Prince Harry has finally published his long-awaited memoir, Spare, and as one can expect from anything slathered with royal honey, it’s selling like hotcakes. The book is supposed to tell his side of the story, how his family’s rule has shaped him, his time at war, and his well-documented exit from royalty hand in hand with his polarizing American wife.

For Harry, there was likely an incredible financial incentive and the promise of riches that would probably have never come had he remained a backup to the throne his entire life. His story proves that every so often, a person is scorned by an organization they were once part of and even loved, only to turn their backs against that very institution, telling their story and outing secrets that were never meant for the public eye.

Here are ten examples of members of secret societies who have spilled the beans.

Related: Top 10 Things Possibly Hidden In The Vatican Secret Archives

10 John Robison—Freemasons

A scientist with a long-established reputation in the British scientific community, John Robison was also a professor at Edinburgh University and an authority on mathematics and optics. In the late 1700s, Robison was also the author of Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, a book about the reach of the Freemasons. In particular, it focused on a Masonic cell—a source of hundreds and thousands of ominous conspiracy theories—the Illuminati. As a Mason himself, he had insider information about the workings of the organization and wrote about it all. As you might expect, the first edition sold out shortly after release and was published many times after that.

From Edinburgh, he witnessed the fall of the French monarchy and the dispossessing of the church as well as the entire French Revolution. This, he subsequently blamed on the Freemasons, suggesting that all the agents involved in the revolution were mere pawns in a much bigger game with ambitious ends.^[1]

9 Ed Decker—Mormon Church

Born in 1935, Ed Decker was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (or LDS Church) before he became a prominent member of the Christian group for ex-Mormons called Saints Alive in Jesus. Considered one of the most influential people with regard to the Mormon Church, Decker (in collaboration with Dave Hunt) penned a book known as The God Makers in which he exposed the inner workings of the church.

Decker’s relationship with the Mormon Church waned when he was exposed to the beliefs of other groups critical of Mormonism. He decided he could no longer live according to the premise that its founder, Joseph Smith, was called upon by God to restore pure Christianity to the world.^[2]

8 Stetson Kennedy—the KKK

Stetson Kennedy, a writer who documented life in the Depression era, produced a book showcasing the inner mechanisms of the notorious Ku Klux Klan. The work he was most known for, a book known as The Klan Unmasked, which hit the shelves in 1954, was set in motion in the 1940s when he set himself the goal of exposing the organization and its efforts to terrorize black citizens in the region.

In this book, he exposed many things that were not known to the public before then, like their folklore, secret handshakes, and passwords, as well as mocking their white sheet attire. With evidence collected from the grand dragon himself, he provided the IRS with enough information to press for collecting a $685,000 tax lien from the Klan. He also provided assistance with the drafting of a brief used by the state of Georgia to revoke the Klan’s national corporate charter and also testified in other Klan-related cases. Kennedy passed away at the age of 94 after decades of tormenting Klansmen.^[3]

7 Heinrich Himmler—Nazis

The architect of the Holocaust, the right-hand man of Adolf Hitler himself, kept a diary. Diaries kept by Himmler, compiled by Himmler’s assistant, covered most of the war and were discovered in 2013. Although Himmler did not technically “spill the beans,” as the title of the article suggests, they do provide a sobering account of one of history’s most vile men.

The diaries include over a thousand pages documenting day-to-day life, executions of Nazi-allied officers in Poland who refused to fight, and other details all the way to the Final Solution. They add depth to the understanding of Himmler’s character and the atrocious acts he gave the order for. One particular such order was to equip Auschwitz concentration camp with new guard dogs that could rip the prisoners apart. The diaries are personal and do not give insight into his emotional well-being or his relationships, but is that really necessary?^[4]

6 Jeannie Mills—People’s Temple

Jeannie Mills, her husband Al, and their two children left the People’s Temple in 1974. Previously known as Elmer and Deanna Mertla, they rose to positions of responsibility within the ranks of the church, with Deanna serving as the head of the Temple’s publication office and Elmer as their official photographer. After they left the church, the husband and wife pairing became two of the most vocal critics, also founding the Human Freedom Center, which acted as a refuge for other defectors from the temple. After the Jonestown tragedy, the center offered itself as a place to go for survivors.

