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King Charles III

Secrets and Spies: Charles's unannounced visit to GCHQ

<![CDATA[The Prince of Wales visited GCHQ Scarborough on Wednesday to commemorate the centenary of the oldest existing intercept station in the world.
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Patron of the Intelligence Services, The Prince met, in private, the men and women who work at the station and had a chance to see some historical elements, which correlate to the site’s 100 year history.
Charles had the opportunity to look into the original bunker used in until the 1970s as well as the station’s museum which houses various listening and decoding devices including an Enigma machine.
Since 2011, Charles has awarded The Prince of Wales Intelligence Community Awards to members of the Secret Intelligence Service, Security Service and Government Communications Headquarters at St James’s Palace.
The Prince and Duchess of Cornwall, also attended the Royal Premiere of the James Bond film Skyfall in 2012, with proceeds donated, at The Prince’s request, to charities supporting the Intelligence Services.
GCHQ Scarborough is located at Irton Moor in North Yorkshire. The original station dates back to 1912 when the Royal Navy established a Wireless Telegraphy station in the Scarborough area. It was relocated in 1943 to the present site.
Since 1914 it has conducted Signals Intelligence (Sigint) in support of both the defence of the United Kingdom and its armed forces. The site commemorates its centenary throughout 2014.
From the Zimmermann Telegram to Bletchley Park, from the Cold War to the present, GCHQ work to protect the UK from a range of established and emerging threats which challenge the nation’s security and interests.
Photo Credit: Korona Lacasse via photopin cc]]>