One summer’s day in 2002 I found myself in the garden of Henry Lincoln’s house (with him in attendance, I should add, in case you imagine me to be some kind of stalker), where we sat and chatted about Rennes-le-Château, and a few other subjects besides.
I had met Henry several times before at conferences organised by the Saunière Society and when I contacted him asking for an interview he was more than happy to oblige. Parts of the interview, relating to his work on Doctor Who, have appeared before, but the more fortean material has not.
A HIDDEN MESSAGE
By any measure of success, the late Henry Lincoln achieved a great deal during his life – including careers as a successful actor and an accomplished scriptwriter – but to forteans he will always be the man who brought the mystery of Rennes le Château and its treasure to the English-speaking world.
Born Henry Soskin in 1930, he did his national service in the late 1940s in the Middle East, where he joined a theatre group. When he left the Army, he continued as an actor, and was often to be found doodling away in rehearsals in self-taught hieroglyphics. His interest in Egyptology soon became known and when playing an Arabic villain on one ATV programme he was asked to check the script for authenticity. He reported that it was somewhat lacking, and was asked to rewrite it. This he did, with enormous success, and was soon spending more time writing than acting. His roles included appearances in The Champions, Man in a Suitcase, The Avengers, Coronation Street and Z Cars (58 roles, according to IMDB). His writing credits included Doctor Who and the Boris Karloff/Christopher Lee film The Curse of the Crimson Altar, along with regular work on Emergency Ward 10 and various documentaries.
In 1969, on a family holiday to Monserat, Lincoln came across the 1967 book (later republished as or “The Accursed Treasure”) by
