WORDS: CHRIS GODFREY // ILLUSTRATION: VICENTE MARTÍ SOLAR
Could you be susceptible to blackmail? It was a question levelled at Ian Pritchard in 1961, during one of GCHQ’s infamously vigorous vetting interviews. Had they known he was a closeted gay man, the organisation’s assumption would have been yes, there was a reason he could be blackmailed.
At 18 years old, Pritchard followed his father and joined the RAF, hoping to take advantage of their linguist training programme. After completing three years’ service, a career at GCHQ, one of the UK’s three intelligence and security agencies, seemed a natural step for a serviceman trained in the Russian language.