Son of most reviled man in Britain refused to turn his back on him

[cookie]

JOHN PHILBY, the eldest son of the Russian spy Kim Philby, unmasked in 1963 as a double agent, was a 19-year old art student when his father was exposed as a traitor. His alcoholic mother had never hinted at her husband's treachery and, although John had never suspected his father, when the news broke he felt something approaching quiet approval.

Kim Philby was the senior officer of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in Washington in the early 1950s, working with the CIA and FBI, when ordered to investigate Donald Maclean, another double agent who had been passing British secrets to the Soviets. Philby and Maclean's fellow spy, Guy Burgess, were intimate friends; once tipped off by Philby, Maclean and Burgess fled to Moscow.

Philby, suspected of being the so-called Third Man, swore that he did not know Maclean. Although forced to step down from his MI6 post, he maintained links to the Secret Intelligence Service while Middle East correspondent for The Observer newspaper. Shortly before being reinterviewed by British Intelligence in 1963, he defected to Moscow. For years he had sabotaged Allied missions behind the Iron Curtain and had sent dozens of agents to their deaths.

John Philby was shocked to learn from a newspaper placard of his father's defection.

Finding himself the son of Britain's most reviled man, he was surprised to discover how like his father he was. Of Philby's five children, John was the closest, visiting him in the former Soviet Union at least 12 times.

Like his father, John enjoyed the company of women and drank and smoked heavily. But unlike his father, buried a hero in Russia, John Philby led a low-profile life, running his own successful joinery business in London.

John David Philby, who has died at 65, was born under a kitchen table during an air raid on London. His father, Harold ''Kim'' Philby, was a product of the British ruling class but, like his own father, the explorer St John Philby, contemptuous of it.

John's mother was his father's mistress, Aileen Furse, whom he married in 1946 after his divorce from his first wife. When John was five and Kim the MI6 station chief in Istanbul, Guy Burgess came for a holiday. Resenting Burgess's close relationship with her husband, Aileen set fire to the living room, suffering serious burns. She was later sent to a Swiss clinic.

In Washington, Burgess, second secretary at the British embassy, lodged with the Philbys. Years later, Kim Philby told his son that Burgess had kept his KGB revolver and camera hidden under John's bed.

Back in London, John's prep school classmates were enthralled to think his father might be a spy, and John basked in the reflected glow of notoriety.

But when the Foreign Secretary, Harold Macmillan, announced that he had no reason to conclude that Philby had betrayed his country, the headmaster told him: ''Good news, Philby. Your father's been exonerated.''

When John's mother died in 1957, none of her children was invited to the funeral, and he never knew where she was buried. They went to live with an aunt and uncle. John completed his education at Lord Wandsworth College, Hampshire, before studying painting and sculpture, then taking up joinery.

He valued his anonymity - but he never changed his name. When people, noting his name, asked, ''No relation, I hope?'' he would reply: ''Oh yes, I'm his son.''

Kim Philby appeared to admire his eldest son for making his own, very different, way in life, working with his hands and brain.

The master spy never explained his treachery to his son but the two became good friends and travelled extensively in the Soviet Union, accompanied by KGB minders. The Russians flew John and his sister, Josephine, to Moscow for their father's funeral in 1988.

John Philby's three marriages had all ended. He is survived by a daughter, the journalist Charlotte Philby.

Telegraph, London

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"I thought it might have been this Chap, Mosely, Oswald Mosely"

 

[dhermann1]

I believe Oswald Moseley's son recently became involved in a rather lurid kerfuffle relating to certain sexual peccadillos and his job running British Formula 1 racing. A pretty despised Briton indeed. But I guess Philby was still the winner.
I find it ironic that upper class Englishmen who despise the British class system seem to do it with a nasty British upper class arrogance that undermines the moral position of their attitude.

 

[Cigarband]

I find it ironic that upper class Englishmen who despise the British class system seem to do it with a nasty British upper class arrogance that undermines the moral position of their attitude.