In February 1980, the couple, along with their daughter (15 years old at the time), were murdered in their home in Berkley, igniting rumors that a death squad made up of previous members of the church had taken their lives. Evidence later showed that the sole survivor of the ordeal, their son Eddie Mills, was perhaps not as innocent as initially suggested, quelling some fears about the church death squads.^[5]

5 Leah Remini—Scientology

Known for her supporting role in the popular sitcom King of Queens, Leah Remini was also a member of the Church of Scientology. Brought into the church at the young age of eight when her mother converted, Remini’s decision to leave the church ultimately came down to her own nine-year-old daughter. One month after her exit from the group, Remini filed a missing person’s report for Scientology leader David Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, who has not been seen since 2007.

Since then, she has been an active opponent of the ideologies of the church and throws her weight behind cases against its members. She also produced a show about the inner workings of the religion called Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.^[6]

4 India and Catherine Oxenberg—NXIVM

Catherine and her daughter India signed up for NXIVM classes that were advertised as workshops to develop their entrepreneurial skills. It was at these workshops that India was recruited into a secret society within the organization, which ultimately ruined her relationship with her mother. It took the pair seven years to free themselves from the sex cult. Catherine eventually penned a memoir about her experience trying to save her daughter from the cult-like group to no avail.

India eventually saw the folly in her ways. The group founder, Keith Raniere, was found guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking, and possession of child pornography in connection with the group.^[7]

3 Janja Lalich—Democratic Workers Party

The Democratic Workers Party (DWP) was created in the U.S. in the 1970s by a collective of women led by Marlene Dixon. The party was one of the more controversial attempts to create a Marxist-Leninist party in the U.S., which championed sectarianism toward the forces on the left. The organization disbanded in 1985, but not before establishing a cult-like following for their primitive conception of Leninism and the Leninist party.

One of the party members and defectors, Janja Lalich, joined the DWP and was exposed to a range of strange requests and rules by which the party controlled her income and cut her off from her family entirely. She was ordered to pick a name and burn her belongings and was taken to book for spending time with her dying mother. Lalich has since become a sociologist and writer and has written numerous books about cults and coercion, exposing how these organizations work and recruit.^[8]

2 Joe Valachi—The Mafia (aka Cosa Nostra)

Joe Valachi, an American gangster who turned state informer in 1962, held a high rank in the Mafia, equivalent to that of sergeant, and was a member of the Lucky Luciano’s mob family. Convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to prison, Valachi received the promise of death from Vito Genovese. In a flat panic, Valachi killed a fellow prisoner in paranoia-induced rage, then opened up about the entire organization to the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Senate in retaliation to the death threats he received.

Considered one of the most influential informants in organized crime history, Valachi was on a mission to destroy the underworld that had betrayed him and put a $100,000 bounty on his head. He had lost his wife and his mob family, and consumed with guilt, he relied on government protection to keep him alive until his final days when a heart attack finally killed the rat.^[9]

1 Carlos Lehder—Medellín Drug Cartel

Lehder, who dipped his toes into the criminal underbelly by smuggling stolen cars into Canada and the American East Coast, which led to his incarceration, quickly made friends with the wrong people. He soon became a key player in the cocaine import business, persuading Goerge Jung to use planes to transport the drugs. Fast forward a few years when Lehder had worked his way up the ranks of the Medellín cartel, where he fell out of favor with the notorious Pablo Escobar. He was arrested shortly after that and sentenced to life in prison.

