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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Jill Lawless

Stella Rimington, Britain's first female MI5 spy chief, dies at 90

Stella Rimington MI5 Britain Judi Dench
Britain-Obit-Rimington - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Stella Rimington, the first female chief of Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency and later a successful thriller writer, has died, her family said Monday. She was 90.

The first woman to head a U.K. intelligence agency, Rimington was the inspiration for Judi Dench’s portrayal of MI6 chief M in seven James Bond films.

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