Here they're called "Limousine Liberals." They have everything and hate themselves for it.:eusa_doh:

 

[Edward]

Here they're called "Limousine Liberals." They have everything and hate themselves for it.:eusa_doh:

I've not heard that one before! In the UK, there is a term, "champagne socialist", which is essentially used (most often by the right) as a term of abuse. It is meant to suggest a hypocrisy on the part of a rich person supporting left leaning political ideals, though most commonly it is levvied unthinkingly at anyone much better off than the norm who supports a particular economic agenda which would not be heavily biased in the interests of the rich. Without getting into politics, it always seemed to me entirely plausible that someone could play the current game without exploiting others, and yet still wish for a change to the rules without being a hypocrite, but that, as I say, is talk for another institution than this one.

I believe Oswald Moseley's son recently became involved in a rather lurid kerfuffle relating to certain sexual peccadillos and his job running British Formula 1 racing. A pretty despised Briton indeed. But I guess Philby was still the winner.

Mosely would be better known to most people today, if only via coverage of his son's activities which, in the context of his father's declared support for Hitler, became rather more distasteful than was already the case. In reality, though, I suspect very few people on the street would be quickly able to identify either; the title of 'most despised human being in the UK' usually belonging to whomever committed the latest evil act given gleeful, media saturation coverage - the parents responsible for the death of 'Baby P' being probably the current incumbents.

 

[BellyTank]

Is it a Sequel..?

to "Most reviled man in Britain refused to turn his back on him"?
Son of.

I'm sure there have been much more reviled men than Mosely and Philby, we just don't remember them. Their names being in the press jogs the memory.


B
T

 

[Geesie]

to "Most reviled man in Britain refused to turn his back on him"?
Son of.

I'm sure there have been much more reviled men than Mosely and Philby, we just don't remember them. Their names being in the press jogs the memory.


B
T

James II and Oliver Cromwell come to mind.

 

[cookie]

Neville Chamberlain.

 

[Edward]

Neville Chamberlain.

I think this will change. There is a revisionist view abroad which suggests that Chamberlain, far from being a spineless appeasor, was actually astutely aware that Britain was not ready for a war with Germany in 1938, and in forging the Munich Agreement actually bought Britain vital time to prepare for war. I am attempting to find the time to read more about this..... certainly, it seems to me, history has been rather unkind to Chamberlain so far, and rather too kind to Churchill in many respects.

Geesie, Cromwell isn't much in the public conscience in Britain these days, but he sure is still hated and reviled by many in Ireland (somewhat ironically, mostly by those of a Republican - in the Irish , not US, sense - bent).

The most hated and reviled men in Britain vary month to month, or even, sometimes, day to day - depending upon whom the tabloid press single out for vitriolic attack. Most recently, the killer (and father) of 'Baby P' has been there; Jack Tweed (nonentity, self-publicist, drunken, womanising widower of reality television celebrity Jade Goody, herself a public hate figure prior to her Max Clifford masterminded public rebranding following news of her terminal illness) may be a challenger now that he has been arrested and held, pending trial, on charges of rape.

 

[reetpleat]

And don't forget, these days, the most hated man in a country seems to be whoever is in charge, by a little less or more than half the population.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Although not a man, where would Yoko Ono fit into this category?


Lee

 

[dhermann1]

Yes, Chamberlain. They say if he had never been PM he would have been highly regarded by history fior his social reforms. The thing that was so annoying about him is the manner in which he conducted his foreign policy. He left his Foreign Minister (Anthony Eden) completely out of the loop and undermined him incessantly, leading to Eden's resignation. He sent a low level member of the foreign office to negotiate an alliance with the Russians, when the Germans sent Ribbentrop at the same time. The Russians clearly got the message that Britain didn't care about them, and consequently signed the non aggression pact in August of 1939, which immediately lead to the German invasion of Poland. He muddled and fuddled. And he exuded arragance in every direction. It will take a lot to convince me thet Chamberlain wasn't just a damned poltroon, to use George Washington's great phrase. To Chamberlain, the whole drama was about HIM, not the country.
It must be said that when Chamberlain finally let Churchill into the cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill was rock solid in his support of his PM. I suspect this reflects better on Churchill's character than on Chamberlain's.
My general feeling about the Limousine Liberals vs. the Champagne Socialists, is that the LL's were more of a fad among a small section of society, starting with Leonard Bernstein, with his cocktail party for Eldridge Cleaver (as I recall). The CS's I think had far greater animosity to the British social system in general, downright nasty and vindictive.

