Hotel ignores calls to honour Britain’s first female spy who inspired Bond girl
Krystyna Skarbek, who was half Jewish, inspired Ian Fleming's Vesper Lynd, a Russian double agent played by Ursula Andress and Eva Green
A hotel in Earl’s Court has ignored calls to honour with a blue plaque Britain’s first female spy, whose heroics inspired the first Bond girl, reports claim.
Krystyna Skarbek, who was half Jewish, inspired Ian Fleming’s Vesper Lynd, a Russian double agent played by Ursula Andress and Eva Green more recently.
But despite calls from Polish ambassador Arkady Jozef Rzegocki and English Heritage, 1 Lexham Gardens has refused to honour the Polish-born countess murdered at the age of 44 in the reception area of the then-called Shellbourne hotel, the Sunday Times reported.
Skarbek, who is buried in Kensal Green with soil from Poland, was stabbed through the heart in the hotel lobby with a combat knife by Dennis Muldowney, a man thought to be her ex-lover.
Winston Churchill’s “favourite spy”, she counted among her achievements skiing out of Nazi-occupied Poland with footage hidden in her gloves containing evidence of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi plans to invade the Soviet Union.
Skarbek was instrumental in the days leading up to D-Day and single-handedly convinced a Nazi garrison to defect. She was awarded the George Medal, France’s Croix de Guerre and made an OBE.
But despite her undercover prowess, Skarbek was denied opportunities in the millitary after the war, working instead as a hatcheck girl, a waitress and a lavatory cleaner.
Clare Mulley, whose book The Spy Who Loved chronicled Skarbek’s life, told the newspaper: “She suffered horrendous sexism.
“Men who were too young to have served in the war scribbled in the margins of her applications that she was a ‘little girl’ whose skills were exaggerated.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
