William Nye

William James Nye, (born 28 March 1966) is a British courtier and civil servant. Since December 2015, he has been Secretary-General of the Archbishops' Council and Secretary General of the General Synod of the Church of England. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Principal Private Secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Early life and education Nye was born on 28 March 1966 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, a private boarding school in Horsham, Sussex. He studied economics at Clare College, Cambridge, and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1987.

Nye succeeded Sir Michael Peat as Principal Private Secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (Peat's resignation was announced on 24 January 2011). He took up the appointment on 12 September 2011. In November of that year, it was reported that Nye would not be given the use of the Kensington Palace apartment that Peat vacated, nor would Nye be provided grace-and-favour housing of any kind. He "has overall responsibility for the Prince’s household and also keeps an eye on the running of the Duchy of Cornwall, his private estate, and his residences at Highgrove and Birkhall." and served as a trustee of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation. On 10 June 2015, it was announced that he would stand down from his role as Private Secretary at the end of November 2015.

In June 2023, the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) was scrapped: it had been formed in 2021 to hold the Church of England to account for safeguarding issues. An independent review of the scrapping showed that "significant harm" had been caused to survivors of abuse and that it was Nye's decision to terminate the ISB.

In July 2026, Nye spoke ahead of a General Synod vote on a motion proposed by Reverend Valerie Plumb calling on the Church Commissioners to rewild 30% of church-owned land by 2030. As secretary general of the Archbishops' Council, Nye argued that the motion was inconsistent with the church's legal duties and its responsibility to secure long-term capital growth.