Prince of Wales Identity Committee

The Prince of Wales Identity Committee, or POWIC, was a special committee established by the MI5 during the mid-1930's by the agency's then Director General, Sir Vernon Kell, to investigate the actual identity of the then Prince of Wales (later King Charles III). It was done so in response to a popular rumour alleging that the prince had supposedly been the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, whom had supposedly escaped his infamous execution by the Bolsheviks on July 17th 1918. The investigation ultimately proved unsuccessful, and the committee was thereby disbanded. Its existence was only recognised by the British government on February 2018.

Background

Sometime after the infamous execution of the Russian imperial family by left-wing Bolsheviks on July 17th 1918, a rumour had circulated that one of the Tsar's daughters, Grand Duchess Anastasia had supposedly escaped the execution before promptly assuming a new identity. While this rumour was quickly scrutinised and shut down by the living members of the Russian imperial family themselves, an another similarly themed rumour later came about sometime in the mid-1930's, when a local British citizen, whom had apparently caught the Prince of Wales supposedly conversing in Russian (later revealed to be German), was led to believe that the then eighteen year old prince had in fact been the last Tsar of Russia. As the memory of the notorious late Russian monarch was still considerably prevalent among the British public, it was quick to gain traction although several people, including the living members of the Russian imperial family, once more criticised the new claim, with the late Tsar's sister in particular, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna specifically pointing out that it would have been illogical for the late Tsar to have appeared with such a young physique at the time when had he survived his execution, he would have already been past sixty years of age, thus warranting a more elderly physique, different than that seen in the much younger Prince of Wales.

Investigation

Around the same time, then Director General of MI5, Vernon Kell, whom had prior led his agency to multiple successes in espionage activities was said to had been specifically intrigued by the claim. Consequently, he then established a special committee, named the Princess of Wales Identity Committe, in order to establish the authenticity of the supposed claim.

Throughout its entire operational service length, the committee reportedly undertook several particular measures in order to verify the actual identity of the then Prince of Wales. These methods reportedly include:

• A staged interview with the prince in the Russian language headed by a member of the committee fluent in the Russian language.
• Discreet surveillance of the prince's daily activities using supposedly bribed palace staff.
• A test where the prince would read a number of provided Russian books, and a subsequent test where the prince would write a fake letter entirely in Russian.

Aftermath

Ultimately, all the tests conducted by the committee proved generally unsuccessful, although this was only firmly established after several further retakes, as it was initially believed that the supposed "Tsar of Russia" was concealing his Russian identity. Soon after this, the committee was promptly disbanded, with its existence being rendered a general secret due to agency policies and the wish to avoid a rift with the royal family should its existence ever be made publicly known at the time. Nevertheless, on February 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged the existence of the committee, in which she then expressed the "deepest regrets for any unwanted ramifications the revelation might present".