LONDON (UK) – Queen Elizabeth paid a visit to the Porton Down military facility on Thursday, which was involved in dealing with a 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack. It was her first major engagement since the lockdown in March.
She spent the lockdown at Windsor Castle, carrying out her duties remotely by video or telephone or at her residence. For her first public outing, she was accompanied by her grandson Prince William.
It was this top-secret Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, in Porton Down, which identified the nerve agent used to attack former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in Salisbury two years ago.
Britain blamed two Russian spies for orchestrating the attack at the behest of Moscow, an accusation which the Kremlin has denied.
The royals were scheduled to interact with Porton Down staff and other military personnel involved in the Novichok clear-up operation as well as with scientists battling the pandemic.
The purpose of the royal visit is to open the facility’s new Energetics Analysis Centre, where the duo will be given a demonstration of a forensics explosives probe.
The Queen and the Prince will tour the lab’s Energetic Enclosure to view an array of weaponry and tactics used in counter espionage.
Porton Down was established way back in 1916 as Britain’s chemical and biological weapons laboratory, where scientists undertook classified experiments involving some 20,000 servicemen, leading to the death of one from exposure to sarin nerve gas.
From the 1960s, the facility has been focused on developing countermeasures and defence and security technology. However, its highly secretive nature has given rise to various speculations.
“No aliens, either alive or dead have ever been taken to Porton Down,” says the government’s website.