His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales pays Centenary Visit to GCHQ
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales paid a special visit to GCHQ's Cheltenham Headquarters, as part of the centenary celebrations for the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency
The visit by The Prince, who is Patron for GCHQ, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and MI5, was also marked by a 'Centenary Flypast' from the world-famous Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, who soared over GCHQ's iconic 'Doughnut' trailing red, white, and blue smoke.
His Royal Highness toured the building with Director GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, met staff from across the organisation, and received a number of Top Secret briefings. Later, His Royal Highness delivered a special address to staff.
His Royal Highness also heard about the efforts of the National Cyber Security Centre - part of GCHQ - to improve cyber literacy among young people.
Director GCHQ Jeremy Fleming said:
"It was an honour to welcome His Royal Highness to our headquarters to commemorate 100 years of GCHQ's crucial work keeping the country safe.
"This was an opportunity to say thank you to our brilliant workforce who, over the last century, have saved countless lives, shortened wars and solved some of the world’s hardest technology challenges.
"It was also a chance to look to our future – to the unprecedented rate of change and extraordinary opportunities of the digital age. We’re making the most of GCHQ’s unique talents to create a new kind of security and intelligence mission fit for our second century."
As part of GCHQ's commitment to inspire the next generation of STEM and cyber experts, The Prince was introduced to teachers and students from Gloucestershire schools taking part in the 'Cyber Schools Hubs' pilot.
The pilot is part of the NCSC’s efforts to address the current cyber security skills gap, developing a talent pipeline to meet the UK's future cyber security needs.
His Royal Highness also met a team from Girlguiding South West England, who showed off their new set of Girl Guides' Cyber Skills badges, developed in conjunction with the NCSC.
Before departing, The Prince planted a tree - similar to those found at his private residence at Highgrove - to officially open a centenary garden for GCHQ staff promoting mental health and wellbeing.
