Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
On the 25th of August 1942, during the height of the Second World War, a flying boat destined for Reykjavik in Iceland crashed into the side of a hill in the Scottish Highlands. Among those who lost their lives was the VIP they were transporting. He was Prince George, Duke of Kent, brother of King George VI of the United Kingdom, and uncle to the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
During his lifetime, George became one of the best-known public figures of the age. Yet after his mysterious death, many details of his life were seemingly erased from history. Some believe that this was the result of a cover-up, but what were they trying to hide?
He became increasingly reckless. And this became quite dangerous, really. You know, we have to remember, at that time, homosexuality was illegal. There's a theory that people like Prince George were involved in a plot to oust Churchill.
It's more than a possibility, horrible though it is to contemplate, that the Kent's plane was actually sabotaged. You're listening to Forbidden History, the podcast series that explores the past's darkest corners, sheds light on the lives of intriguing individuals, and uncovers the truth buried deep in history's most controversial legacies. I'm Janine Harony, and this is Prince George: Tragedy or Treason?
In this series, we delve deep into the history archives to unearth familiar stories to reveal new perspectives. From Bible secrets with the real Mary Magdalene to whether the death of Hitler's niece was suicide or murder. But in this episode, we examine the life of Prince George, Duke of Kent, killed in a plane crash while serving his country in 1942
There are many who believe his mission was sabotaged. But why would anyone want the Duke of Kent dead? Could it be to do with the rumors of an illegitimate child? His relationships with men? Maybe even his drug addiction? Or was it to do with the theory he was plotting to overturn the British government by fraternizing with the enemy and negotiating peace with Adolf Hitler?
Just what had Prince George been involved in? And did it play a part in his untimely death? Born in 1902 on the Sandringham estate, he was the fifth in line to the throne behind his father, King George V, and his three older brothers. His early life was typical for that of a young prince, and there was little to suggest that he would go on to become one of the most controversial royals in the history of the British monarchy.
George was a highly intelligent boy with a gift for languages and music. He had a close relationship with his mother, Queen Mary, sharing her love of art and antique collecting. Upon coming of age, the young prince followed tradition, pursuing his father's passion, the navy. Christopher Warwick is a royal biographer and historian.
There were telltale signs that all was not going well for George was when he went to the senior Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and that is when either by accident or design because he was unhappy or because he was just thoroughly bored with it he went from the top of the academic ladder to the bottom.
As a sensitive and creative soul, George struggled with the strict navy protocol. He also suffered terribly from seasickness. So it soon became clear to George and the king that a life at sea was not for him. However, playing to his strengths, Prince George carved out a role for himself, and he was the first member of the royal family to become a civil servant.
He was extremely good looking, had a wonderful kind of personality, had a wonderful way about him that everybody remarked upon. And the public loved him. Now a factory inspector, George was able to exercise his newfound freedom. And what better way to do that than reveling in the revelry of London's jazz scene in the 1920s.
20th century historian Dr. Caroline Potter explains: He discovered the London party scene through his older brother Edward, who was very much a fixture on it during the 1920s. It opened up a new world to him. He discovered drinking and dancing. He could indulge his passions for music, and I think it really opened his eyes to a completely new world.
George quickly became the quintessential playboy prince, enjoying jazz, cocktails, and gaining a reputation for his womanizing. You could pretty much sleep around provided it was with somebody that wasn't going to be damaging you or your career or your position, which is why showgirls and actresses were considered fair game.
There was the actress Lois Sturt, people like Gloria Swanson and Tallulah Bankhead, famous silent movie stars also crossed Georgie's path at that time. But for all his countless liaisons, there was one who stood out from the rest. Her name was Poppy Baring. To begin with, it seemed as though the king and queen had no objections.
But as their romance blossomed, King George was quick to remind his son that no matter how far down the pecking order, royal princes married into royalty. Dr. Caroline Potter again. She was a banking heiress, the daughter of Sir Godfrey Baring. George met her in the late 1920s, fell instantly in love with her. And there were even suggestions that they may possibly have married, but George V saw her as an unsuitable bride for his son and put an end to it.
