Christopher Norman Russell Prentice (born 5 September 1954) is a retired British diplomat. His last diplomatic post was Ambassador to Italy. He is currently Chairman of the Governors of the British Institute of Florence.
Prentice had been a British diplomat since 1977. From 2002 to 2006 he served as British Ambassador to Jordan, and from 2007 to 2009 as Ambassador to Iraq.
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 ...
, Prentice is a former cricketer who played a single
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
match for
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, scoring 4 and 19 in a game against
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
.
Prentice speaks fluent
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and Hungarian. He is married to Marie-Josephine (Nina) with whom he has two sons and two daughters. One daughter, Helen, a doctor, married his predecessor's nephew, Mark, Viscount Asquith in May 2008 in Ashbury, Oxfordshire.
Prentice 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.
...
the Iraq Inquiry
The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)
From March to May 2011 Prentice led the UK's diplomatic team in Libya which liaised closely with the opposition in Benghazi.
Career highlights
*1977–1978 FCO, Desk Officer, Near East and North Africa Department
*1985–1989 Washington, First secretary (Near East and South Asia)
*1989–1990 FCO, Assistant Head of European Community Department (External)
*1990–1993 FCO, Assistant Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd
*1994–1998 Budapest, Deputy Head of Mission
*1998–2002 FCO, Head of Near East and North Africa Department
*2002–2006 Amman, Her Majesty's Ambassador
*2006–2007 UK Special Representative, later FCO Co-ordinator for the Sudan Peace Process
*2007–2009 Iraq, Her Majesty's Ambassador
*2011–2016 Italy, Her Majesty's Ambassador