When his comic genius became an international phenomenon, it was a source of great pride back home in England.

But it seems Charlie Chaplin may not have been English at all – but a Frenchman with the alias Israel Thornstein.

The startling claims are made in  MI5 papers released for the first  time today.

Classified files reveal how the Security Service was baffled to find there were no records of Chaplin’s supposed birth in South London....