Sir John Anthony Adye KCMG (born 24 October 1939) is a former

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the British

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

agency,

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

, a post he held from 1989 to 1996.

Career

Adye was born to Arthur Francis Capel Adye and Hilda Marjorie (née Elkes). Educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, havin ...

and

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...

, Adye joined GCHQ in 1962 becoming Director in 1989. After retiring from GCHQ in 1996, he served as the chair of the

Country Houses Association The Country Houses Association (CHA) was a British charity (a friendly society with charitable status) that converted country houses into retirement flats and maintained them from 1955 until its liquidation in 2004. History The Country Houses ...

until 2002.National Biometric Security Project
/ref> In 1993 Adye was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

. In 2005 he was appointed to the board of the US National Biometric Security Project. Adye was a witness in February 2008 at the inquest into the death of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

: in an unprecedented move (normal policy is neither to confirm nor deny operational activities), he strenuously denied that GCHQ had any involvement in either the Camillagate or

Squidgygate Squidgygate or Dianagate refers to the pre-1990 telephone conversations between Diana, Princess of Wales and a close friend, James Gilbey (heir to Gilbey's Gin) which were published by '' The Sun'' newspaper. In 1992, ''The Sun'' publicly re ...

tapes.Diana's calls 'not bugged by GCHQ'
Metro, 28 February 2008

References

Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters Living people 1939 births People educated at Leighton Park School Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George {{Crypto-bio-stub