Secrets, spy gear, and a 110-year old lemon star in MI5 exhibition in London

A close-up of a 'Robot Star 50' concealment camera, used extensively for covert intelligence operations in the 1950s, which forms part of ‘MI5: Official Secrets’, a new exhibition exploring the history of the British intelligence agency at The National Archives in London. Photo: Reuters

A desiccated 110-year-old lemon that played a key role in espionage history is one of the star attractions of a London exhibition drawn from the files of MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency.

Compact spy cameras, microdots in a talcum powder tin and a briefcase abandoned by fleeing Soviet spy Guy Burgess are also part of the show at Britain’s National Archives, which charts the history of a secretive agency that is - slowly - becoming more open.