Authorities agreed to reduce Lehder’s jail term on the condition that he testify against former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, who had ties with the Medellín cartel and allowed them to ship cocaine through Panama. Lehder was placed under witness protection and eventually released from prison after serving his reduced sentence. He was deported to Germany, where he held citizenship through his father.^[10]

One of the best parts of classic James Bond films was the moment Q would pull out some wild new invention for the secret agent to use in his dashing exploits. Would it be a laser watch? Or would we see 007 wielding a set of bagpipes that doubled as a flamethrower? It turns out that the reality of spycraft is just as wild as the most fantastic films.

Here are ten of the weirdest bits of equipment a spy might find among their kit.

10 Famously Hard-Core Female Spies

10 Pipe Radio

Smoking is undoubtedly bad for your health but for CIA agents in the middle of the 20th century there were situations where smoking a pipe could save their life. The key to this pipe’s life-saving capabilities was found concealed in its stem – a radio receiver that could pick up transmissions and send them straight to the agent.

The pipe worked when the spy clenched it in their teeth. By vibrating the pipe was able to transfer sound directly into the ear via the bones of the skull. No one else would be able to hear what was being sent.

The CIA website which shows off some of the technology it has employed over the years doesn’t reveal whether the pipe could be used to smoke tobacco so best not to lend your spy pipe to anyone else.^[1]

9 Dead Rat

What do you do when you see a dead rat? If you leave it alone then you would probably make a poor spy. The CIA used dead rats to transfer information from their operatives. This was a very literal dead drop, which is the term used in spying when a secret location is used to pass things between agents without the two ever having to meet.

The rats were real – though hollowed out to provide a Velcro pouch for messages and money to be passed back and forth. The CIA was convinced to use them because there is no culture on Earth where people don’t recoil in horror from a dead rat. They were also impressed with the amount that could be stuffed inside one.

The only precaution needed was to dip the rats in Tabasco sauce before dropping them. While humans back away from dead rats a scavenging animal might want a bite of it – at least until they got a taste of the hot sauce.^[2]

8 Rectal Tool Kit

Being a spy is not all swanky parties and tuxedos. Sometimes a spy must go below and beyond to serve their country – they might be called on to hide the tools of their craft in their anus. The CIA rectal tool kit has everything a spy might need and all in a handy size for easy concealment.

Luckily for the spies the kit comes in a shatter-proof case so that they don’t get injured trying to remove it. Once out of its hiding place the kit opens to provide the secret agent with knives, drills, and picks. The kit offers everything that a spy might need to escape a sticky situation.

The rectal tool kit is an ingenious bit of engineering and miniaturisation that packs a lot of equipment into a small space. The British secret service might have come up with something similar. MI5’s official motto is “Regnum Defende” – “Defend the Realm.” It would be so easy to rebrand themselves to Rectum Defende.^[3]

7 Dog Poop Transmitter

If dead rats were used because people tend to avoid touching them then it was just a matter of time until dog poop was employed. During the Vietnam War devices referred to as Dog Doo Transmitters were placed along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Shaped to look like the droppings of “a medium sized-dog” the T-1151 contained a detector that transmitted back to American forces.

By dropping these technological turds along the trail US forces were able to monitor the movement of goods by opposition forces. Variants of this device were created to look like the droppings of indigenous animals. They could be used as both homing beacons to guide attacks or to transmit Morse code signals if an agent picked them up.

These devices were part of a trend in open concealment – where spy equipment was made to look like something that could be left anywhere. So people who don’t pick up after their dogs are just making spies’ jobs that much easier.^[4]

6 Hollow Coins

The ideal piece of spy kit is one that can be handled without anyone suspecting it is out of the ordinary in any way. You want to pick something that people see and hold every day. With coins being so ubiquitous they were an obvious target for espionage. In one case though it was a hollowed out coin that gave a spy away.

When a newspaper boy called Jimmy took a coin for his papers in 1953 he had accidentally accepted a piece of Cold War spy equipment. Dropping the coin he saw it break open and a miniature photograph fell out of the hollow inside. While it looked just like a normal nickel there was a miniscule hole drilled in the face that allowed it to be opened with a needle.

