Sir Timothy Mark Hitchens, (born 1962) is a British diplomat and a former Assistant

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 ...

to the Queen Elizabeth II, in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, 1999–2002. Hitchens was seconded from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to which he returned to become Head of the Africa Department (Equatorial). He had been First Secretary Political and Information, British High Commission,

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

and speechwriter for Foreign Secretary

Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and political secretary to P ...

Early life and career

Hitchens was born in 1962, and educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

from 1972 to 1979. He then attended Christ's College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, where he read English literature. After joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office he studied Japanese, and then became Trade Secretary in Tokyo.

Career

Hitchens was Private Secretary to The Rt Hon

Tristan Garel-Jones William Armand Thomas Tristan Garel-Jones, Baron Garel-Jones, PC (28 February 1941 – 23 March 2020) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford from 1979 to 1997, befor ...

, Minister of State for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1990 to 1993, and speechwriter to the Foreign Secretary The Rt Hon

from 1993 to 1994. He was Head of the Political Section at the British Embassy in

, Pakistan, 1994 to 1997. From 2005 to 2008 Hitchens was Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. From autumn 2008, Hitchens took up the position Director, European Political Affairs, in London. In August 2010, he became Director, Africa. In 2012, Hitchens was appointed as HM Ambassador to Japan. He opened a Twitter account under the handle 'UKAmbTim' and, , had over 7000 followers. He often tweets in Japanese. Hitchens was succeeded by Paul Madden in January 2017. Hitchens was appointed chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Summit 2018 in March 2017. In January 2017, Hitchens was elected President of

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research a ...

. He assumed this post on 1st May 2018.

Honours

Hitchens was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2012 New Year Honours.

Personal life

Hitchens has one daughter (born 1991) and one son (born 1993).

References

Sources

British ambassador laments his two ‘lost decades’
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The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'', 9 April 2013 1962 births Living people Diplomats from London People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Assistant Private Secretaries to the Sovereign Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George British expatriates in Pakistan Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Japan Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order 20th-century British diplomats 21st-century British diplomats Presidents of Wolfson College, Oxford {{UK-gov-bio-stub