George was devastated. He'd once again fallen victim to protocol. In an attempt to keep his wayward son occupied, the king decided to send George on his first official royal visit. He was to join his eldest brother Edward, the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom and the Empire, on a tour of South America to represent the crown. But the king quickly learned that his idea was mistaken.
Historian and researcher Lynne Picknett. It was basically two boys off the leash. They would go to nightclubs. They would lark about. They would get incredibly drunk. They were just basically enjoying themselves. They were two young men making the most of being away from the stuffy Windsor Court.
His actions on the official tour had caused a major embarrassment to the royal family, but that was soon overshadowed by his next scandal. Rumors had started to circulate that George had become involved with one of the biggest stars of the stage and screen at the time, a flamboyant actor, playwright, and singer called Noel Coward. The Duke and Mr. Coward were introduced by a mutual friend after a theater performance, and they immediately struck up a public friendship.
But within social circles, there were whispers that the pair were romantically involved. I think it would have been a real scandal had it come to light that George was bisexual or had engaged in sexual affairs with other men, particularly Noel Coward. The pair's antics were infamous. It was said that they would often raid the theater's costume department and take late-night walks through London disguised as women. On one occasion, however, Coward and Prince George found themselves in trouble with the law.
Lynn Picknett
They were arrested on suspicion of prostitution. And it goes without saying both of them got off very quickly, certainly as soon as Prince George's identity was ascertained. But he, you know, he put himself in incredible danger, basically, doing such things. But in those days, he could get away with it because nobody in the press was ever going to report it. Christopher Warwick again. He became increasingly reckless
And this became quite dangerous, really. You know, we have to remember that at that time, homosexuality was illegal. George may have narrowly avoided a public scandal, but his indiscretions had brought him to the attention of the British security services. Many now believe that George was considered a threat to the state and that his death may have been connected to his reckless behavior.
A theory that is only compounded by the fact that George also fell victim to a blackmail plot. Caroline Potter. There was an incident where George was actually being blackmailed by a young Frenchman with whom he'd been engaged in an affair in Paris. He had many letters that the prince had sent him, some of them quite explicit, and was blackmailing him. The tale of the Parisian lover is believed to also involve monogrammed Tiffany and Cartier cigarette boxes incriminating Prince George.
It is commonly believed that the Duke of Windsor was sent to Paris to retrieve the compromising items and cover up his younger brother's tracks. Another scandal averted. But one didn't have to wait long for controversy where Prince George was concerned. Now there were rumors that George had fathered an illegitimate child.
It was by a young woman called Violet Evans, who was the sister of a friend of George's when he was at the Osborne Naval Academy. And she became part of George's set and she became pregnant. And it is widely believed that George was the father of this child. Engaged to another man at the time, Violet traveled to Switzerland
where she gave birth to a boy. Arrangements were made for him to be adopted by the wealthy American publishing tycoon Cass Canfield, who christened him Michael Temple Canfield. It is believed Michael was never informed of his birth parents, but in later life, he went on to marry Laura Charteris, Duchess of Marlborough, and this led to a chance encounter many years later with George's older brother, Edward.
They were in Paris, lunching with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the Duke was staring intently at Michael Canfield, so much so that Laura said, "Is there a problem, sir?" And he said, "Your husband looks exactly like my brother George." George continued to live his life to excess, much to the worry of both his family and the security services.
And to make matters much worse, he was about to embark on his most dangerous liaison yet with Kiki Preston, also known as the girl with the silver syringe. She actually carried a syringe around in her handbag and just having a conversation with somebody, she would pull it out and inject herself. She was totally open with it. She sold it as an idea as being a very glamorous thing.
Prince George and Kiki's affair began on his trip to Kenya, but he didn't just become hooked on her. When George returned to England, he developed a full-blown addiction to cocaine and morphine, much to the consternation of his family, particularly his older brother Edward. It was Edward who really helped George recover from his addictions. He took him to his country retreat and kept him there for several months.
