- 5 hours ago
The Forgotten Prince The Mystery Of The Duke Of Kent
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:09The Duke of Kent, glamorous brother of King George VI, and a favourite uncle to Queen Elizabeth II.
00:19He was well-dressed, he was chic.
00:22In a black and white era, he was a Hollywood star.
00:26Who died tragically in a World War II plane crash.
00:31There were bodies lying all over.
00:34My father said, good gracious, it was the King's brother.
00:40An accident shrouded in conspiracy theories.
00:45The sole survivor was told he couldn't talk about it forever.
00:49Documents from that investigation went missing, and this creates a lot of suspicion.
00:54In this film, we reveal key missing reports that may solve this decades-old mystery.
01:02I think this is a crucial piece of evidence.
01:05You could go as far as saying it's a miscarriage of justice.
01:07It's the ultimate royal scandal.
01:10Did the Duke's wild lifestyle lead to his tragic demise?
01:16He liked martinis, and he liked morphine, and he was a naughty boy.
01:23He was glamorous and dangerous and bad.
01:25The UK's wildest sailor.
01:25The UK's wildest sailor.
01:4725th August 1942.
01:48to. An RAF Short Sunderland flying boat takes off from RAF Invergordon in Scotland for a final
01:57destination of Iceland. Inexplicably the plane deviated from its original course and ended up
02:07crashing into a hillside in the Scottish Highlands. My dad was a fisherman but he was also a
02:18special constable. He was down at the harbour and heard the crash and that's immediately
02:27alerted them to do something about it. There was two crofters a bit further down the coast
02:35at Oosedale. They'd heard it go over. Because of where it was, the heights, they knew something
02:42was going to be wrong. Well, it was thick fog. On the way there, they could smell the smell
02:51of the crash. He said it was a terrible sight. There were bodies lying all over. When a father
03:01had looked at this particular body, he shouted, good gracious, it's the king. He knew that on
03:11his wrist would be his identification. So he looked at it and it was H.R.S. the Duke
03:19of Kent, the king's brother.
03:31Prince George, Duke of Kent, younger brother to King George VI, had tragically died alongside
03:38thirteen other crew and passengers. He was the first member of the royal family to die
03:46on active military service in more than 400 years.
03:57Born on the 20th of December 1902, George had been the fourth son to future King George V and his
04:06wife, Mary.
04:08George is different from his older siblings that he's an Edwardian rather than a Victorian. And I think that's rather
04:14appropriate
04:15because I think of that family, he almost seems the most modern member. The two oldest were Bertie and David.
04:24And then there was Mary, later the Princess Royal. And then Harry, who was about two years older than him.
04:30And Prince John, born in 1905, suffers with epilepsy, dies at thirteen.
04:37George's parents were elevated to their roles as king and queen when he was just eight years old.
04:46Probably of the six siblings, he was the brightest. When he was at his prep school in Broadstairs, one of
04:53the teachers writes home and says that he applied himself to every subject and was a joy to teach.
04:59If you're born into royalty, the further down the chain, the further down the chain you are, the more probably
05:04you can be your own person.
05:07He was more cultured than his brothers. And I think he had a magnetism of his own, which set him
05:12apart.
05:13From the age of thirteen, George's father, the king, insisted he serve in the military by joining the Navy.
05:22Being sent to the Navy was part of what the royal family expectation. He hated the Navy, absolutely loathed it.
05:29In the Royal Navy, you have to do what you're told. He was a prince of the realm. He was
05:34a world figure, a top, a great empire. He's being told by crusty old naval officers what to do. He
05:41didn't like it.
05:42He goes to the academy at Osborne and then Dartmouth. He serves half a dozen ships all over the world.
05:50He did take on the idea of duty. And I think that we want glamour as well as duty in
05:58our royal family. And he provided all of that.
06:02More than two decades after George began his naval career, a passion for aviation would lead to him joining the
06:11RAF.
06:13But this role would end in tragedy.
06:17George's death was a historic event. It should have been a moment for the royal family to be able to
06:25turn to the nation and say,
06:27We, too, have lost a member of our family. We, too, can stand with you. None of that happened.
06:34There was a determination to keep it as low-key as they possibly could.
06:40George was killed alongside 13 others, including RAF crew and the Duke's own staff.
06:49An inquiry into the accident was convened very quickly, within three days, and was concluded in less than a week.
07:01This, at the time, was the second-worst air crash in British history in terms of casualties, and it had
07:06the King's brother on board.
07:08You'd think there'd be a little bit more effort put into investigating it.
07:11The official explanation given for the crash at the time was that it was down to pilot error.
07:18For a well-trained, highly experienced pilot to have flown into the hillside of the Scottish Highlands seems unbelievable, given
07:27the nature of the skills involved.
07:29And I think for this reason, a number of people wondered whether there was something more suspicious that had happened.
07:36Such suspicions were compounded when key reports into the inquiry's findings almost immediately went missing, leaving many questions about what
07:48actually happened.
07:51There have been so many conspiracy theories in connection with the death of George because the files from the investigation
07:58went missing.
07:59This absence, if you like, is filled with rumour and speculation.
08:03I think it is the most full of holes of the story you can get.
08:08If Prince George had done something wrong in being on that plane, and it was discovered that he had done
08:17something wrong on that plane,
08:19that, I think, is why there was a cover-up, and to why the secrecy continues to this day.
08:28The crash that killed Prince George has since been dogged by numerous conspiracy theories, including rumours of an institutional cover
08:38-up, and even Nazi affiliations.
08:42Given George's past acquaintances with members of the German aristocracy, suggestions that there could be some deeper meaning to all
08:51of this.
08:52Now, key documents have finally been found, which appear to shed new light on this decades-old mystery.
09:02I spent 30 years in the police as a detective.
09:06I'm not adverse to asking questions and upsetting the apple cart, as it were.
09:11Mike Morgan is a former police detective, now turned historical investigator, who has spent years studying this crash.
09:21I started digging into that, and there's something here.
09:25When you know there's that nugget of something's not quite right, and you just keep digging and digging and digging.
09:31When you put all the documents together, you start to get a full, wide picture of what was really going
09:36on.
