naturalization. With the aid of skilled lawyer de László had the application overturned—however, newly discovered records show MI5 had evidence obtained from a top secret source that alleged that he was supplying the enemy with important information on politics and industrial production. Crucially, the source’s anonymity prevented MI5 from presenting evidence to the tribunal. But was de László a secret agent and was MI5’s source really as they claimed? Did an enemy spy really paint the portrait of the young Princess Elizabeth? With previously unpublished information, this book explores these allegations and reaches a shocking conclusion.
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 2, 2024
This is a mendacious book, even its title is mendacious, Philip de Laszlo painted a vast number of queens, not all of them royal, and even managed to paint the late queen Elizabeth II as a six year old but what relevance that has to anything to with spying is hard to see. But of course mixing royalty and spies does help the sale of bad books.
The problem with this book is the lack of context, there isn't a whisper of the virulently bigoted, antisemitic, nativist campaigns that took place throughout WWI that concentrated on finding 'spies' and 'traitors' in high places. To get a feeling of the really nasty nature of this hysteria read 'Wilde's Last Stand' by Philip Hoare.
Philip de Laszlo was as much a spy as Mata Hari, but not being female or actress (though as an artist he wasn't that much more respectable), he was railroaded into a dawn execution. That the author, Phil Tomaselli has a high opinion of revolting creatures like Basil Thompson and William le Queux says everything about his knowledge of spying in WWI.
Unfortunately Tomaselli is of a breed of amateur historians, particularly ones who scour intelligence files, who don't understand that spy services, like computers, are only as good as the information they are supplied with. Garbage in, garbage out, should, must remain forefront when dealing with old spy 'denunciations' or 'investigations'.
That Tomaselli also conflates the problems of the spy services in WWI with the problems of spy services tackling 'the war on terror' is both ahistorical but deeply troubling for anyone with doubts about the 'intelligence' which led to events like the shooting of Jean Charles de Menzes in London in 2005.
This book is a long smear campaign against de Laszlo but worse a pat-on-the-back for Britain's intelligence services since WWI. Since the a uthor doesn't know Russian, or how to do the most basic research, it is unsurprising that what he says about Alexis Ignatiev, the imperial Russian military attache in Paris during WWI is so hopelessly confused and wrong.
This is the sort of book that is actually worse because of its pretence at scholarship and should be avoided like the plague.
The problem with this book is the lack of context, there isn't a whisper of the virulently bigoted, antisemitic, nativist campaigns that took place throughout WWI that concentrated on finding 'spies' and 'traitors' in high places. To get a feeling of the really nasty nature of this hysteria read 'Wilde's Last Stand' by Philip Hoare.
Philip de Laszlo was as much a spy as Mata Hari, but not being female or actress (though as an artist he wasn't that much more respectable), he was railroaded into a dawn execution. That the author, Phil Tomaselli has a high opinion of revolting creatures like Basil Thompson and William le Queux says everything about his knowledge of spying in WWI.
Unfortunately Tomaselli is of a breed of amateur historians, particularly ones who scour intelligence files, who don't understand that spy services, like computers, are only as good as the information they are supplied with. Garbage in, garbage out, should, must remain forefront when dealing with old spy 'denunciations' or 'investigations'.
That Tomaselli also conflates the problems of the spy services in WWI with the problems of spy services tackling 'the war on terror' is both ahistorical but deeply troubling for anyone with doubts about the 'intelligence' which led to events like the shooting of Jean Charles de Menzes in London in 2005.
This book is a long smear campaign against de Laszlo but worse a pat-on-the-back for Britain's intelligence services since WWI. Since the a uthor doesn't know Russian, or how to do the most basic research, it is unsurprising that what he says about Alexis Ignatiev, the imperial Russian military attache in Paris during WWI is so hopelessly confused and wrong.
This is the sort of book that is actually worse because of its pretence at scholarship and should be avoided like the plague.
April 2, 2020
A highly detailed and thoroughly researched insight into a society-related security scandal.
I hadn't heard of this issue, but got it for the title, and although it was an enjoyable read, I was left with a slight feeling of 'who cares' when I had finished it.
I hadn't heard of this issue, but got it for the title, and although it was an enjoyable read, I was left with a slight feeling of 'who cares' when I had finished it.
February 12, 2016
A very factual exploration of the possibility that Philip de Laszlo, the Edwardian society portraitist, may have been a spy for Austro-Hungary during the First World War ... it definitely demonstrates that de Laszlo's wealth and society-connections freed him from the penalties generally meted out to those who sent money to enemy countries and corresponded via the diplomatic "bag," rather than the post (which was censored) ... although he was interned as an enemy alien for part of the war, de Laszlo managed to "get off scot-free" despite breaking arguably harsh DORA laws ...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews