Christopher Meyer
Sir Christopher Meyer was Britain’s Ambassador to the United
States for five and a half years from 1997 to 2003. This is
the longest period since the Second World War in Britain’s
top diplomatic appointment. Sir Christopher has just
published his memoirs – DC Confidential – in which his time
in the U.S. and account of the run-up to war in Iraq feature
prominently. The book has been a runaway best seller in Britain. After Washington, Sir Christopher retired from diplomacy,
having completed 36 years of distinguished public service.
He is now chairman of the United Kingdom Press Complaints
Commission. As Ambassador in Washington Sir Christopher was
deeply involved in a number of critical situations: the war
in Kosovo, the Northern Ireland peace process, the response
to 9/11, the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in
Afghanistan, and the events leading to the overthrow of
Saddam Hussein. Sir Christopher is credited with playing a key role in
introducing Prime Minister Tony Blair to President George W.
Bush, as a result of which relations between Britain and the
United States have rarely been closer. As Ambassador he
visited 44 states and over 100 cities. He holds America in
great affection and admiration and was recently quoted as
saying that “the world is a far better place for the
existence of the United States.” In his diplomatic career, Sir Christopher occupied a number
of key positions: British Ambassador to Germany; press
secretary to Prime Minister John Major; press secretary to
British Foreign Secretary Lord Howe; speech writer to three
Foreign Secretaries in the 1970s; head of the political
section of the British Embassy in Moscow. Sir Christopher
started his career in the old Soviet Union and, besides
Moscow (twice), saw service in Madrid; Spain; in Brussels,
Belgium, at the European Union; and, in an earlier
incarnation as Deputy Chief of Mission, in the United States
of America. He speaks Russian, French, Spanish and German,
with varying degrees of ability. In 1998, in recognition of his service, Her Majesty The
Queen made Sir Christopher a Knight Commander of the Order
of St. Michael and St. George. Sir Christopher is married to Lady Catherine, who played a
dynamic and prominent role in her own right when they were
in Washington. She is Chief Executive of PACT (Parents and
Abducted Children Together), a charity that she founded in
Washington in 1999. Between them they have four sons.
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Series
Books:DC Confidential, March 2006
Hardcover
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