09:40George was the ultimate playboy prince.
09:43In his short life, he was notorious for his secret love affairs.
09:49Historians widely agree on the fact today that George was bisexual, that he had relationships with men and women.
09:55And even illicit drug use.
09:58One of his conquests tempted George with her body, her mind, and her drugs.
10:17Prince George, Duke of Kent, tragically died in a military plane crash in 1942.
10:25The circumstances of which have been shrouded in mystery.
10:32Growing up as the fourth in line to the throne, the young prince was under less pressure than his older
10:38brothers.
10:39And whilst away serving in the navy, he had the freedom to enjoy himself.
10:47He got sent to Singapore, and the story was, once he got off the ship, he used to misbehave himself
10:54quite incredibly.
10:55And all at once, the senior naval officers had to cover up for the fact that he'd run off with
11:01somebody else's wife,
11:02or that he was drunk in a club.
11:05And this was his way of kicking against the regime which he'd been given.
11:13George's bad behaviour wasn't just reserved for his time away.
11:18During his frequent periods at home, he indulged in everything the freewheeling twenties had to offer.
11:27His partner in crime was his elder brother, the future Edward VIII, then known as David.
11:34Their shared love of the fast life, for fast cars, for dancing, for late nights spent in the West End
11:41of London,
11:41really brought them together as a pair.
11:43So this is the period, the late 1920s, of flappers, great nightclubs in the West End.
11:51For the aristocracy, there's quite a lot of sexual liberation.
11:57Drugs are not unknown.
11:59So I think that George is quite louche, and his son, the Duke of Kent, has said that there was
12:06a naughty period.
12:08George's thirst for life made him a popular man on the 1920s social scene.
12:14Top of the guest list for every important soiree.
12:19You definitely would want George to come to one of your parties.
12:23In a black and white era, he was a Hollywood star.
12:28He's described as being extremely fun to have at a party.
12:32He liked to drink, he liked to dance.
12:33He could play the piano, just incredibly entertaining.
12:40George's wild streak meant he wasn't short of admirers.
12:44One can't help noticing that Prince George and Princess Ingrid seem very happy together.
12:51Of course, this quickly leads to all sorts of rumours, as quickly to be denied.
12:56I've seen some of Prince George's love letters,
12:59and what I can say is that if he went to bed with a woman, he was in love with
13:03them.
13:04He probably wanted to marry them when he woke up.
13:07People fell for him because of his natural charm, because of his good looks.
13:11The way that he looked at you, the way he engaged you with his eyes,
13:16and particularly if you were a woman,
13:18he absolutely was determined that you would swoon at his feet.
13:22George was obviously somebody that fell in love, or thought he was in love, quite easily.
13:28And the women were variously suitable, or maybe not so suitable.
13:32Baba, Lady Alexandra Curzon, the daughter of Marquis Curzon, former Viceroy of India.
13:38She was somebody that he was very, very keen on, but I think she was less keen on him.
13:43Another was Poppy Bearing.
13:44They, it's thought, were on the verge of becoming engaged.
13:47Then a bit of research was done on her, and it was fun that she had a bit of a
13:51fast past.
13:55And George's affairs weren't just limited to women.
13:59It was said at the time that Prince George wasn't safe in taxes with anybody of either sex.
14:05Historians widely agree on the fact today that George was bisexual,
14:09that he had relationships with men and women.
14:12His many affairs with both sexes, if made public, would have caused great scandal.
14:19There was a story in Paris of some boy that he'd had some bling with.
14:24The royal household had to pay off the Frenchman who had love letters written to him by George,
14:30which he was using to blackmail the prince.
14:32He had a long friendship with Noel Coward.
14:35He definitely moved with a fast and lively set.
14:38It is known that together with the playwright Noel Coward,
14:42dressed up in women's clothing, covered themselves in make-up,
14:45he was always pushing, pushing, pushing the boundaries.
14:48Prince George, he wanted to be dangerous.
14:51He wanted to live a life where, on the surface, you appear to be an aristocrat,
14:57but beneath it, you're breaking all rules.
15:00His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent makes for the far north
15:02to be welcomed at St Andrews with true Scottish pomp.
15:06Alongside his party lifestyle,
15:09in public, George continued to carry out his royal duties.
15:13And fortunately for the royal family,
15:16his wild side was kept a strict secret.
15:20This was a period when, you know,
15:22the newspapers wouldn't publish salacious gossip
15:25about the private lives of members of the royal family.
15:27There was no intrusive press that could, as it were, upset the apple cart.
15:33So, to the outside world, they were all behaving perfectly well.
15:38A lot of this naughty behaviour was only known to quite a narrow social circle,
15:44but we've been able to read about it
15:46as diaries and letters of the time have appeared.
15:50As the decade drew to a close,
15:53in 1929, George was allowed to leave the navy.
15:57The playboy prince then took on an unexpected role.
16:03So, after he finally succeeded in persuading the king to let him leave the navy,
16:08he became a civil servant and went to look at factories,
16:12which isn't the most glamorous thing for a prince, necessarily, to be doing.
16:16The prince donned a suit of dungarees
16:18and was wearing a leather pit cap prepared to descend to the coal faces.
16:22It's a wonderful experience the first time you go down a coal mine.
16:25If you've never tried it, I should one day.
16:28The poor, fun-loving, Mayfair habitué
16:33was to be found in Bolton and Manchester and Glasgow.
16:37There are photographs of him standing with working people
16:41and you can see that the smile on his face is forced.
16:48Despite his new, less glamorous career,
16:52George's reckless lifestyle continued.
16:55And his weakness for the more dangerous things in life
16:58took a dark turn when one love affair introduced him to hard drugs.
17:05One of his conquests was a woman called Kiki Preston
17:10who came from an extremely wealthy family, the Vanderbiltes.
17:14And she tempted George with her body, her mind and her drugs.
17:20She's known as the girl with the silver syringe.
17:22She used to carry it around and take it with her out to dinner.
17:25Other people might take a pepper pot.
17:27It's thought that he becomes addicted both to cocaine and morphine
17:30through this girlfriend.
17:32George was rescued by his brother David,
17:36the future King Edward VIII,
17:37who put the prince on lockdown at his home on the Windsor estate.