After what was essentially an intervention and a stint in royal rehab, Prince George moved on from Kiki and his new vice. By 1934, George, for the most part, had seemed to put his troubled days behind him. After a short engagement, he married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. The wayward prince was finally settling down.
Royal Wedding Day, with all the paneglyphs staked to thrill the awaiting half million well-wishers, many thousands of whom have waited all night, and a typical November day to mar what would otherwise have been a brilliant ceremony. Their Majesties the King and Queen, with Prince Valdemar of Denmark, brother of the late Queen Alexandra, leave Buckingham Palace, followed a few moments later by Princess Marina, soon to be the Duchess of Kett.
I think with Marina, George had very much met his match. She was also cultured, intellectual, loved the arts, very beautiful, very striking. They made a tremendously glamorous couple. It was said to be a love match. And the prince, now married, was awarded the title Duke of Kent. The Duke and Duchess went on to have three children, rebranding George as a family man. But this life of contentment was short-lived. By 1936,
Britain had seen the death of one king, George's father. And so we turn the last page of this chapter of sorrow. In sadness he passes, his majesty King George V, mourned by the whole world. And the abdication of another, his brother King Edward VIII, who announced his decision to the world on the wireless. And now we all have a new king. I wish him
There was also the rising threat of Nazi Germany.
War was looming, and Britain needed to keep a close eye on political developments in Europe. Hello, I'm Violet Manners, and welcome to Hidden Heritage.
the podcast that brings you inside Great Britain's favourite destinations. From the same team that brought you the number one history podcast, Duchess, Hidden Heritage will uncover the fascinating stories behind the UK's brightest shining hidden gems. You'll hear from top experts in British heritage, including custodians, historians, artisans, experts, and even the craftsmen and restorers who've worked on some of the most celebrated historic buildings.
We will share the untold and unique stories that celebrate UK heritage, from landmarks to architecture, artefacts to myths and legends. Hidden Heritage will highlight a side of British history you have never seen before. I'm your host, Violet Manners, and founder of HeritageX, and I invite you all to join us on this exciting journey. This is Hidden Heritage. You can find Hidden Heritage wherever you listen to your podcasts.
In a twist of fate, the same security service that had once kept such a close eye on George now called upon him to serve his country. But how was this received in the House of Windsor? Christopher Warwick again. The prospect of war with Germany
for the second time as well, don't forget, didn't exactly fill the royal family with joy. And not surprisingly, because they were going to be at war with members of their own family. It's believed that British intelligence had asked George to act unofficially as their negotiator with the Nazi party, in the hope of securing peace and avoiding war.
And Princess Marina's German relations provided the perfect cover for George to enter and leave Germany without raising suspicion. Guy Walters is a British author, historian, and journalist.
The House of Windsor was, of course, essentially German. And so many people like Prince George had really pretty close relatives in Germany. And so Prince George is hobnobbing with his relations, some of whom during their day jobs were wearing swastikas around their arm. Christopher Warwick. It was an intelligence mission, if you like.
And so he was able to find out from members of the family, some of whom would serve in the German army, and that he was able then to report back. But in 1939, after the invasion of Poland, Britain declared war on Germany. If an attempt were made to change the situation by force in such a way as to threaten Polish independence,
By then, that would inevitably start a general conflagration in which this country would be involved. All hopes for a peaceful resolution were not lost. Prince George returned to active military service, serving first in the Intelligence Division of the Admiralty before transferring to the RAF. But the question is, whose side was he on?
Undoubtedly, if all George had during the Second World War were the endless flag-waving tours, he would have been desperately frustrated. But the evidence is that that was a cover for other work, other missions, which unfortunately led to his death.
There are many people who now think that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that George served as more than just a ceremonial military figure and was in fact involved in espionage activities at the highest level of the British and Nazi governments. Suspicions about his wartime activities were further compounded when in 1942, less than two years after joining the Royal Air Force, tragedy struck.