While the FBI was unable to decipher the numbers on the concealed photograph at first they were helped in picking up another spy when they found another hollow coin. Noticing the similarity to the coin Jimmy found they made arrests that broke up a Soviet spy ring.^[5]

10 Nazi Spies and Their Espionage Plots In America

5 Pipe Dagger

While second-hand smoking can seriously damage your health there was one piece of British spy kit that could have proved deadly. While it looked like a normal pipe with a quick twist it could be opened up to reveal a lethal steel blade inside. If an agent found themselves in need of giving a foe a quick stab then they would always have a knife to hand.

The pipe was created by the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. They were responsible for producing equipment to help secret agents behind enemy lines. While much of their work involved creating gadgets to help spies avoid detection some of their creations were weapons to help them survive in tight spots.

The British had a fondness for offensive pipes and also manufactured a pipe that concealed a small calibre gun.^[6]

4 Spy Basket

Not all pieces of spy equipment were completely surreptitious. Some of them were pretty obvious if you knew where to look. During the First World War the Germans used Zeppelins to spy behind enemy lines and perform bombing raids. The drawback with Zeppelins was that they were highly combustible and slow moving. Ground forces could easily shoot them down. One way to hide was to keep them above the clouds.

When the Zeppelin was above the clouds though it was impossible for them to see their targets. To make up for their blindness they would sometimes lower a platform called a spy basket on a metal wire. A spy would sit in a wicker chair in the small vessel as it descended below the clouds and issue orders back up to the ship.

While people on the ground could hear the Zeppelin’s engines they would be unable to locate it with their lights and the spy basket was too small to be seen from below.^[7]

3 Glasses With Cyanide Pill

It is a tired old trope in movies that spies like to surround themselves with suicide pills. The moment they are uncovered they can gnash down on a glass ampoule of poison and perform one very final escape. One popular version is the hiding of cyanide in a fake tooth they can bite down on. One of the few places cyanide has not been hidden is in teeth – imagine if the spy grinds their teeth in their sleep?

The CIA has revealed that they once produced a pair of glasses with a cyanide capsule hidden in the tip of the arms. The agent could pretend that they were having a deep think while chewing on their glasses when in fact they were committing suicide.

In one real case Alexander Dmitrievich Ogorodnik, codenamed Trigon, a Soviet-diplomat-turned-US-spy asked his handlers for a pen with a concealed cyanide pill. Given the rough handling he could expect if the KGB ever picked him up it was a reasonable request. Trigon was arrested. When he was about to be interrogated he asked to sign his confession with his special pen. He removed the capsule, bit on it, and was dead before he hit the floor.^[8]

2 Insectothopter

Oh to be a fly on the wall. Flies would make the best spies of all time. They would be the best bug in all of espionage. But the first attempts to make an insect spy device were not an unmitigated success.

Developed in the 1970s and made to resemble a dragonfly this first mobile listening device was the brain child of the CIA. Under perfect conditions the insect-shaped unmanned aerial vehicle could cover 200m in 60 seconds. Unfortunately the awkwardly named Isectothopter was just as awkward in the air. A light breeze would knock it well off course.

The Insectothopter was supposed to be guided by laser beams which would deliver it to its target. But given the limitations of its propulsion system it was never used in the field. With 50 years of development though it is entirely possible there are bugs out there that are indistinguishable from real bugs.^[9]

1 False Scrotum

When a spy needs to contact their handler in a hurry they would not have to look far for a radio if they were wearing one of the CIA’s false scrotums. Designed to be worn on the appropriate area of a male spy the scrotum was capacious enough to hide a miniature escape radio.

The idea was even if a spy was captured and strip-searched then this realistic scrotum would not draw too much attention. The rubber hiding device was naturally textured and even had wispy hairs attached. There is no word on who provided the model for the scrotum. Only the most dedicated spy catcher would linger long enough to detect the deception.

The false scrotum (which is something that is always fun to say) was unfortunately never put into widespread use. Or at least that is what the CIA wants you to believe…

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