17:43David did write to a concerned friend and said,
17:48during that time, I had to be a mixture of a jailer,
17:53a detective and a nurse.
17:54I think that he recovered from his addiction quite quickly,
17:58which suggests that it wasn't that bad.
18:00But clearly what had happened was he'd gone off the rails.
18:03The danger was that the scandal would finally come out
18:06and something had to be done.
18:07So George was carpeted by his father
18:09and told, you're going to have to get married.
18:13The channel steamer Canterbury steams in out of the fog.
18:17On board is Princess Marina, standing between her parents.
18:19Fortunately, then along came Princess Marina of Greece.
18:24She's a scion of the Greek royal family
18:27and she's also descended from the Russian royal family
18:31and German connections.
18:33So she's one of the grandest and most eligible princesses in Europe.
18:37Although her family had been exiled to Paris,
18:41she and her sisters were regular fixtures
18:44on the London social scene
18:45when she caught George's eye.
18:48She enjoyed smoking, socialising.
18:51Like him, she enjoyed the nightlife
18:54and I think there was a real meeting of minds in that respect.
18:57In August 1934,
19:00George and Marina's engagement
19:02was announced to the delight of the British public,
19:05who were enamoured with this striking new royal couple.
19:11Prince George and his fiancée, Princess Marina,
19:14on arrival from Munich,
19:15followed by a great press of people
19:17keen to catch a glimpse of the royal party.
19:19They were very glamorous.
19:21Suddenly, the world was in love with this loving couple.
19:26Prince George and Princess Marina,
19:28very much the, dare I say,
19:30posh and becks of their day.
19:32They were the first royals to give a filmed interview
19:35after the announcement of their engagement.
19:37They want to thank everyone for all their kindness.
19:42I'm so very happy and looking forward to come to England.
19:46Shortly before their wedding,
19:48George was styled Duke of Kent.
19:51And on the 29th of November 1934,
19:54in Westminster Abbey,
19:56George and Marina were married.
20:00A royal marriage is a very, very important thing
20:03for bringing the nation together
20:05and solidifying support for the monarchy.
20:08So that marriage in November 1934
20:11is one of the most glamorous events of the interwar period.
20:15They went on a five-month honeymoon,
20:17and by the time they come back from the honeymoon,
20:20she's already three months pregnant.
20:22He had three children,
20:25the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra,
20:27and Prince Michael of Kent.
20:28And I think this family base grounded him,
20:33and he loved his wife,
20:36and he adored his children.
20:38Everyone says how much they love together,
20:39and anything you read written at the time,
20:42even in private diaries and letters and things,
20:44underlines that it clearly was a love match,
20:47that they absolutely did fall in love.
20:50Now a happily married man,
20:53George seemed to be set on the straight and narrow.
20:55But by now, it was the mid-1930s,
20:59and fascism was on the rise in Europe.
21:03Would George's links to the German aristocracy
21:06result in his ultimate downfall?
21:12I think the Nazis hoped they would be able to use him.
21:16Right up to almost the months in 1939,
21:19before the war started,
21:21he was basically asking for permission to travel to Germany
21:24and to see the family.
21:36Prince George, Duke of Kent,
21:39died in a tragic plane crash
21:40on an RAF mission to Iceland in 1942.
21:45George lived a life of excess and extremes,
21:49but his marriage to the glamorous Princess Marina of Greece
21:53appeared to settle him.
21:57They want to thank everyone for all their kindness.
22:01Not long after their wedding,
22:04George's world would be rocked
22:05by the monarchy's greatest crisis.
22:101936 is perhaps the most dramatic
22:14of all years in royal history.
22:17It's the year of three kings.
22:19George V dies at Sandringham in January 1936,
22:24and at the bedside, of course,
22:28the Prince of Wales, now Edward VIII.
22:30Prince George's beloved brother David
22:33had now become King Edward VIII.
22:37There's this issue of his friendship
22:40with Mrs Simpson, a twice-married American woman.
22:44Wallace Simpson was deemed to not be a suitable consort
22:47for the future King of England.
22:50The Prime Minister gives Edward the choice.
22:52He can pursue his marriage with Wallace
22:55and give up the throne,
22:57or he can give up Wallace and remain king.
23:02Less than a year into his reign,
23:05on 11th December 1936,
23:09Edward VIII announces his momentous decision.
23:13A few hours ago,
23:16I discharged my last duty as king and emperor.
23:20I have found it impossible to discharge my duties as king
23:25without the help and support of the woman I love.
23:31His abdication leaves the nation
23:34and his beloved younger brother George,
23:37the Duke of Kent, reeling.
23:40George was appalled at the abdication
23:43because it rocked the idea of royalty,
23:48of the royal family,
23:49to the very foundations.
23:51George was losing, actually, probably his best friend
23:55in his inner circle,
23:56and it would have been agonising for him.
23:59It was rumoured Edward would ask George
24:01to be his best man at his wedding to Wallace Simpson,
24:04and this was a role that George had to turn down
24:07because he couldn't be seen to be in the presence publicly
24:10of Edward and Wallace
24:11at a time when the monarchy was still so fragile post-abdication.
24:18George's older brother Bertie was next in line to the throne.
24:23I'm very glad to come here this afternoon
24:29to open the king's field.
24:31Bertie had a stammer.
24:33He was incredibly nervous and suffered from stress.
24:36There was George who had no stammer,
24:40quite the opposite.
24:41He was articulate.
24:42He was smooth.
24:45There's almost a feeling that perhaps he's jealous
24:47of his brother's role
24:49because his brother,
24:51although in many ways a great king,
24:53is somebody that finds kingship quite difficult,
24:57whereas almost George feels
24:59that he has the combination of social gifts,
25:03of linguistic gifts,
25:04the looks,
25:05that he should be out there
25:07as more of an ambassador for Britain.
25:12George did find a way
25:13to make use of his diplomatic skills
25:16in an increasingly turbulent Europe.
25:20Throughout the 1930s,
25:22the Duke used his family connections
25:25with German aristocracy
25:26to try and form a relationship
25:29with the emerging Nazi government.
