Queen and Duke visit top-secret spy centre

Published on Friday 23 October 2009 22:10

THE Queen and Duke of Edinburgh paid a private visit to the top-secret communications headquarters GCHQ, to celebrate 100 years of Britain's security services.

The royal visit is part of a week of events to mark the anniversary of Britain's Security Services – which were established in 1909 to keep track of German spies in the UK.

During her visit, the Queen met former intelligence officers who worked at Bletchley Park, the wartime code-breaking unit which was the forerunner to the Government Communications Headquarters as it is today.

The Queen last visited the "Doughnut" building in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in 2004, when she officially opened the building.

Workplace to 5,500 heavily vetted employees, the distinctive building is the nerve centre of the government's intelligence gathering operations.

Activities include deciphering codes, translating intercepted messages, working with overseas intelligence agencies and tracking and analysing financial transactions which may be linked to terrorism.

During her visit the Queen was briefed on some of the current operations of GCHQ which relate to military intelligence in Afghanistan, to the activities of al-Qaeda and to organised crime.

When it opened, the Doughnut was the second largest public sector building in Europe and cost an estimated 337million.

Prince Philip toured a quarter-mile long exhibition which encircles the entire building and tells of notable incidents in the history of the security services.

The prince, who followed a different programme to the Queen met staff who provided support to military operations in the Falklands, the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Iraq.

He also visited a memorial within GCHQ which commemorates members of staff who lost their lives during secret operations.