King holds 'spy Oscars' with secret annual ceremony at MI5 to honour those that risked their lives for Britain

MI5 thanked King Charles for the 'spy Oscars' on their Instagram page 

The King holds secret annual awards dubbed the ‘spy Oscars’ for those who have risked their lives for the country, spymasters claim.

The ceremonies for the spies were first held in 2012, and were mentioned on the Instagram account of MI5 at the time of the King’s Coronation.

King Charles, who is patron of the Intelligence Services, presented hundreds of the secret agents with honours, awards and citations for bravery back when he was the Prince of Wales.

The locations of these events have differed over the years, including taking place at Thames House – the HQ of MI5 in London.

Security sources told The Telegraph that there are no fixed dates for the ceremonies.

It is uncertain if Prince William will potentially take over this role.

The ceremonies for the spies were first held in 2012 and were mentioned on the Instagram account of MI5 at the time of the King’s Coronation

King Charles, who is patron of the Intelligence Services, presented hundreds of the secret agents with honours, awards and citations for bravery back when he was the Prince of Wales

The majority of spy operations are never known to the public and consequently the agents don’t receive any public recognition. Pictured is the MI5 building

The majority of spy operations are never known to the public and consequently the agents don’t receive any public recognition.

But sources told The Telegraph that the King personally presented awards to those responsible for foiling dozens of terrorist attacks.

Colonel Philip Ingram, a former Army intelligence officer, told the newspaper: ‘It is fantastic that His Majesty takes a personal interest and plays his role in saying thank you to some of these exceptional men and women who have to permanently live and work in the shadows.’

The awards were separated into operational and non-operational divisions, The Telegraph reported.

This is so that archivists, interpreters and other forms of staff could also be rewarded.

Also included are counter-terrorism and counter-espionage workers, along with those tackling organised crime alongside the police.

Many agents honoured by the King were involved in operations in countries like Russia, China and Iran.

Ken McCallum, the director-general of MI5, Sir Richard Moore, the head of MI6, also known as ‘C’, and Anne Keast-Butler, the director of GCHQ are the only members of the intelligence services to be named publicly.

MI5 Director General, Ken McCallum, gives a speech at Thames House in central London

Pictured is Anne Keast-Butler, the first female director of GCHQ

Sir Richard Moore, from Leatherhead, Chief, Secret Intelligence Service, is made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George by King Charles III

In an Instagram post at the time of the Coronation, the official MI5 account said: ‘Alongside the rest of the nation, we are delighted to celebrate the coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

We have benefited from His Majesty’s public and private recognition of our work, including through a regular award ceremony in which he recognises the efforts and achievements of teams working in the UK’s intelligence agencies.

‘His dedication to the intelligence agencies means a great deal to our people.

‘From everyone at MI5, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to Their Majesties as we continue in our unwavering commitment to keeping this country safe.’

In 2015, it was reported that Prince William has made a top secret visit to the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – the maximum security ‘listening station’ which tracks electronic traffic of terrorists and spy agencies around the world.

The Duke’s first ever trip to GCHQ, housed in a doughnut-shaped building in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed that he and other young Royals were being advised to change their email addresses and cut back on social media activities over fears they could be targeted by foreign spies and hackers.

It is uncertain if Prince William will potentially take over this role

But questions were asked last night about the Duke’s use of a publicly funded Royal helicopter to make the trip, as it was not an official public engagement and was not announced in the Palace’s Court Circular.

The Duke was flown from London’s Kensington Palace to Gloucestershire airport on the Queen’s helicopter Flight, funded by the taxpayer, and which is supposed to be only used for official engagements by the Royals.

A Palace source initially described the 200-mile round trip as a ‘private visit’ but later suggested it was ‘official’, and so could possibly be paid from the taxpayer-funded Royal Travel Budget.

Kensington Palace and GCHQ refused to say whom he met, or what he saw. But it is believed the Prince met the new head of GCHQ, Robert Hannigan, and also saw the agency’s code breakers at work, monitoring internet and communications traffic to pick up terrorist threats.

Other members of the Royal family have previously visited GCHQ, which was opened by the Queen in 2004.

A GCHQ spokesman said: ‘Prince William paid a private visit to GCHQ on March 19. As it was a private visit we can’t go into further details of what his itinerary involved.’