25:33George was battling against
25:35a reputation which he's built for himself
25:38of being a playboy
25:40who likes martinis
25:42and morphine,
25:43and yet he believes
25:45that he's got something
25:46that he can contribute.
25:47And in the months leading up to the war,
25:50he spent a lot of time
25:52trying to find a way
25:54that he could avert a war.
25:57I've seen security service documents
25:59which are open in the National Archives
26:01at Kew were right up to almost the months
26:04in 1939 before the war started.
26:06He was basically asking for permission
26:09to travel to Germany
26:10and to see the family.
26:11He was in touch with a cousin by marriage
26:15called Prince Philip of Hesse.
26:17They had meetings in 1939
26:19where they were talking about
26:21how they could stop
26:23outright war from taking place.
26:25And, according to a report
26:28made for Hitler in 1935,
26:31Prince George even met
26:33one of the most senior Nazis
26:35in government.
26:37King George arranged for the Duke of Kent
26:40to meet Alfred Rosenberg,
26:42who was one of the founding fathers
26:44of Nazism in a gentleman's club
26:47in Mayfair
26:49to try and foster relations
26:51with the British government.
26:54He was inevitably getting involved
26:58in politics at a very high level
27:01and on a very high plane indeed.
27:03Now, behind this
27:04is the extraordinary belief
27:09by royalty
27:10that because they were part
27:12of this European brotherhood
27:14of royals
27:15that somehow,
27:16if the politicians
27:17couldn't bring about peace,
27:18then they could do it.
27:19George was part of that mindset
27:21when, in fact,
27:22he really wasn't equipped
27:23to be able to bring about
27:25any kind of solution.
27:28But in rubbing shoulders
27:29with key European political figures
27:32and the Nazi party
27:34during the 1930s,
27:36questions have since been raised
27:38over George's allegiances
27:40prior to the war.
27:43I think it's difficult
27:45to unpick
27:46how much George was
27:48or wasn't used
27:51diplomatically.
27:52I think that
27:54the Nazis
27:55hoped they would be able
27:57to use him.
27:58I think everybody
27:59had their little pawns
28:01that they were moving around
28:02this big, big board
28:03and he was one of the pawns.
28:05I don't think he's in any way
28:07sympathetic to the Nazis
28:08but I think he was
28:10absolutely at one
28:11with his brother,
28:12the king,
28:13with the prime minister,
28:14Neville Chamberlain
28:15in wanting to,
28:16as it were,
28:17do a deal with the Nazis,
28:18certainly up until
28:19September 1939
28:21when war was declared.
28:23Only 25 minutes
28:24after war has been declared
28:25comes the first
28:26air raid warning.
28:29When Hitler invaded Poland
28:31in September 1939
28:34and all-out war began,
28:38George quickly got behind
28:40the Allies.
28:42On deck with the king
28:43are the Duke of Kent
28:43acting as personal ADC
28:45and Captain Lord
28:46Louis Mountbatten.
28:47And the prince
28:48returned to the military
28:50with a new role
28:51as morale-boosting figurehead
28:53in the Royal Air Force.
28:56The RAF was a much better fit
28:57for George
28:58than the Navy had been.
28:59He really cut a dash
29:00in the blue uniform.
29:01There was a charisma
29:02to the Royal Air Force.
29:04It was this modern,
29:05exciting, new military service
29:07and I think naturally
29:08more aligned
29:09with his personality.
29:10He did an awful lot
29:11for men and women
29:12in the Air Force.
29:13He'd go on these
29:14goodwill visits
29:15making sure that
29:16their billets,
29:16their foods,
29:17their lodgings
29:17were all good.
29:18George's role in essence
29:19was to move from airbase
29:21to airbase,
29:21championing the good work
29:23of the RAF
29:24as part of the war effort.
29:27But one such
29:28morale-boosting mission
29:29would be the Duke's
29:31last flight.
29:37On the 25th of August 1942,
29:41in the peak
29:42of the Second World War,
29:44Prince George took off
29:45from the highlands
29:46of Scotland
29:46alongside 14 others
29:48aboard a short
29:50Sunderland flying boat
29:52bound for Iceland.
29:58Unfortunately,
29:59once they took off,
30:00the aircraft was
30:01in quite low cloud.
30:02Mike Morgan is a retired
30:04police detective
30:05who has spent years
30:07doing his own research
30:08into the crash.
30:10I believe the crew
30:11thought they were
30:11over the sea,
30:12so they dropped down.
30:13But unfortunately,
30:14as they came down,
30:15they weren't over the sea,
30:16they were over the hillside.
30:18And with a little bit
30:19of luck,
30:20they would have been okay.
30:23They were just
30:24that little bit low,
30:26caught the hill,
30:27and boom.
30:37George Berthoon's
30:38father, William,
30:39a local special constable,
30:41was one of the first
30:43at the crash site.
30:45They were local people
30:47from Brimore,
30:49and they said to my father,
30:52you needn't go in there,
30:53they're all dead.
30:55But my father said to them,
30:57well, we've got to go in anyway,
30:59whether the people
31:00are dead or not.
31:02There was a survivor,
31:04Andrew Jack.
31:06Being the tail gunner,
31:07he had been thrown
31:08quite a distance away.
31:11Andrew Jack
31:12was the sole survivor.
31:14The 14 others
31:16had all perished.
31:18The official explanation
31:19was it was
31:20the pilot's fault.
31:21Flight Lieutenant Goyan,
31:23who was an extremely
31:24seasoned pilot,
31:26he turned too soon,
31:27and therefore
31:29it was his responsibility.
31:30Frank Goyan
31:31was the captain
31:33of the aircraft.
31:34To many people,
31:35he was basically
31:37Mr Sunderland in 1942.
31:39He was the man
31:40who was probably
31:41the best Sunderland pilot
31:42in the Air Force
31:43at the time.
31:44So in terms of
31:45the man for the job,
31:46he was the right man.
31:49Why had the plane
31:51flown off course
31:52so early in the flight?
31:54And how had such
31:55an experienced pilot
31:57as Goyan
31:57made such a crucial error?
32:01An RAF court of inquiry
32:03was convened
32:04three days after the crash,
32:05and the findings
32:06of that inquiry
32:07were relayed
32:08in under a week.
