Exclusive: Magic and the military – why the King is a member of the Magic Circle
"It's said that the first known picture of magic taking place is on the wall of the great pyramid in Giza," says magician Norman Gee, as he gives me a rare tour of the Magic Circle and shows me a painting on the wall from Ancient Egypt.
He's going to show me their records of the long-standing association between magic and the military.
"Welcome to the House of 10,000 secrets," he said, as we climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the building.
Norman takes me to a cabinet with a display dedicated to the King. I had no idea that the head of our Armed Forces was a member of the Inner Magic Circle.
Norman describes the King as "one of our most famous members, probably the most famous member of all".
"Back in October 1975, when he was, of course, Prince Charles, he took his examination doing the famous three-cup trick," he said – the one featured on the wall of the Great Pyramid.
Norman shows me the three cups he used to complete his trick. They all have hieroglyphs on and were made in Cairo.
"He is a member of the Inner Magic Circle, which is the highest level you can get, and you can only achieve that by being invited by the president of the day," he explained.
Next up on the tour is a display all about the comedian and magician Tommy Cooper.
"Tommy Cooper served in the Second World War, and he was performing in Cairo," he said.
"Tommy was a bit disorganised. He was a bit late for his entrance and realised that he needed to be wearing a hat.
"And as he went through the audience he grabbed the fez from a waiter. And the rest is history. Just like that, he ended up always wearing a fez."
In the basement of the HQ of the Magic Circle, is a museum which reveals more stories of former members who served during WW2 and beyond.
Before we take a look at more military examples, Norman points over to the corner and informs me that Sooty is the only non-human member of the Magic Circle.
In the basement, a small card reads: "In the theatre of war, magic proves a valuable resource on many fronts, from entertaining troops to illustrating propagandist ideas.
"Although, by nature, conflict encourages strategies on the ground, whereby cunning and conning become indistinct, here we concentrate on illusions employed beyond the battlefield to raise moral or instil antipathy towards the enemy."
It is here that Norman tells me about Fergus Anckorn, a prisoner of war at the infamous River Kwai camp.
"He soon realised by performing magic tricks for his Japanese captors, he could get hold of extra food. He went to the cookhouse," he said.
"The cook said, 'what do you want?' And he said, '50 eggs'. Not surprisingly, his whole hut ended up with a 50-egg omelette that evening.
"He reconstructed one of the egg shells and did the trick, which went down very well.
But he was summoned the following day to explain what happened to the other eggs and then in a brainwave moment, he managed to say, your magic trick was so important that I was practising all day, and so he felt that he was very lucky, and he escaped with his head."
Norman showed me a display in their museum featuring Lance Corporal Richard Jones.
He was the first magician to win Britain's Got Talent and used cards depicting Fergus in his act. Fergus then appeared on stage with him.
Fergus died at the age of 99 in 2018, but not before becoming the longest-serving member of The Magic Circle.
Magicians are performing special shows at the HQ of the Magic Circle – V for Victory and M for Magic – to mark the anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day and pay tribute to military magicians who served during the war.
One of those magicians is the only current serving member of the Magic Circle, Captain Pete Donnelly from 36 Regiment, Royal Engineers.
After showing me some impressive magic tricks, including some fork bending, he said "we're talking about the magicians that served in World War Two that were serving members of the Magic Circle, as well as, serving members of the Army and took part in World War Two".
"So it means quite a lot to me to be asked to take part in the show," he said. "And, I was quite proud when Norman asked me to do it.
"The routine that I'm going to perform is quite an impressive routine, but it's all going to be themed around World War Two and a love story."
There were some parts of the tour that were strictly off limits, including the inner sanctum and the vast library containing thousands of books and writings about magic.
You can't talk about military magicians of that era without talking about Jasper Maskelyne.
"If you've not read it, read the book The War Magician and some of the stuff that Jasper did, you know, deception against the Germans, was absolutely amazing," Norman said.
"And, you know, groundbreaking stuff of its day."
Jasper was one of our members during the Second World War, very much involved in subterfuge, and we know was particularly involved in high-quality prints on silk for maps for prisoners to use for escaping, and also, disguising a compass as a button."
It was fascinating being given such a rare tour and learning about the links between magic and the military.
Both Norman and Capt Donnelly hope they can bring a touch of magic to the 80th anniversary commemorations for VE Day and VJ Day and share these stories with new generations.
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