14 (UPI) --Documents newly declassified by MI5, Britain's internal intelligence agency ... only told her about the infamous Cambridge Five member and art historian, Anthony Blunt, who was employed as the monarch's surveyor of official pictures, in 1973 ...

Newly declassified British documents show that Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t told details of her long-time art adviser's double life as a Soviet spy because palace officials didn’t want to add to her worries.

Queen Elizabeth II was not officially informed for almost a decade that one of her most senior courtiers had confessed to being a Soviet spy, according to newly released MI5 files.

MI5 documents reveal her private secretary ‘saw no advantage in telling her’ about treachery of Buckingham Palace art expert

Anthony Blunt, a royal art historian, confessed in 1964 to spying for the Soviets, but the late queen was not officially told about his past until 1973. View on euronews

The National Archives has released declassified MI5 files, including the confession of a civil servant who worked in the Cabinet Office, Treasury and Foreign Office in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s – and spied for the Soviet Union at the same time.

Anthony Blunt, who worked at Buckingham Palace as Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, was secretly a Soviet spy during WWII.

Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t told details of her long-time art adviser's double life as a Soviet spy because palace officials didn’t want to add to her worries, newly declassified documents reveal.

Queen Elizabeth II was not officially informed for nearly a decade that Anthony Blunt was a Soviet spy, newly declassified documents reveal.

Queen Elizabeth II was not told officially for nearly a decade that one of her most senior courtiers had admitted he was a Soviet spy, newly declassified British files revealed Tuesday.

British secret intelligence did not tell Queen Elizabeth II that her royal art adviser confessed to spying for the Soviet Union for almost a decade, according to newly released documents. The revelations come from a large tranche of documents made public by British intelligence service MI5 on Tuesday.