32:09I would have imagined
32:10in a crash like this
32:11that it would have taken
32:13a little bit longer
32:13and been a little bit
32:14more detailed.
32:15At the time,
32:16the crash was
32:18the second most
32:20serious loss
32:21of an aircraft
32:22in the Second World War.
32:24The fact that it also
32:26contained the
32:27brother of the king
32:28doubled that
32:30seriousness.
32:31And yet,
32:32when it came
32:33to the court of inquiry,
32:34the evidence
32:35that the correct procedures
32:37were not followed
32:38is there to be found.
32:40The questioning
32:40of the witnesses
32:41that I've seen documented
32:42basically from my
32:44old professional point of view
32:45is very, very poor.
32:46There were a whole plethora
32:47of civilian witnesses
32:49who could have been
32:50spoken to.
32:51None of them
32:52were ever called.
32:52It was a very suspicious
32:54way of going about
32:55court of inquiry.
32:58And what about
32:59the sole survivor,
33:00Sergeant Jack?
33:02What questions
33:03had he answered
33:04in the aftermath?
33:07Andrew Jack was in the hospital.
33:09He was visited
33:10by an RAF officer.
33:12The families say
33:13he was made
33:14to sign something.
33:15Now, there's been
33:16a lot of questioning
33:17over the years
33:18as to what he actually signed.
33:19Some people think
33:20he was signing
33:21the Official Secrets Act.
33:23Andy Jack,
33:24the sole survivor,
33:26was basically told
33:27he couldn't talk
33:28about it forever.
33:29You do wonder
33:30what on earth
33:31was he signing
33:31because his hands
33:32were all burnt
33:33at the time
33:33because of the crash
33:34and when allegedly
33:36his brother said to him,
33:37how did you sign it?
33:38Look at the state
33:39of your hands.
33:40He said,
33:40they held my hand
33:41so I moved the pen
33:42on the paper.
33:45Following a hasty inquiry,
33:47key documents
33:48pertaining to the crash
33:50disappeared.
33:52Where they went
33:53and why they went,
33:54nobody really knows.
33:56I've looked at
33:56various other
33:57crash investigations
33:58both in 1942
34:00and later in the war.
34:01Those papers are there.
34:03They contain
34:03an awful lot of information
34:04but this one,
34:06nowhere to be seen.
34:07It does make you wonder
34:08where the paperwork went
34:09and why would you
34:10get rid of documents
34:12like this.
34:12The minute you start
34:13to just try
34:15and sort of scrape
34:17back the surface,
34:19you don't get very far
34:20before you think,
34:21wait a minute,
34:21where are those documents?
34:23As well as the missing documents,
34:25the crash site itself
34:26was promptly cleared up,
34:29leaving no evidence.
34:31A team was sent
34:32to remove any wreckage
34:34there was.
34:35The crash site itself
34:36is about 800-900 feet
34:37above sea level.
34:39So to get anything up there
34:41to remove things like
34:42engines and other
34:43large pieces of debris
34:44is quite an effort.
34:45Every last scrap of the plane
34:48was removed,
34:49every last bit of debris
34:50and it happened
34:51really quickly.
34:52I think they wanted to eradicate
34:55as much of the evidence
34:56as they possibly could.
34:58There was a determination
34:59to make sure
35:00that we should never know
35:01what happened
35:02at that crash.
35:04The many unanswered questions
35:06have led to wild speculation
35:08and conspiracy theories
35:10about the crash
35:12that killed the prince.
35:13Was it pilot error?
35:15Somebody wants us
35:17never to know.
35:18And was there more
35:19to this flight
35:20than the official story?
35:22We have the theory
35:23that George got involved
35:25in something
35:26what we would consider
35:27fairly treasonous.
35:42Prince George,
35:43Duke of Kent,
35:44was tragically killed
35:46in a mysterious RAF plane crash
35:48in 1942.
35:52The Playboy Prince
35:53had lived a life
35:54full of secret scandal.
35:57But the crash
35:58in the Scottish Highlands
36:00was the event
36:01that left the greatest
36:02question marks
36:03and has attracted many,
36:05sometimes wild,
36:06theories
36:07about what happened.
36:10In terms of the conspiracy theories
36:12that have become
36:12attached to this,
36:13I think he carries
36:15so much baggage,
36:16as it were,
36:17in terms of his life
36:18before he joined
36:19the Air Force.
36:21I think the Duke of Kent
36:22operated on two levels.
36:24There was certainly
36:25the playboy,
36:27but for sure
36:28there was another side
36:30to him
36:32that very little
36:34has come out about.
36:35Essentially,
36:36that of an intelligence officer.
36:39The Duke of Kent
36:40was involved
36:41at a pretty high level
36:43with Nazi policy makers.
36:45We don't know
36:46how extensive
36:46that linkage was.
36:48But there was a channel
36:49between the Duke of Kent
36:51and the German hierarchy.
36:58As far as the public
37:00were aware,
37:01during the conflict,
37:02Prince George
37:03always supported
37:04the British war effort.
37:07of the German aristocracy.
37:08But while investigating
37:09his links
37:10to the German aristocracy,
37:12author Lynn Picknett
37:14has come up
37:15with an elaborate theory
37:17linking the Duke of Kent
37:19with one of the most
37:20notorious members
37:22of the Nazi regime.
37:25A year before
37:26Prince George's crash,
37:27there was another
37:28momentous crash
37:29in Scotland.
37:29And that was
37:31when Hitler's deputy,
37:35Rudolf Hess,
37:35flew over
37:37in the middle of the war
37:38and he crash-landed
37:41in Scotland.
37:45Rudolf Hess
37:46had been deputy
37:47Führer of the Third Reich
37:49since 1933.
37:53He'd assisted Hitler
37:54with his manifesto,
37:56Mein Kampf,
37:56and was one
37:58of the dictator's
37:59closest confidants.
38:01Until,
38:01in May 1941,
38:04he flew solo
38:05from Germany
38:06across the North Sea.
38:09The official story
38:11was that
38:11Rudolf Hess
38:12had gone mad,
38:13stolen an aircraft
38:14and flown to Scotland.