Christopher Warwick. As part of his role, wartime role with the RAF, Prince George was going to visit Iceland to inspect RAF bases. The weather conditions were good and the two pilots were both very experienced, so it seemed as if it would be a very straightforward flight.
George, along with 14 passengers and crew aboard the short Sunderland flying boat, set off from RAF Invergordon on the east coast of Scotland and headed for Reykjavik in Iceland. The highly experienced crew had been specially handpicked for the mission, but shortly after takeoff, and for reasons unknown, the plane turned inwards towards the Scottish hillside, heading away from their official destination.
What happened next would be the subject of controversy for many years to come. Guy Walters again.
Prince George, along with several other men, died in horrific circumstances. And at some point during this flight, at 650 feet, he crashes into an outcrop called Eagle Rock. And the plane splits in half and bodies are thrown out of the plane everywhere. Prince George is probably killed straight away. That's the only mercy we can draw. The crash had left many unanswered questions.
with no one able to fully explain exactly what had happened on that seemingly routine flight. Or was it? Why, with its engines at full throttle, did this very experienced pilot, Frank Goyen, bring the plane down to the level of only 700 feet, and then it thundered into the hillside?
But with the assumption no one had survived the crash, there was no way of knowing exactly what caused the plane to career into the side of the hill. Or was there? The first announcements of the crash said that everybody had been killed on board. This wasn't actually true. Flight Sergeant Andrew Jack was given the job of rear gunner, positioned at the back of the plane. Miraculously, he had been thrown clear of the wreckage on impact.
Confused, disoriented, and suffering from burns, he left the crash site and was found wandering aimlessly before being taken to the hospital for treatment and questioning. But what did his official statement reveal? And how could it help the investigation? Andy Jack was in a side room in the hospital.
and when his sister went to visit him she found two men already there one apparently very high up from the ref another very high up strangely perhaps from the admiralty and they shoot her out and they got him to sign something which she thought was must have been the official secrets act and andy jack was silenced about what really happened
It's more than a possibility, horrible though it is to contemplate, that Kent's plane was actually sabotaged. The official inquiry later ruled that the pilot was at fault. Andy Jack returned to the RAF and retired as flight lieutenant in 1964. His official statement has never been made public, and he only spoke about the event in private just before his death in 1978.
The lack of information has fueled speculation and conspiracy theorists. But if the crash was no accident, as some people claim, then who could have been responsible for it? And more importantly, what reason did they have to kill Prince George? Guy Walters again.
George's brother, when he became the Duke of Windsor, after he had abdicated from being Edward VIII, he famously visited Nazi Germany and was even photographed, you know, giving Hitler a salute. It's well known that Edward was very sympathetic towards the Nazi party during the 1930s. Probably not as well known is the fact that many of the other minor rulers were quite sympathetic too because they had a lot of German relatives. They were quite proud of their German ancestry and they didn't want to risk going to war with Germany again.
Some people now believe that Prince George and other high-ranking members of the establishment were hoping to secure a peace deal with Nazi Germany and put an end to the Second World War, but there was one person standing in their way.
Who is the biggest obstacle to making peace with the Germans? With making peace with Hitler, it's Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill was hated by the royal family, certainly when he first came to power. He was hated by a huge number of people in government and aristocracy, and he was seen to be a warmonger. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds.
We shall fight in the fields. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall never surrender. There's a theory that people like Prince George and others were involved in a plot to oust Churchill. Due to his military experience, Churchill had been appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940.
At the time, there were some who felt he was excessively pro-war and neglected to explore ways to find a faster and more peaceful end to the conflict. Did George share this view and want Churchill removed? And if so, how did he intend to do it? One of the obvious ways to oust Winston Churchill would be to mount their own clandestine rebellion. The first we know
and have hard evidence, historically speaking, of this royal and aristocratic peace deal behind the scenes, was really Rudolf Hess's dramatic flight from Nazi Germany in the middle of the war over to Scotland. Rudolf Hess was an important and influential member of the Nazi Party, so highly trusted by Adolf Hitler that he had been made deputy Fuhrer.
