A private detective has lifted the lid on Banksy’s ‘extraordinarily discreet’ life with his wife and young daughter in a rural English village – where they live in a ‘bunker’ style home with a ‘remarkable level of security’.

Spaniard Francisco Marco first confirmed the street artist to be 53-year-old Bristolian Robert Gunningham some 22 months ago.

In an exclusive with Spanish newspaper El Mundo, published in April 2025, the Barcelona-based PI revealed how his firm spent weeks combing through international documents, property listings and bank records to ‘crack the case’.

However, the detective’s revelation went largely unnoticed outside of Spain.

Then, last month, Reuters said it had confirmed Gunningham’s identity following their own extensive investigation, seemingly confirming all of Marco’s findings.

Speaking to the Spanish Eye, Marco said he began looking into Gunningham after his children dared him to do it, telling him: ‘If you’re such a good detective, find out who Banksy is.’

As a passionate lover of art and a fan of Banksy himself, he decided to ‘take on the challenge’.

Marco said one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle was the artist’s wedding in Las Vegas in 2006 – adding that a person’s marriage certificate is one of the most revealing documents they can have.

Marco was then able to track Gunningham down to a village some 30km outside of Bristol.

He said he found the home by tracing real estate and documentary evidence and cross-referencing property records with the artist’s many aliases.

He described it as a discreet and well-protected property that is surrounded by cameras, and even branded it a ‘bunker’ due to the high level of security – especially in such a peaceful village.

Marco said he did not want to reveal too much because ‘I don’t want Banksy and his family to be harassed by fans.’

‘Identifying someone is one thing, but turning their house into a pilgrimage site for journalists and the curious is another. I’m not going to cross that line,’ he said.

Banksy and his wife are known in the area as Mr and Mrs Jones and are said to live a ‘quiet and discreet’ life.

Marco said his investigation discovered that Banksy met regularly with other artists in the area, but no one revealed his identity to the outside world becuase there is a kind of ‘circle of trust’.

He continued: ‘I can also confirm that Gunningham has a daughter with his wife. They live an extraordinarily discreet life.

‘She is a former political activist, which fits with Banksy’s ideological profile: his art has always had a very strong social and political charge.’

Marco said he is ‘impressed’ by how Gunningham was able to hide his identity for so many years.

Describing how he did it, Marco divided his combination of techniques into three levels, the first one being ‘the legal layer’.

‘He formally changed his name to David Jones after the press pointed him out in 2008,’ he said.

‘His former representative, Steve Lazarides, arranged the change. That severed any documentary connection between Robin Gunningham and his activities.

‘Second, the operational layer: he always worked at night, with small, highly trusted teams, using vehicles with no connection to his real identity. His teams all have signed NDAs.

‘Third, the social layer: living in a rural town, avoiding social media, not appearing in photographs, maintaining an extremely closed circle.’

Marco said there is also a fourth level that is ‘often overlooked’, which is ‘the complicity of those around him.’

He added: ‘Many people in the art world knew or suspected who he was, but maintaining the mystery benefited everyone.

‘An anonymous Banksy is worth more than a Banksy with a face.’

Indeed, according to Marco, Banksy operated with a business acumen that ‘completely belies the image of a rebellious street artist.’

‘At the heart of it all is Pest Control Office Ltd, which is the only entity authorised to authenticate his works,’ he explained.

‘If you want to sell a legitimate Banksy, you need a certificate from Pest Control. That gives him an absolute monopoly over his own market.

‘In 2023, Pest Control had assets worth 4.6 million pounds and almost 2 million in cash, with nine employees.

‘Then there are other companies through which the money flows. It’s a typical asset protection structure that I routinely see in my forensic accounting cases.

‘His wealth is protected with a very well-designed corporate architecture.’

But how much money Gunningham has actually made remains a mystery, although public estimates place his net worth at around $50 million.

Marco says this is a reasonable figure ‘if you limit yourself to publicly trackable auction sales’.

He added: ‘”Devolved Parliament” sold for £9.9 million, “Love is in the Bin” for £18.5 million. ‘But it’s important to keep in mind that Banksy controls an ecosystem of companies designed for opacity.

‘It’s not easy to know exactly how much he generates through private sales, merchandising, copyrights, and the various corporate vehicles we’ve identified.

‘So, 50 million is what can be documented; the real figure could be higher. But what impresses me most isn’t his value, but that he’s never let money define his art. That’s rare and admirable.’

Marco confirmed that Banksy doesn’t work alone, saying he has an operational circle of accountants, managers, his lawyer Mark Stephens, and the employees of Pest Control.

‘Banksy is a brand, and like any brand, it needs a team to function,’ Marco said.

‘But the vision, the ideas, and the decisions are his. And that’s what keeps his work authentic: behind the business structure is an artist with real convictions, not a marketing committee.’

Marco branded Gunningham a ‘strategist’, saying he has ‘built a system of identity protection over 30 years that works like clockwork.’

‘He has the artistic and political vision of an activist, but the business acumen of a CEO,’ he said.

‘He lives relatively modestly for someone of his wealth – a country house, not a Mayfair penthouse – which tells me that money isn’t his primary motivation.

‘What drives him is control: control over his narrative, his market, his legacy. And I must admit that as an intelligence professional, I respect him.

‘He has been a difficult subject to investigate, not because of technical complexity, but because of the consistency of his operational discipline over decades. That requires uncommon willpower.’