 

[cookie]

And the MI5 Commies were the worst with their antics with the Yanks despite beavering around the Washington cocktail circuit ad nauseam.

 

[MisterCairo]

JOHN PHILBY, the eldest son of the Russian spy Kim Philby, unmasked in 1963 as a double agent, was a 19-year old art student when his father was exposed as a traitor. His alcoholic mother had never hinted at her husband's treachery and, although John had never suspected his father, when the news broke he felt something approaching quiet approval.

Kim Philby was the senior officer of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in Washington in the early 1950s, working with the CIA and FBI, when ordered to investigate Donald Maclean, another double agent who had been passing British secrets to the Soviets. Philby and Maclean's fellow spy, Guy Burgess, were intimate friends; once tipped off by Philby, Maclean and Burgess fled to Moscow.

Philby, suspected of being the so-called Third Man, swore that he did not know Maclean. Although forced to step down from his MI6 post, he maintained links to the Secret Intelligence Service while Middle East correspondent for The Observer newspaper. Shortly before being reinterviewed by British Intelligence in 1963, he defected to Moscow. For years he had sabotaged Allied missions behind the Iron Curtain and had sent dozens of agents to their deaths.

John Philby was shocked to learn from a newspaper placard of his father's defection.

Finding himself the son of Britain's most reviled man, he was surprised to discover how like his father he was. Of Philby's five children, John was the closest, visiting him in the former Soviet Union at least 12 times.

Like his father, John enjoyed the company of women and drank and smoked heavily. But unlike his father, buried a hero in Russia, John Philby led a low-profile life, running his own successful joinery business in London.

John David Philby, who has died at 65, was born under a kitchen table during an air raid on London. His father, Harold ''Kim'' Philby, was a product of the British ruling class but, like his own father, the explorer St John Philby, contemptuous of it.

John's mother was his father's mistress, Aileen Furse, whom he married in 1946 after his divorce from his first wife. When John was five and Kim the MI6 station chief in Istanbul, Guy Burgess came for a holiday. Resenting Burgess's close relationship with her husband, Aileen set fire to the living room, suffering serious burns. She was later sent to a Swiss clinic.

In Washington, Burgess, second secretary at the British embassy, lodged with the Philbys. Years later, Kim Philby told his son that Burgess had kept his KGB revolver and camera hidden under John's bed.

Back in London, John's prep school classmates were enthralled to think his father might be a spy, and John basked in the reflected glow of notoriety.

But when the Foreign Secretary, Harold Macmillan, announced that he had no reason to conclude that Philby had betrayed his country, the headmaster told him: ''Good news, Philby. Your father's been exonerated.''

When John's mother died in 1957, none of her children was invited to the funeral, and he never knew where she was buried. They went to live with an aunt and uncle. John completed his education at Lord Wandsworth College, Hampshire, before studying painting and sculpture, then taking up joinery.

He valued his anonymity - but he never changed his name. When people, noting his name, asked, ''No relation, I hope?'' he would reply: ''Oh yes, I'm his son.''

Kim Philby appeared to admire his eldest son for making his own, very different, way in life, working with his hands and brain.

The master spy never explained his treachery to his son but the two became good friends and travelled extensively in the Soviet Union, accompanied by KGB minders. The Russians flew John and his sister, Josephine, to Moscow for their father's funeral in 1988.

John Philby's three marriages had all ended. He is survived by a daughter, the journalist Charlotte Philby.

Telegraph, London

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

 

[MisterCairo]

Although not a man, where would Yoko Ono fit into this category?


Lee

Between Chamberlain and Blair.