Head Of Royal Navy Has Commission Terminated Over Affair With Married Subordinate

The Royal Navy First Sea Lord who pushed moral reforms in the force but then ‘stepped back’ from duties earlier this year after an affair was exposed has been terminated from the service, the British government said.

Sir Ben Key, who until today would have been Admiral Sir Ben Key, has been terminated from the Naval service and been stripped of his commission. A commission is a document issued on behalf of the King conferring the appointment of officer on an individual and these are generally only rescinded in cases of serious misconduct.

A statement from the Ministry of Defence cited the Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Tony Radakin, who preceded Key as First Sea Lord, said of the decision: “We expect the highest standards of behaviour from our Service Personnel and our Civil Servants.

“We investigate all allegations of inappropriate behaviour and will take robust action against anyone found to have fallen short of our standards, regardless of their seniority.”

In the British armed forces, officers who attain field grade or above generally retain their ranks after retirement, but as well as being discharged from the Naval service the termination of his commission appears to mean Key loses the courtesy of his title, despite having led the Royal Navy as its top officer, First Sea Lord, for over three years.

Key, who is married and has three children, stood back from his leadership role in May 2025 after allegations about an extramarital surfaced. As reported at the time, he had been said to have been engaged in an affair with a female junior subordinate, whose husband discovered what was happening and lodged a complaint with the Navy. Relationships where there is a disparity in rank are banned in the armed forces to prevent unfair power dynamics or exploitative sexual predation between individuals.

Former Admiral Key said in a statement on Wednesday that he regretted his actions. He said: “I deeply regret my conduct in the spring of last year, which fell well below the standard I set for myself and that which I set for the Royal Navy. As such, I fully accept the decision of the Defence Council. I am very sorry to those I have hurt personally, and I apologise to everyone who serves with the Royal Navy.”

The affair gained particular notoriety as Key during his time as First Sea Lord — in common with the other services, as the changing UK government culture moves to stamp out the legacy military culture which critics say was laced with harassment, bullying, and sexism — had initiated efforts to drive “cultural, behavioural and leadership improvements across the entirety of the Royal Navy”.

That programme of change was initiated after the change of Navy rules to allow women to serve on submarines was followed by incidents of “misogyny, bullying and other unacceptable behaviours” aboard during patrols. Among the recommendations made by a report into the behaviour accepted by Admiral Key at the time, were “unacceptable sexual behaviour… being treated in line with the zero-tolerance policy” and that command teams should be reminded “of their responsibilities with respect to social appropriateness”.

In a statement made in 2022, Key said there would be “zero tolerance for sexual assault and exploitation” and remarked that he found it “hard to believe” that there was “pockets of behavioural culture that are utterly unacceptable”. He was determined to “root it out” and said “if people have acted wrongly they will be removed from the service”.