38:16On the night
38:17he came over,
38:18he said to anybody
38:19who would listen,
38:20he'd come to see
38:21the Duke of Hamilton,
38:21who was one of
38:23the King's representatives
38:24in Scotland.
38:27The Duke of Hamilton,
38:28of course,
38:29denies that he had
38:29any involvement
38:30with Hess.
38:31But the underlying
38:32suspicion is that
38:33perhaps the Duke of Hamilton
38:35was going to be
38:36conspiring with Rudolf Hess,
38:37possibly to try and
38:38draw the war
38:40to an early close.
38:41The Duke of Hamilton
38:43was later cleared
38:44by MI5
38:45of any involvement
38:47with Rudolf Hess.
38:49But could there really
38:50be a connection
38:51between the Nazi officer's
38:53fateful flight
38:54in May 1941
38:56and the King's brother,
38:58Prince George?
39:01In the early noughties,
39:03I worked with other authors
39:06on books about Rudolf Hess.
39:09We had talked to witnesses
39:11who were at the Duke of Hamilton's
39:14old house,
39:17Dungabble House,
39:18that night.
39:19A couple of the women
39:20who worked as secretaries
39:22there
39:23said the Duke was there.
39:26So we thought,
39:27this is odd
39:27because we'd already
39:29found out the Duke of Hamilton
39:30was elsewhere that night.
39:32My colleague said,
39:33well,
39:34no, he wasn't.
39:35You know,
39:35he was elsewhere.
39:35She said,
39:35no, no,
39:36not the Duke of Hamilton,
39:37the Duke of Kent.
39:42Author John Harris
39:43has spent over four decades
39:46studying the Hess flight.
39:49The revelation
39:50that the Duke of Kent
39:51was actually at Dungabble House
39:54on the evening
39:55of May the 10th, 1941,
39:57that's a fantastic occurrence
39:59and one that we're
40:00to eliminate
40:01from our research.
40:02And I have to say,
40:03it was a major challenge.
40:05One day,
40:06I stumbled across
40:07a newspaper
40:09published on the Orkney Isles,
40:11predominantly at Scapa Flow,
40:13which was the home
40:14of the British Home Fleet.
40:16And sure enough,
40:17there was the interview
40:18with the Duke of Kent
40:19the same day
40:20as Rudolf Hess
40:21came in,
40:22in the evening.
40:28Harris's evidence
40:29completely contradicts
40:31Lynn Picknett's theory
40:32because it puts the Duke
40:34200 miles away
40:36from Hamilton's house
40:38on the night in question.
40:40We're pretty convinced
40:42that that place
40:43is the Duke of Kent
40:45in the Orkney Isles
40:47on the Saturday,
40:48May the 10th.
40:49So we do not believe
40:51that the Duke of Kent
40:52was anywhere near
40:54Dungabble House
40:55on that particular weekend.
40:58Shortly after his arrival
41:00in Scotland,
41:01Hess was arrested
41:02and kept as prisoner
41:03for the remainder
41:04of the Second World War.
41:07Fifteen months
41:08after the Nazi commander
41:10crash landed,
41:11the Duke of Kent
41:12boarded his own
41:13fateful flight
41:14to Iceland.
41:15But again,
41:17Lynn Picknett
41:17has a different theory
41:19concerning the mission's
41:21destination.
41:24The Kent flight
41:26was going to Iceland
41:27as they kept saying
41:29this is a morale-boosting
41:31trip to Iceland.
41:32No more, no less.
41:33That was what it was.
41:34Well, in that case,
41:34they were going
41:35from the wrong side
41:36of Scotland
41:36because the flight path
41:38to Iceland
41:39was from Oban
41:40on the west coast
41:41straight up.
41:42The aircraft itself
41:43belonged to 228 Squadron
41:45who were normally based
41:46at Oban
41:47on the west coast
41:47of Scotland.
41:48Now, they sent an aircraft
41:50over the day
41:51before the crash
41:52to Invergordon
41:53where the Duke
41:55boarded the aircraft.
41:56They had to move
41:58the flying boat
41:58all the way
41:59from Oban
42:00over to Invergordon.
42:01That's just a bit
42:02on the crazy side.
42:04Why?
42:04Because they were going
42:06to stop off somewhere.
42:09Picknett believes
42:10the flying boat
42:12was travelling inland
42:13to Loch Maw
42:14in Caithness,
42:16roughly 11 miles
42:17northwest
42:18of the crash site.
42:21Why would
42:22a flying boat
42:25land on Loch Maw?
42:27Well, maybe
42:28to pick somebody up
42:29and that somebody
42:32maybe,
42:33Rudolf Hess?
42:35We have theory
42:37that George
42:37got involved
42:38in something
42:39what we would consider
42:40fairly treasonous.
42:45I think
42:46that they were
42:47going to have
42:48a peace conference
42:49in neutral Sweden
42:50and try
42:51and stop
42:52the war.
42:54But former
42:55detective
42:56Mike Morgan
42:57thinks this
42:58is unlikely.
43:00That lock
43:01has been proven
43:02in recent years
43:03to be too short
43:04for a fully laden
43:06Sunderland
43:06to take off from.
43:07Chances are
43:08it would have crashed
43:09at the end
43:09of the locks.
43:09One of the shepherds
43:11living quite a way
43:13up towards the site
43:15he said that
43:17it was
43:17the normal
43:19flight plan
43:20because him
43:21and his brother
43:21used to sit out
43:22and watch them.
43:23They were supposed
43:24to go right down
43:25and turn in
43:27the Firth
43:27follow it out
43:29into the Atlantic
43:30and then
43:31head off
43:33towards
43:34Iceland.
43:36Quite a normal route.
43:38And was there
43:39any evidence
43:40that Hesse
43:41was actually
43:42being held
43:43as prisoner
43:43of war
43:44in the Scottish
43:45Highlands?
43:46I do not
43:47believe for a minute
43:48that Rudolf Hesse
43:49was anywhere
43:50near that plane.
43:51I think he was
43:52more likely
43:53to be in
43:53Mitchitt Place
43:54just by
43:55Oldershot
43:56in Surrey
43:56which was
43:57an MI6
43:58safe house
43:59that he'd
44:00been at
44:01since late
44:02May 1941.
