Duchess of Cambridge opens Bletchley Park following £8m restoration project

Kate's grandmother worked as a civilian staff member there during WWII

The Duchess of Cambridge talks with Sir John Scarlett (R) the Chairman of Bletchley Park during a visit to the former wartime spy centre in Buckinghamshire to mark the completion of a year-long restoration project, which has returned the buildings to thei

The Duchess of Cambridge has visited Bletchley Park, the renowned codebreaking facility where her grandmother worked as a civilian staff member during the Second World War.

Valerie Glassborow, her paternal grandmother, held an administrative role at the Milton Keynes site, where she chose the intercept stations staff should listen to. Her twin sister Mary was also employed at Bletchley.

Kate sat at a desk and succeeded in decoding a Morse code message as she toured the centre, which has been restored as part of the £8 million project mostly financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The project has returned the buildings to their WWII appearance and created new visitor facilities after the site fell into disrepair.

She also met with codebreakers who had worked with her grandmother at the famous centre, including Lady Marion Body.

Code-breakers at Bletchley Park were credited with shortening the war by breaking German cypher systems — code-named Enigma and Lorenz.