Edward Graham Mellish Chaplin (born 21 February 1951) is a British diplomat, notable for serving as British ambassador in occupied Iraq from April 2004. Until January 2011 he served as British ambassador to Italy. He was the former
Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary The Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary is a British civil servant who leads the appointment of a various senior public figures on behalf of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from Regius Professors to Church of England bishops to Lord ...
.
Education and personal life
Chaplin was educated at
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to:
*Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England
** Wellington College International Shanghai
** Wellington College International Tianjin
* Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...
, an independent school near the village of
Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...
in Berkshire, followed by
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
, from which he graduated with a BA 1st Class Hons. Degree in Oriental Studies, in 1973.
Married Nicola Helen Fisher. One son, 2 daughters.
Life and career
Chaplin headed the Middle East and North Africa department at the Foreign Office in the 80s, notably being briefly detained and assaulted by the Iranian
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
in 1987.
Chaplin represented UK at the Nasiriyah conference, where he declared, in April 2003:
In April 2004, after the
Invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
, Chaplin was appointed ambassador to the
Iraqi Governing Council
The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi pol ...
in occupied Iraq.
Chaplin was one of the witnesses of
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...