How William Went Undercover With U.K Spy Agencies?

As if he couldn’t get cooler, we just found out that Prince William, 36, spent three weeks immersing himself in the world of espionage. During that period, he worked with the United Kingdom’s Security and Intelligence Agencies (the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), the Security Service and GCHQ), with his attachment finishing this weekend, as his office announced in a press statement on Saturday.

For the last five years, the threat level for international terrorism in the U.K. is set to severe, making it worthy of the Prince’s attention, with William being “keen to see first-hand the extraordinary work that staff across the Security and Intelligence Agencies do,” his office at Kensington Palace said.

“These agencies are full of people from everyday backgrounds doing the most extraordinary work to keep us safe,” he added.

They work in secret and are not even able to tell their family and friends about the work they do every day or the stresses they face.

“They are driven by an unrivalled patriotism and dedication to upholding the values of this country,” William said. “We all owe them deep gratitude for the difficult and dangerous work they do.”

For the first week of his assignment, he spent a week at SIS-which you might know more as MI6-whose officers work secretly overseas, developing foreign contacts and gathering intelligence that helps the U.K. safer and prosperous. You know the usual Bond stuff. While with them the SIS showed him how they help the U.K.  identify and exploit opportunities as well as navigate risks to its national security, military effectiveness and economy from those who wish the country harm.

For his second week, it was off to MI6’s less popular cousin MI5, or better known as the Security Service. There he worked alongside counter-terrorism teams and saw how they conduct their investigations, including understanding the role of analysis and surveillance.

During the third and final week, he was attached to GCHQ in Cheltenham (which is actually known as the U.K.’s listening posts). With them, he got the chance to see how experts using cutting-edge technology, technical ingenuity and wide-ranging partnerships to identify, analyze and disrupt threats.

In the statement, “David,” GCHQ Head of Counter-Terrorism Operations, praised the royal for working “exceptionally hard to embed himself in the team and comfortably held his own amongst some highly skilled analysts and operators.”

 

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The Duke of Cambridge has concluded a three week attachment to the UK’s Security and Intelligence Agencies (MI5, MI6 and @GCHQ). The attachment comes as the three security services continue their vital work both at home and abroad to keep our people and our allies safe. The Duke of Cambridge said: “Spending time inside our security and intelligence agencies, understanding more about the vital contribution they make to our national security, was a truly humbling experience. These agencies are full of people from everyday backgrounds doing the most extraordinary work to keep us safe. They work in secret, often not even able to tell their family and friends about the work they do or the stresses they face. They are driven by an unrivalled patriotism and dedication to upholding the values of this country. We all owe them deep gratitude for the difficult and dangerous work they do.” The Duke’s assignment began with a week at the Secret Intelligence Service – MI6 – who work secretly overseas, developing foreign contacts and gathering intelligence that helps to make the UK safer and more prosperous. They help the UK identify and exploit opportunities as well as navigate risks to its national security, military effectiveness and economy. His second week was spent at the Security Service – MI5 – where he saw their work to protect our national security, particularly against threats from terrorism. He finished his assignment at the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham, where he spent time with those using cutting-edge technology, technical ingenuity and wide-ranging partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. With the threat level for international terrorism in the UK set at SEVERE or above for the last five years, the Duke was keen to see first-hand the extraordinary work that staff across the Security and Intelligence Agencies do — visit @GCHQ to find out more about the work of Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Apr 6, 2019 at 4:02pm PDT

He added, “His Royal Highness asked some probing questions and demonstrated a real grasp of our mission. This was a rare opportunity to expose, in detail, the technical ingenuity and problem-solving skills needed on a daily basis to help keep the U.K. safe.”

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