Richard Dearlove
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| Richard Dearlove | |
| C | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom  |
|---|---|
| Service | Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) |
| Active | 1966 - 2004 |
| Rank | Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service |
| Award(s) | KCMG, OBE |
| Born | 23 January 1945 Gorran Haven, Cornwall |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Intelligence officer |
| Alma mater | Queen's College, Cambridge |
Sir Richard Billing Dearlove, KCMG, OBE (born 23 January 1945) was head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1999 until 6 May 2004.
[edit] Career
Dearlove was born in Gorran Haven in Cornwall[1] and attended Monkton Combe School near Bath, the Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, and Queens' College, Cambridge.[2] He joined MI6 in 1966 and was posted to Nairobi in 1968.[3] After being posted to Prague, Paris and Geneva he became head of Washington station in 1991,[3] director of personnel and administration in 1993 and director of operations in 1994.[3] He became chief in 1999.[3]
Dearlove's tenure as the head of MI6, or "C", saw many momentous events for the service:
- 2000 - MI6 Headquarters at Vauxhall Cross is attacked by an anti-tank guided missile.
- 2001 - Service criticised for failing to establish and warn that Al-Qaeda was planning anything on the scale of the September 11th attacks.
- The "War on Terror", the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- Tension with the Government over the evidence for war on Iraq. It has been suggested that many within the intelligence community were uneasy that their qualified judgements on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were presented as hard facts in various dossiers (e.g. September Dossier). In July 2002, Sir Dearlove told ministers that in the US "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy".[4]
Dearlove became Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge on 1 August 2004.[3] He accepted an invitation to become the Chairman of Trustees of the Cambridge Union Society in 2006.[1] As Master of Pembroke College he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Pembroke House, a community centre in Walworth, South London linked to the college and to the connected Church of England parish St Christopher's, Walworth.[5]
In February 2008 Dearlove gave evidence at the inquest of Princess Diana's death, responding to Harrod's owner Mohamed al-Fayed who claimed that MI6 had murdered Diana.[3]
He is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society principles. [6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Exeter University: Honorary Graduates
- ^ New MI6 spymaster named, BBC News, 25 February 1999. Accessed 13 February 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Profile: Sir Richard Dearlove BBC News, 20 February 2008
- ^ Five key questions to be answered, The Guardian
- ^ Pembroke College Mission
- ^ Signatories to the Statement of Principles, Henry Jackson Society
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir David Spedding |
Chief of the SIS 1999 - 2004 |
Succeeded by Sir John Scarlett |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Roger Tomkys |
Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge 2004 - |
Succeeded by incumbent |
