William joins security services in terrorism fight

Prince William, the duke of Cambridge, has spent three weeks working with the United Kingdom's security services, it has been revealed.

His time spent inside the foreign intelligence service MI6, home security service MI5 and at the government security listening center GCHQ was only made public once his time there had finished.

He called the experience "truly humbling", adding "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," he added.

"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."

A statement from GCHQ's head of counter-terrorism operations, who is anonymous, praised his contribution, saying "William worked exceptionally hard to embed himself in the team and comfortably held his own amongst some highly skilled analysts and operators.

"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 UK safe."

William, who is second in line to the throne behind his father Prince Charles, has previously served in the Royal Air Force as a search and rescue helicopter pilot. More recently, he spent two years working as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance service.

Prior to doing his military training at Sandhurst, the 36-year-old also got a taste of working life with stints at several City financial institutions including the London Stock Exchange and the Bank of England.

GCHQ celebrated its centenary earlier this year, an anniversary which was marked by a visit from William's grandmother, the Queen, to its former headquarters in London. It is now based outside the capital in the county of Gloucestershire.

Currently, the UK remains on a "severe" threat level from international terrorism, which means the chances of an attack are rated as "highly likely".

The head of MI6 has warned that despite the Islamic State organization's military defeat in Syria, it is likely to be preparing more attacks, and in January, the former head of MI5, Baroness Manningham-Buller, said that the country would be less safe if it left the European Union under a no-deal Brexit.