After numerous attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria, Britain's secret services were instituted on a private and informal basis, built on personal relationships between senior agents, the aristocracy, and the monarchy. The royals' reliance on intelligence deepened in the wake of the Russian Revolution, but in this lively history we find the partnership was not always cozy; agents kept Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson under scrutiny for their fascist sympathies, turning a royal family feud into a national security crisis. It was George VI who restored trust between British intelligence and the House of Windsor, while Elizabeth II regularly acted on her right to advise and warn, raising her eyebrow knowingly at prime ministers and spymasters alike.