William Alistair Harrison (born 14 November 1954) is His Majesty's

Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps His Majesty's Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps is a senior member of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is Charles III, the King's link with the di ...

. He was previously

Governor of Anguilla The Governor of Anguilla is the representative of the monarch in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The Governor is the highest authority on Anguill ...

from 21 April 2009 to 23 July 2013.

Early life

Harrison was born on 14 November 1954 in

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, in the United Kingdom. He studied at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent school (UK), Independent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head ...

. He then went on to read Literae Humaniores at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, graduating in 1977. In 1995, he has also gained a Diploma in Economics at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Diplomatic career

In 1977, he joined

Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with Foreign policy, foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Servi ...

. He first worked in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Section of the Defence Department of

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

. He had

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

training in 1978. He was posted to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

between 1979 and 1982. He was a

Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

Parliamentary Under-Secretary Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

of the

from 1984 to 1986. From 1987 till 1992, he was based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as part of the UK Mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He returned to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and became Deputy Head of the Middle East Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a position that he held until 1995 when he was once more posted to Warsaw, Poland. He then worked as a Foreign Policy Adviser to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, from 1998 to 2000. Harrison once more joined the UK Mission to the United Nations in 2000. With this experience, he returned to the Foreign Office in London to head the United Nations Department between 2003 and 2005. From 2005, he held the position of High Commissioner to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. In 2008–09, he was Head of the Zimbabwe Unit at the Foreign Office. In April 2009, he became the

.HM Governor
official site. In 2014, he became HM

Honours

On 25 March 1996, Harrison was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch, Mon ...

(CVO). He was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the 2012 Birthday Honours. In 2020, he received

Bene Merito honorary badge The Bene Merito honorary distinction ( pl, Odznaka Honorowa „Bene Merito”) is a departmental (ministerial) decoration of Poland. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland awards the citizens of Poland and foreign nationals with this decorat ...

of the

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (''Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych'', MSZ) is the Polish government department tasked with maintaining Poland's international relations and coordinating its participation in international and regional supra-nation ...

.Decyzja nr 58 Ministra Spraw Zagranicznych z dnia 22 czerwca 2020 w sprawie nadania Odznaki Honorowej Bene Merito.

Personal life

Harrison's first wife was Theresa Mary (née Morrison). They were married from 1981 to 1991, when their marriage was dissolved. In 1996 he married Sarah Judith (née Wood). The couple have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Alistair 1954 births Alumni of the University of London Alumni of University College, Oxford Members of HM Diplomatic Service Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Governors of Anguilla Living people People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne People from Guisborough High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Zambia Marshals of the Diplomatic Corps 20th-century British diplomats