Richard Dearlove
Encyclopedia
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.
in Cornwall
and attended Monkton Combe School
near Bath, the Kent School
in Kent, Connecticut
, and Queens' College, Cambridge
. He joined MI6 in 1966 and was posted to Nairobi
in 1968. After being posted to Prague
, Paris
and Geneva
he became head of Washington
station in 1991, director of personnel and administration in 1993 and director of operations in 1994. He became chief in 1999.
Dearlove's tenure as the head of MI6, or "C", saw many momentous events for the service:
Dearlove became Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
on 1 August 2004. He accepted an invitation to become the Chairman of Trustee
s of the Cambridge Union Society
in 2006. 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.
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.
He is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society
principles.
He is also a "senior advisor" to the Monitor Group - a global consultancy and private equity firm which has been implicated in undertaking PR work for Libya and Muammar Qadhafi.
On 15 February 2011 Dearlove gave a talk at the Cambridge Union Society
, taking as his theme the question of how much secrecy the UK needs:"The short answer to that question is that it needs some but actually not as much as you think." He said he "would definitely draw a parallel at the moment between the wave of political unrest which is sweeping through the Middle East, in a very excited and rather extraordinary fashion, and also the Wikileaks phenomenon", but added later, in connection with the way technological advances was altering the norms of civic and private life, commenting on WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange
, that " ... the Assange story, as such, is ultimately a distraction. He's a very undignified flag-carrier, in my opinion, for a very important issue."
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 23 January 1945) was head of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(MI6) from 1999 until 6 May 2004.
Career
Dearlove was born in Gorran HavenGorran Haven
Gorran Haven is a fishing village on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately south of Mevagissey.The village lies in a cove between two sandy beaches...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and attended Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School is an independent boarding and day school of the British public school tradition, near Bath, England. The Senior School is located in the village of Monkton Combe, while the Prep School, Pre-Prep and Nursery are in Combe Down on the southern outskirts of Bath...
near Bath, the Kent School
Kent School
Kent School is a private, co-educational college preparatory school in Kent, Connecticut, USA. The Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill, Order of the Holy Cross, established the school in 1906 and it retains its affiliation with the Episcopal Church of the United States.Students at Kent come from more...
in Kent, Connecticut
Kent, Connecticut
Kent is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, alongside the border with New York. The population was 2,858 at the 2000 census. The town is home to three New England boarding schools: South Kent School, Kent School and The Marvelwood School. The Schaghticoke Indian Reservation is also located...
, and Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
. He joined MI6 in 1966 and was posted to Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
in 1968. After being posted to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
he became head of Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
station in 1991, director of personnel and administration in 1993 and director of operations in 1994. He became chief in 1999.
Dearlove's tenure as the head of MI6, or "C", saw many momentous events for the service:
- 2000 - MI6 HeadquartersSIS BuildingThe SIS Building, also commonly known as the MI6 Building, is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service . It is known within the intelligence community as Legoland and also as "Babylon-on-Thames" due to its resemblance to an ancient Babylonian ziggurat...
at Vauxhall Cross is attacked by an anti-tank guided missileAnti-tank guided missileAn anti-tank missile , anti-tank guided missile , anti-tank guided weapon or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored military vehicles....
. - 2001 - Service criticised for failing to establish and warn that Al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
was planning anything on the scale of the September 11th attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. - The "War on TerrorWar on TerrorThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
", the U.S. invasion of AfghanistanWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
and the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. - 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 destructionWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
were presented as hard facts in various dossiers (e.g. September DossierSeptember DossierIraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government, also known as the September Dossier, was a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002 on the same day of a recall of Parliament to discuss the contents of the document...
). In July 2002, Dearlove told ministers that in the US "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy".
Dearlove became Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
on 1 August 2004. He accepted an invitation to become the Chairman of Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s of the Cambridge Union Society
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
in 2006. As Master of Pembroke College he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Pembroke House, a community centre in Walworth
Walworth, London
Walworth is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Southwark. Walworth probably derives its name from the Old English "Wealhworth" which meant Welsh farm. It is located south east of Charing Cross and near to Camberwell and Elephant and Castle.The major streets in Walworth are the Old...
, South London linked to the college and to the connected Church of England parish St Christopher's, Walworth.
In February 2008 Dearlove gave evidence at the inquest of Princess Diana's death, responding to Harrod's owner Mohamed al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...
who claimed that MI6 had murdered Diana.
He is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
principles.
He is also a "senior advisor" to the Monitor Group - a global consultancy and private equity firm which has been implicated in undertaking PR work for Libya and Muammar Qadhafi.
On 15 February 2011 Dearlove gave a talk at the Cambridge Union Society
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
, taking as his theme the question of how much secrecy the UK needs:"The short answer to that question is that it needs some but actually not as much as you think." He said he "would definitely draw a parallel at the moment between the wave of political unrest which is sweeping through the Middle East, in a very excited and rather extraordinary fashion, and also the Wikileaks phenomenon", but added later, in connection with the way technological advances was altering the norms of civic and private life, commenting on WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
founder Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
, that " ... the Assange story, as such, is ultimately a distraction. He's a very undignified flag-carrier, in my opinion, for a very important issue."