44:04It makes
44:04no sense
44:05at all.
44:05All of this
44:06is speculation
44:07obviously
44:08it is
44:08but clearly
44:09British intelligence
44:10had they known
44:11about the plane
44:11and its
44:12actual mission
44:13they would have
44:14wanted to
44:15prevent it.
44:16It sounds
44:17quite wild
44:18but there's
44:18lots of
44:19tiny little
44:19clues.
44:20I don't think
44:21you can blame
44:22people for
44:22thinking what
44:24might be going
44:25on if there
44:26is a distinct
44:27lack of evidence
44:29and so
44:30consequently
44:32speculation
44:33inevitably
44:33follows.
44:34A lot
44:35of people
44:35have sort
44:36of linked
44:36the dots
44:36and got
44:37a picture
44:38an understandable
44:39picture I have
44:40to say
44:40because you
44:41can make
44:43it fit
44:43however I
44:45think it's
44:45a bit of a
44:45leap of faith.
44:47The Hess
44:48theory may
44:49not hold up
44:50under scrutiny
44:51but Prince
44:52George's
44:52biographer
44:53Christopher
44:54Wilson
44:54has another
44:55theory as
44:56to why
44:57the RAF
44:58may have
44:59wanted to
44:59cover up
45:00the crash.
45:02my belief
45:03is that
45:04there was
45:04an extra
45:05person
45:05on board
45:06the plane
45:0614 bodies
45:08were recovered
45:09from the crash
45:10site
45:10the 15th
45:11body
45:12was alive
45:13the rear gunner
45:14Andy Jack
45:15but the king's
45:16private secretary
45:17gives the number
45:18a 16
45:19and crucially
45:21a politician
45:22the very next
45:24day
45:24in the house
45:25of commons
45:26gives the number
45:27a 16
45:27but that
45:28leaves one
45:29other person
45:30unaccounted for
45:32Christopher
45:33says
45:33his suspicions
45:34were confirmed
45:35when he was
45:36contacted
45:37by a man
45:37who claimed
45:38to be at
45:39the site
45:40on the day
45:41of the crash
45:41I had written
45:43a piece
45:43in a newspaper
45:44talking about
45:45the crash
45:46and completely
45:47out of the blue
45:48I had a telephone
45:49call from a man
45:50who said
45:51that he was
45:52part of the
45:53RAF rescue
45:54party
45:54he told me
45:55that there
45:55was a woman
45:56on board
45:56the plane
45:58well
45:58I was astonished
46:01Prince George
46:02was a naughty
46:02boy
46:03he broke
46:03the rules
46:03if he wanted
46:05to take
46:05a girlfriend
46:06to Iceland
46:07it would come
46:08as no great
46:09surprise
46:09to anybody
46:10who knew
46:10him well
46:13August 1942
46:15was a crucial
46:16point in the
46:17war effort
46:17with the allies
46:19still taking
46:20heavy losses
46:20in their desperate
46:22fight against
46:23Nazi Germany
46:25would allegations
46:26of Prince George
46:27bringing a woman
46:29on board
46:29this military
46:30flight
46:30have caused
46:32a scandal
46:34I think
46:34it was the
46:35royal family
46:35but I think
46:36it was
46:36also
46:38the cabinet
46:39realising
46:40if there was
46:41a scandal
46:41attached
46:42to the crash
46:43that it would
46:44rebound
46:45on
46:46national
46:46burial
46:47and so
46:48the whole
46:49thing had
46:49to be covered
46:49up
46:50but again
46:51not everyone's
46:53convinced
46:54I don't think
46:55there is
46:56really any credit
46:58to the fact
46:58of there being
46:59a 16th person
47:00on board
47:00the aircraft
47:01the reason
47:02there was some
47:03confusion at the time
47:04it was a catastrophic
47:06crash
47:06so you may not
47:07be able to say
47:08straight away
47:09that's a body there
47:09that's another body there
47:10that's another body there
47:11the crash
47:13that killed
47:14the Duke of Kent
47:15has been attached
47:16to numerous
47:16wild theories
47:18from sabotage
47:19to stop
47:20an unofficial
47:21peace mission
47:21to mystery
47:23extra passengers
47:24on board
47:25to even
47:26collaborating
47:27with absconded
47:28Nazi leaders
47:31it does feel
47:32like the conspiracy
47:33theories are getting
47:34out of hand
47:35that they have
47:35snowballed in such
47:36a way
47:37as to really
47:37distort the reality
47:38of what took place
47:39the conspiracy theories
47:41I think these
47:41are all really
47:42for the birds
47:43in wartime
47:44planes didn't really
47:45have sophisticated
47:46radar
47:47you're really
47:48using your eyes
47:50I think it just
47:51looks like a terrible
47:52terrible flying accident
47:53people for various
47:55reasons
47:55some for good
47:57reasons
47:57some to make money
47:59have come up
48:00with all sorts
48:01of reasons
48:03of why
48:04or what
48:05if you have
48:06misinformation
48:07disinformation
48:08that almost always
48:09comes into
48:10because of a void
48:11people will fill a void
48:13with whatever they
48:13want to believe
48:14and they will make
48:15the facts
48:16fit
48:19the disappearance
48:20of official reports
48:21means it's hard
48:22to say for sure
48:23what happened
48:24but could a set
48:26of rarely seen
48:27documents
48:28reveal the truth
48:29I became aware
48:31of a number
48:31of documents
48:32which relate
48:33to this case
48:33in the National Archives
48:35of Australia
48:35I think this is
48:36a crucial piece
48:37of evidence
48:49the Duke of Kent
48:51was killed
48:51in a 1942
48:53plane crash
48:54in the decades
48:56since
48:56experts have
48:57debated
48:58what was the cause
48:59of this mysterious
49:00and tragic event
49:02now
49:04one man thinks
49:05he's found the truth
49:07Mike Morgan
49:08former detective
49:09turned military historian
49:12ever since I
49:13retired from the police
49:14I've researched
49:15a lot of aviation
49:16mysteries
49:17something made me
49:19question
49:19what was this
49:20really all about
49:21his research
49:22led him to discover
49:23hidden in the
49:24National Archives
49:25of Australia
49:26key missing documents
49:28from the inquiry
49:29into the crash
49:31the Australians
49:32were entitled
49:33to these documents