But in May 1941, in an act that still baffles historians to this day, he decided to get in a plane and fly to Scotland. The flight made by Rudolf Hess to Britain in 1941 is one of the enduring mysteries of the Second World War.
And even today, it's astonishing to think that this man, who was the deputy Fuhrer, who had stood by Hitler's side for decades, decides simply to get in a Messerschmitt 110 with extra fuel tanks and fly secretly from Germany all the way to Scotland and then bail out of his aircraft in a single-handed mission to make peace with Britain.
Some people believed that he'd intended to navigate his way to Dungavel House, the home of the Duke of Hamilton, where he hoped to take part in talks aimed at removing Winston Churchill and negotiating peace between Britain and Germany. But Hess's plane was wildly off course. He crash-landed just 12 miles from his destination. And remarkably, he survived.
When Hess was captured after his plane crash, he kept saying, take me to the Duke of Hamilton and I have a safe passage from the king. Guy Walters.
Over the years there have been increasing number of theories put about that Hess actually had some form of backing. Backing from Hitler to make peace. There were also perhaps secret conversations through members of perhaps the British royal family, British aristocracy, some senior political figures and the secret services who are also trying to achieve the same thing.
And so therefore, so much of the Hess flight is caught up in this very murky world of the demimonde, aristocracy, spies, and people in Britain doing really what they shouldn't be doing. Coincidentally, Prince George was living in that part of Scotland at the time. But is there any evidence to suggest Prince George was intent on meeting Rudolf Hess in a bid to sue for peace with Germany?
Tellingly, one of the employees at Dungavel, who was there that night, said that the landing strip had been lit up, obviously waiting for a plane to come in, and that at the house there was a very distinguished welcoming party, including, as she said, the Duke. And when challenged that in fact the Duke of Hamilton wasn't there that night, she said, "No, not the Duke of Hamilton, the Duke of Kent."
Could Prince George have been involved in a failed attempt to overthrow Churchill, in a bid to make peace with Hitler? And if so, did his attempt cost him his life? There are some people who maintain, even to this day, that the crash was no accident, and in fact was essentially an assassination.
because, and this is the pretty outlandish theory in my opinion, because Churchill knew that they were plotting against him and he wanted to kill Prince George as the ringleader of this potential coup. Everything about that story is virtually impossible to research through official channels. You have to piece together what happened bit by painful bit
There are major, major questions over what really happened to Prince George. So I don't think personally that there was a cover-up of any specific issue. But that said, we perhaps will never know. All the files relating to true events have been misplaced or removed or are still sealed. So we'll never really know what George was up to during the late 1930s, early 1940s.
Since his death, countless astonishing theories and claims have been made about Prince George. But when it comes to the exact details of George's life and his involvement in wartime activities, opinions remain divided. Will we ever really know the truth about Prince George? Or will his life, in much the same way as his death, remain a mystery?
I think there are some unanswered questions about Prince George's role in the war and indeed the exact circumstances of his crash. I think that actually on the surface, no, he wasn't acting against Churchill and I don't think the crash was anything other than a terrible accident. However,
I do find it strange that the royal household has not opened its papers on people like Prince George during this period. It raises suspicion and it does make people question as to what may have been going on behind the scenes. I think if and when those papers are ever released, we'll then get the full answers. And until then, there's always going to be room to look at stories like this and wonder whether what we know is what we've been told and not the truth.
Next time on Forbidden History. Peter the Great is a massive contradiction. On the one hand, he's this great reforming czar who embraces science and technology. But on the other hand, he is a brute. We explore the life and legacy of one of the most brutal rulers in history and reveal how he forged modern Russia in blood. As a man, a disaster, appalling. As a ruler, fantastic.
Fantastic. The greatest that there's ever been in Russia. In The Strange Life of Peter the Great. Forbidden History was a Like a Shot Entertainment production. Produced by Cara O'Brien. Executive Producers Henry Scott, Steve Gillum, and Danny O'Brien. Edit and sound design by James McGee for Aerophone.