Brigadier named as new Royal Security chief

A new director of Royal Security has been appointed, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Brigadier Jeff Cook took up the position of Director for Security Liaison, on May 4, following recommendations from the recent Security Commission Report.

Brigadier Cook will be responsible for the co-ordination and implementation of Royal Household security plans, policies and procedures. He will be working alongside the police, the Home Office and other agencies within the existing framework of security responsibilities.

The Director for Security Liaison will also be producing an annual security plan for Royal Household security, in consultation with the police and other security organisations. The plan will cover personnel security, as well as protection and physical security and will be subject to regular review as recommended by the Commission.

Brigadier Cook’s appointment comes in the wake of a breach of security by a newspaper reporter. Daily Mirror journalist, Ryan Parry, managed to get a job at Buckingham Palace last year, just prior to George Bush’s state visit, despite no rigorous security checks being carried out on his background.

The Royal Household have issued a statement which welcomed the Commission’s findings and recommendations and also accepted that there were “lessons to be learnt” from the Ryan Parry case.

The statement also said that the Royal Household has already tightened internal vetting procedures for all new recruits and has extensively reviewed security measures.

(KmcA)