The British Ambassador to France is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in France, and is the head of Britain's
diplomatic mission in Paris. The official title is ''His Majesty's Ambassador to France''.
Traditionally, the Embassy to France has been the most prestigious posting in the British foreign service, although in past centuries, diplomatic representation was lacking due to wars between the two countries and the
Nazi occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
.
For the period before the creation of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...
in 1801, see
List of ambassadors of the Kingdom of England to France (up to 1707) and
List of ambassadors of Great Britain to France (from 1707 to 1800).
The Paris embassy also covers remotely the
French overseas territories (including
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...
,
Guadeloupe,
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...
,
Réunion,
French Polynesia,
Mayotte
Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...
,
Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (; french: Wallis-et-Futuna or ', Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: '), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji ...
,
New Caledonia,
Saint-Barthélemy) and
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
.
Besides the embassy, the
Foreign & Commonwealth Office maintains
consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth c ...
s in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
and
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
in southern France.
British Ambassadors and Ministers to France
:''There was no representation of Great Britain or the United Kingdom in France from 1792 to 1801, due to the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
''
*1801–1802:
The Marquess Cornwallis, ''Plenipotentiary''
*1802–1803:
The Lord Whitworth[S. T. Bindoff, E. F. Malcolm Smith and C. K. Webster, ''British Diplomatic Representatives 1789–1852'' (Camden 3rd Series, 50, 1934).]
:''No representation from 1803 to 1814, due to the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
''
:*1806:
Francis Seymour-Conway, Earl of Yarmouth and
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale (26 January 1759 – 10 September 1839) was Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and a representative peer for Scotland in the House of Lords.
Early years
Born at Haltoun House near Ratho, the eldest s ...
, ''Plenipotentiaries''
*1814–1815:
The Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
*1815–1824: Sir
Charles Stuart
*1824–1828:
The Viscount Granville
*1828–1830:
The Lord Stuart de Rothesay
*1830–1835:
The Viscount Granville
*1835:
The Lord Cowley
*1835–1841:
The Earl Granville
*1841–1846:
The Lord Cowley
*1846–1852:
The Marquess of Normanby
*1852–1867:
The Earl Cowley
*1867–1887:
The Viscount Lyons
*1887–1891:
The Earl of Lytton
*1891–1896:
The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
*1896–1905: Sir
Edmund Monson
*1905–1918: Sir
Francis Bertie
Francis Leveson Bertie, 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame, ( "barty of tame"; 17 August 1844 – 26 September 1919) was a British diplomat. He was Ambassador to Italy between 1903 and 1905 and Ambassador to France between 1905 and 1918.
Background ...
*1918–1920:
The Earl of Derby
*1920–1922:
The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst
*1922–1928:
The Marquess of Crewe
*1928–1934: Sir
William Tyrrell
*1934–1937: Sir
George Clerk
*1937–1939: Sir
Eric Phipps
Sir Eric Clare Edmund Phipps (27 October 1875 – 13 August 1945) was a British diplomat.
Family
Phipps was the son of Sir Constantine Phipps, later British Ambassador to Belgium, and his wife, Maria Jane (née Miller Mundy). Henry Phipps ...
*1939–1940: Sir
Ronald Hugh Campbell
:''No representation from 1940 to 1944, due to the German occupation of France during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
''
*1944–1948: Sir
Alfred Duff Cooper, (previously Representative to the Free French in Algiers from 1943)
*1948–1954: Sir
Oliver Harvey
*1954–1960: Sir
Gladwyn Jebb
Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn (25 April 1900 – 24 October 1996) was a prominent British civil servant, diplomat and politician who served as the acting secretary-general of the United Nations between 1945 and 1946.
Early ...
*1960–1965: Sir
Pierson Dixon
Sir Pierson John Dixon (13 November 190422 April 1965) was a British diplomat and writer. He was known to be a firm believer in the value of diplomacy to solve international issues.
Career
Dixon was the Principal Private Secretary to the For ...
*1965–1968: Sir
Patrick Reilly
Sir Patrick Reilly, GCMG (17 March 1909 – 6 October 1999) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to the USSR and France. He held several senior posts and was called "the perfect mandarin."
Biography
D'Arcy Patrick Reilly was born at ...
*1968–1972: Sir
Christopher Soames
Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames, (12 October 1920 – 16 September 1987) was a British Conservative politician who served as a European Commissioner and the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia. He was previously Member of Parliame ...
*1972–1975: Sir
Edward Tomkins
*1975–1979: Sir
Nicholas Henderson
*1979–1982: Sir
Reginald Hibbert
*1982–1987: Sir
John Fretwell
*1987–1993: Sir
Ewen Fergusson
*1993–1996: Sir
Christopher Mallaby
*1996–2001: Sir
Michael Jay
*2001–2007: Sir
John Holmes
*2007–2012: Sir
Peter Westmacott
*2012–2015: Sir
Peter Ricketts
Peter Forbes Ricketts, Baron Ricketts, (born 30 September 1952) is a retired British senior diplomat and a life peer. He has sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords since 2016.
Ricketts served as chair of the Joint Intelligence Committe ...
*2016–2016: Sir
Julian King
*2016–2021:
Edward Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep OBE
*2021–:
Dame Menna Rawlings
See also
*
France–United Kingdom relations
*
List of ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom since 1803
*
Timeline of British diplomatic history
This timeline covers the main points of British (and English) foreign policy from 1485 to the early 21st century.
16th century
* Henry VII becomes king (1485–1509), founding the Tudor dynasty and ending the long civil war called "Wars of th ...
References
List of Ambassadors to France since 1814 British Embassy, France
External links
UK and France ''gov.uk''
{{Lists of heads of UK diplomatic missions
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...