49:34because the co-pilot
49:35Sidney Wood Smith
49:36was a member
49:37of the Royal Australian
49:38Air Force
49:39officially
49:40the crash
49:41was blamed
49:41on pilot error
49:42by the experienced
49:44Sunderland operator
49:45flight lieutenant
49:46Frank Goyan
49:48but Morgan
49:49believes
49:50these revealing documents
49:51indicate
49:52another crew member
49:54may have been
49:56flying the plane
49:59the first few pages
50:01of the report
50:02lists the members
50:03of the crew involved
50:04and in this particular case
50:05on page one
50:06it shows
50:07that Mosley
50:08the wing commander
50:09was the first pilot
50:11and that Goyan
50:12was captain
50:13but later on
50:15on page three
50:16of the same document
50:17it says that
50:18the first pilot
50:19is now Goyan
50:20and the second pilot
50:22was Mosley
50:23so who's actually
50:24in charge of this aircraft
50:25I think this is a crucial
50:27piece of evidence
50:30Morgan believes
50:32this discrepancy
50:33in the documents
50:33indicates
50:34that the highly experienced
50:36flight lieutenant
50:37Frank Goyan
50:38was potentially
50:39not at the controls
50:42and instead
50:43it was the more senior officer
50:46but the much less experienced pilot
50:48wing commander
50:50Thomas Mosley
50:54Mosley was the commanding officer
50:56of 228 squadron
50:57he'd never flown
50:58one of the aircraft
50:59as a first pilot
51:01or captain before
51:01Mike believes
51:03Mosley could have been motivated
51:05to join the mission
51:06because
51:07the Duke
51:08was on board
51:10and Morgan's research
51:12has uncovered
51:13other members
51:14of the crew
51:15keen to fly
51:16alongside
51:16the VIP
51:18royal passenger
51:21the one person
51:22who survived
51:23Andrew Jack
51:24was reported
51:24to have told people
51:26that there'd been
51:27a drawing
51:27or tossing of coins
51:29to see
51:30who took what position
51:31within the aircraft
51:32they all wanted
51:33to be near
51:33the Duke of Kent
51:34as well as
51:36these complications
51:36prior to the flight
51:38Mike uncovered
51:39in an interview
51:40given in the 1990s
51:42claims of further
51:44disputes
51:44between crew members
51:46which could have had
51:48fatal consequences
51:49another officer
51:52Archie Bremner
51:53told an editor
51:54in an aviation magazine
51:55that he was deputed
51:58to be the navigator
51:59on the fatal flight
52:00however
52:01the navigators
52:02tossed coins
52:03as it so happens
52:04it was reported
52:06that George Saunders
52:08won
52:08and ultimately
52:09paid with his life
52:10George Saunders
52:11was an inexperienced
52:12or relatively
52:13inexperienced navigator
52:14I believe the compass
52:16was possibly
52:17incorrectly set
52:19and for that reason
52:20they flew
52:2113 degrees west
52:23on a magnetic heading
52:24straight into the hillside
52:25instead of flying
52:26up the east coast
52:29so what do
52:30Morgan's new revelations
52:32mean
52:32for the conclusion
52:34to this decades
52:35old mystery
52:36the fact that
52:38Frank Goyen
52:38has carried the can
52:39for well over 80 years
52:41when I don't believe
52:42it may necessarily
52:43have been his fault
52:44is very unfair
52:45I think it would be right
52:46all these years later
52:48if the Ministry of Defence
52:49would perhaps remove
52:51the burden of blame
52:52from Frank Goyen's shoulders
52:53I think you could go
52:55as far as saying
52:55it's a miscarriage of justice
52:57the crash that killed
52:59the Duke of Kent
53:00has been dogged
53:01for decades
53:02by conspiracy theories
53:03but Mike believes
53:05the evidence he's found
53:06indicates the only cover up
53:08by RAF officials
53:10may have been
53:11to divert attention away
53:13from the crew's actions
53:17perhaps because of everything
53:19that had gone on before
53:20I think the authorities
53:22are quite happy
53:22for the Rudolf Hess
53:24conspiracies
53:25to develop and continue
53:26because they divert away
53:28from what I believe
53:29is the truth
53:29I genuinely think
53:30it is not really
53:31a mystery at all
53:32it's just a whole
53:33series of errors
53:3614 men
53:37including a royal prince
53:39died in a terrible
53:41air crash
53:42in the Scottish Highlands
53:43in the middle
53:44of World War II
53:46these deaths
53:47were a national tragedy
53:48but hardest hit
53:50were the families
53:51left behind
53:52including the royal family
53:54and it is believed
53:56the memory of Prince George
53:58was kept alive
53:59by his niece
54:00the longest reigning monarch
54:03in British history
54:04Queen Elizabeth II
54:07the second last time
54:09Elizabeth II
54:10appeared on the balcony
54:11with her
54:12is Edward Duke of Kent
54:14son of George
54:15her beloved first cousin
54:17one of three children
54:19that really grew up fatherless
54:20that's incredibly close
54:22and important friendship
54:23within the royal family
54:24he provided the glamour
54:26the looks
54:27but also the duty
54:28he is only a footnote
54:30in history
54:30but he deserves
54:32at least to keep
54:32that foothold
54:35Prince George
54:36was a man
54:37whose lifestyle
54:38made the truth
54:39inconvenient
54:40especially
54:41in an institution
54:43like the royal family
54:44some of the more wild
54:46conspiracy theories
54:48surrounding his death
54:49may be wide of the mark
54:51but there certainly are
54:53unanswered questions
54:55the case continues
54:58to fascinate people
54:59even now
55:00because there's so many
55:01holes in the story
55:02this was a really
55:05important member
55:06of British society
55:08and he disappeared
55:10and with him
55:12went his name
55:13his reputation
55:15his history
55:16we will continue
55:18to ask questions
55:19and sooner or later
55:20the truth will come out
55:22to ask questions
55:52You
Comments