Simon Case, a former principal private secretary to the prime minister who had been leading the Department for Exiting the European Union’s work on addressing the issue of the Ireland border post Brexit, is to leave to head up Prince William's office.
The move was announced on Monday, only months after Case was appointed DExEU’s director general Northern Ireland and Ireland in January 2018. In this post, he was responsible for overseeing the negotiations and plans for the Irish border after Brexit, which is one of the highest-profile areas of the ongoing EU-UK talks.
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The government has pledged to avoid the introduction of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland when the UK leaves the European Union, but it remains one of the areas of the talks unresolved in the transition agreement earlier this month. MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee recently warned there were no examples “anywhere in the world” that show the invisible border promised by ministers will be feasible.
In a statement announcing his departure from the civil service for the role, Case said he was sorry to leave DExEU and that it had been a “great privilege” to work on Brexit, but added that “it is a great honour to be have been offered such a unique opportunity to work for His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge and I look forward to serving him in the years ahead”. The post of private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge is the most senior appointment in the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's household, with overall responsibility for its management.
Before working at DExEU, Case’s worked at the UK’s Permanent Representation in Brussels and prior to this he was David Cameron and Theresa May’s principal private secretary from January 2016 to May 2017. He had also served as deputy PPS to Cameron, and other Whitehall roles included director of strategy at the GCHQ intelligence agency and executive director of the Implementation Group in the Cabinet Office since joined the civil service in 2006.
It has been reported that Case will be replaced by his deputy, Brendan Threlfall.