Former MI6 spy chief Alex Younger has died aged 62

LONDON (AP) — Prince William and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have paid tribute to former MI6 spy chief Alex Younger after his death at the age of 62.

Younger led the U.K.’s foreign espionage agency, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, from 2014 to 2020, and was one of the first holders of the post – code-named C – to be publicly named. The government said he had been diagnosed with cancer and died on Tuesday.

BBC broadcaster Nick Robinson, a friend of the former spy chief, said that after his diagnosis Younger nicknamed his tumor “Putin,” after the Russian president.

Prince William did internships at Britain’s intelligence and security agencies in 2019 to help the future king understand their workings. He said Thursday that Younger “embodied the very best of what the Secret Intelligence Service stands for – integrity, courage, and an unwavering commitment to protecting this country and its people.”

Starmer said Younger “will be remembered by the many ministers, colleagues, friends, and family for his utmost dedication to British public life and protecting our nation.”

Blaise Metreweli, the current head of MI6, said Younger “embodied my service’s values of integrity, courage, creativity and respect.

“He made a lasting and distinctive contribution to our country and indeed to global security,” she said.

Educated at St. Andrews University in Scotland, Younger served as an officer in the British army before joining MI6 in 1991. He worked for the spy service for three decades, including a job in the Western Balkans in the 1990s that he said “involved many nights drinking obscure homemade alcohol, piecing together the intentions of the parties to that conflict.”

“I had the satisfaction of knowing that my work, along with that of many others, helped to pave the way for the eventual arrest and prosecution of war criminals implicated in the murder or displacement of hundreds of thousands of people,” he said in a 2018 speech at his old university.

He also worked for MI6 in Afghanistan in the years after 9/11 and as head of counterterrorism, overseeing security for the 2012 London Olympics.

He told the BBC last year that the secret life of a spy had highs and lows. He acknowledged it was “a kick” to be “in this play that no one knows is even going on.”

“But at the same time, it is incredibly isolating,” he said.

He acknowledged that the larger-than-life adventures of fictional superspy James Bond had been a mixed blessing for MI6.

“He has created a powerful brand for MI6,” Younger said in a 2016 speech. “As C, the real-life version of M, there are few people who will not come to lunch if I invite them. Many of our counterparts envy the sheer global recognition of our acronym.”

But, he noted, “were Bond to apply to join MI6 now, he would have to change his ways.”