Anthony Blunt, an upper-class English intellectual, was a prominent member of the Cambridge spy ring - five talented young men who betrayed their country to further the communist cause. Blunt acted as a talent scout, supplying the names of possible recruits for the Soviets and during World War II he acted as a double agent, passing on secrets to Soviets contacts in London. After the defection of fellow Cambridge conspirator Kim Philby in 1964 Blunt confessed his involvement in exchange for immunity from prosecution, but his part in the ring was not was not made public until 1979. A passionate art historian, Blunt continued in his role as surveyor of the Queen's pictures and Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art. When his full role as the "fourth man" of the Cambridge spy ring was revealed in 1979 he was stripped of his knighthood and academic honours.