Sir (Reginald) James Bowker (2 July 1901 – 15 December 1983) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Burma, Turkey and Austria.

Career

Bowker was educated at Charterhouse School and Oriel College, Oxford. He joined the Diplomatic Services in 1925 and served in Paris, Berlin, Ankara, Oslo and Madrid before being appointed Minister in Cairo 1945–47 (second to the Ambassador, and chargé d'affaires between ambassadors); High Commissioner and, after independence in 1948, Ambassador to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

1947–50; an assistant Under-Secretary (head of department) for the Middle East and North Africa at the Foreign Office 1950–53; and Ambassador to Turkey 1954–58. When Bowker left Turkey, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' correspondent there commented that during his term Bowker's last post was Ambassador to Austria, 1958–61.

Honours

Bowker was appointed in 1945, knighted KCMG in the 1952

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, and awarded the additional, senior knighthood of GBE when he retired in 1961.

Elsa Bowker

In 1947 Bowker married Elsa Gued, whom he had met in Cairo while he was posted there. Lady Bowker (as she became) was a noted socialite. She continued to live in London after Sir James' death, and in 1992 she met, and became a ''

confidante The confidant ( or ; feminine: confidante, same pronunciation) is a character in a story whom a protagonist confides in and trusts. Confidants may be other principal characters, characters who command trust by virtue of their position such as ...

'' of, Diana, Princess of Wales. Lady Bowker died in 2000. She had no children.Lady Bowker – Confidante of the Princess of Wales whose gossip and wisdom enlivened the salons and drawing rooms of London society
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 4 October 2000, page 25

References

BOWKER, Sir (Reginald) James
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowker, James 1901 births 1983 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Myanmar Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Turkey Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Austria Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George