Spy Princess is the inspiring story of Noor Inayat Khan, a secret agent in the Second World War. A descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore, she became the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France in 1943 and worked under the code name Madeleine.
As her circuit collapsed around her, she remained the last link with London and refused to abandon her post despite the dangers. However, she was betrayed, arrested, tortured and shot in Dachau Concentration Camp. Britain posthumously awarded her the George Cross for her extraordinary bravery and France honoured her with the Croix de Guerre.
Based on interviews with her family, colleagues and secret service records, Shrabani Basu traces the journey of Noor Inayat Khan from her early life in Paris as a writer and a musician to her recruitment by the British secret service, her valuable work for the Allies and final death in a bleak concentration camp in September 1944.
This talk is part of our annual Bletchley Park series of events.
Speaker:
Shrabani Basu is a journalist and Sunday Times best-selling author. Her books include Victoria & Abdul, The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant and For King and Another Country, Indian Soldiers on the Western Front 1914-18. She is a frequent commentator on television and radio documentaries on BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
Her book Victoria & Abdul was recently adapted into a major Oscar-nominated feature film starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal. Spy Princess is being adapted for a play at the National Theatre and a television series.
She is the founder and chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust which successfully campaigned for a memorial for Noor in London. It was unveiled in 2012 by Princess Anne. She also applied for a Blue Plaque for Noor which was unveiled in August 2020 outside her London house.
