Prince William Spent Three Weeks With UK Spy Agents

Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas - WPA Pool/Getty Images.

Prince William. A royal. A father. And a...spy?

If that last one threw you for a loop, you are not alone. Apparently, the Duke of Cambridge spent three weeks learning the art of espionage, Kensington Palace revealed in a shocking Instagram. Just call him William. Prince William.

With international terrorism levels circling around a “severe” level in the United Kingdom, the royal reportedly thought it was high time to learn more about what the U.K.’s security and intelligence agencies do day-to-day.

“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,” Prince William said in the Instagram post.

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The Duke of Cambridge has concluded a three week attachment to the UK’s Security and Intelligence Agencies (MI5, MI6 and @GCHQ). The attachment comes as the three security services continue their vital work both at home and abroad to keep our people and our allies safe. The Duke of Cambridge said: “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. 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. 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.” The Duke’s assignment began with a week at the Secret Intelligence Service – MI6 – who work secretly overseas, developing foreign contacts and gathering intelligence that helps to make the UK safer and more prosperous. They help the UK identify and exploit opportunities as well as navigate risks to its national security, military effectiveness and economy. His second week was spent at the Security Service – MI5 – where he saw their work to protect our national security, particularly against threats from terrorism. He finished his assignment at the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham, where he spent time with those using cutting-edge technology, technical ingenuity and wide-ranging partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. With the threat level for international terrorism in the UK set at SEVERE or above for the last five years, the Duke was keen to see first-hand the extraordinary work that staff across the Security and Intelligence Agencies do — visit @GCHQ to find out more about the work of Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Apr 6, 2019 at 4:02pm PDT

Prince William’s three-week assignment began at Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), where officers gather intelligence from foreign contacts. Next, he spent time at the Security Service, working alongside counter-terrorism teams and learning how they track, monitor, and investigate potential threats. For the final week, he immersed himself in the world of technology. Here, experts showed him how they use software to identify, analyze, and nix threats.

Now, we’ve got questions. Did Prince William get to keep any spy equipment? Did he learn to hack? Will he be hacking into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new house, talking over the intercom, and flickering the lights like Pat from Smart House? I mean, that would be a pretty awesome housewarming prank. Maybe. Kind of. As long as he does it after the baby is born — wouldn’t want to send Meghan into early labor.

Prince William obviously isn’t trading his place in line for the throne for James Bond work, but everyone needs a side hustle, right?