Prince William — second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles — spent three weeks as an intern in Britain’s intelligence services, shadowing officers and learning how they deal with risks to the UK’s national security and economy.
A Kensington Palace release on Sunday said that Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, found the experience “humbling” while interning in the three intelligence services: MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.
According to a senior officer at GCHQ, Prince William, who has previously trained with the armed forces, worked “exceptionally hard” during the three weeks.
“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,” said Prince William after the placements ended on Saturday.
He added that staff at the security and intelligence agencies “work in secret, often not even able to tell their family and friends about the work they do or the stresses they face. We all owe them deep gratitude for the difficult and dangerous work they do.”
Prince William also observed counter-terrorism teams analysing intelligence and carrying out investigations.
{{/usCountry}}Prince William also observed counter-terrorism teams analysing intelligence and carrying out investigations.
{{/usCountry}}The unnamed head of counter-terrorism operations at GCHQ, said in a statement: “William worked exceptionally hard to embed himself in the team and comfortably held his own amongst some highly skilled analysts and operators.”