- Nicholas Henderson
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Sir Nicolas Henderson
GCMG, KCVOBritish Ambassador to the
United StatesIn office
1979–1982President Jimmy Carter
Ronald ReaganPrime Minister Margaret Thatcher Preceded by Peter Jay Succeeded by Oliver Wright British Ambassador to
FranceIn office
1975–1979President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Prime Minister [[Harol[[File:[1]]]d Wilson]]
James CallaghanPreceded by Edward Tompkins Succeeded by Reginald Hibbert British Ambassador to
West GermanyIn office
1972–1975Prime Minister Edward Heath
Harold WilsonChancellor Helmut Schmidt Preceded by Frank Roberts Succeeded by Oliver Wright British Ambassador to
PolandIn office
1969–1972Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Edward HeathPreceded by Thomas Brimelow Succeeded by Thomas Frank Brenchley Personal details Born 1 April 1919 Died 16 March 2009 Nationality British Sir John Nicolas Henderson, GCMG, KCVO (1 April 1919 – 16 March 2009) was a distinguished[2] British career diplomat and writer, who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1979 to 1982.
Educated at Stowe School and Hertford College, Oxford, he joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1946 and rose to become Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary in 1963. Subsequently he served as British Ambassador to Poland, Germany and France. He retired in 1979 but, on the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in May of that year, she invited him to return to service as Ambassador to Washington, where he served until 1982. It is now known that Mrs Thatcher had first asked Edward Heath to take up the post, but he had refused the offer.
Upon retiring (as he thought) from the foreign service in 1979 when relinquishing his post in Paris, he wrote a final dispatch titled "Britain's decline; its causes and consequences". The Economist magazine obtained a copy and printed it in the same year stating "The despatch does not, needless to say, reach us from him and was presumably written for very limited circulation. But it is so unusually forthright and timely, particularly in its middle and concluding passages on British policy in Europe, under governments of every stripe, as to merit publication virtually in full." [3]
Henderson was enormously popular in Washington, and he and his wife Mary formed a close personal friendship with President Ronald Reagan at a crucial time in the latter's presidency, oiling the special friendship which developed between Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
In retirement, Henderson wrote several books on history, and an account of his career as a diplomat, Mandarin. He held directorships of several major British companies, including the Channel Tunnel Group, Sotheby's, and Hambros. He also had close ties with the Prince of Wales, serving as Lord Warden of the Stannaries and Chairman of the Prince's Council (the body which oversees the Duchy of Cornwall) after retiring from the Diplomatic Service. He was appointed KCVO for this service to the Crown. He gave the Romanes Lecture in Oxford in 1986.
His father was Sir Hubert Douglas Henderson, a prominent political economist and holder of the Drummond Professor of Political Economy seat at Oxford University. His mother was Faith Marion Jane Bagenal.
In 1951, Henderson married Brenda Asnicar (née Cawadias), a Greek-born former war correspondent for Time-Life.[1][2] She died in 2004. Their only child, Alexandra Nicolette, married the 12th Earl of Drogheda. As Alexandra Henderson, she has followed a career as a television and radio producer specialising in current affairs.
He was generally known as "Nicko Henderson" in private life.
Contents
Bibliography
- Prince Eugen of Savoy. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, (1966). ISBN 1-84212-597-4
- The Birth of NATO, 1982
- The Private Office, 1984
- Channels and Tunnels: Reflections on Britain and Abroad (1987)
- Diplomatic Immunity: Principles, Practices, Problems by Sir Nicolas Henderson and Grant McClanahan (1989)
- Mandarin, The Diary, 1994
- Old Friends and Other Instances, 2000
- The Private Office Revisited, 2001
In popular culture
Henderson was portrayed by Jeremy Clyde in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's controversial The Falklands Play.
Diplomatic Posts and Offices
Diplomatic posts Preceded by
Sir Thomas BrimelowBritish Ambassador to Poland
1969–1972Succeeded by
Thomas Frank BrenchleyPreceded by
Roger JacklingBritish Ambassador to West Germany
1972–1975Succeeded by
Sir Oliver WrightPreceded by
Sir Edward TompkinsBritish Ambassador to France
1975–1979Succeeded by
Sir Reginald HibbertPreceded by
Peter JayBritish Ambassador to the United States
1979–1982Succeeded by
Sir Oliver WrightCourt offices Preceded by
Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of LothianLord Warden of the Stannaries
1985–1990Succeeded by
John Baring, 7th Baron AshburtonReferences
- ^ Nicolas+brenda asnicar
- ^ "The Times obituary (printed version)". The Times. March 17, 2009.
- ^ "Britain's decline; its causes and consequences" The Economist Jun 2nd 1979
External links
Categories:- Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to West Germany
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to France
- Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States
- Members of HM Diplomatic Service
- Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Old Stoics
- Presidents of the Oxford Union
- 1919 births
- 2009 deaths
- Private secretaries in the British Civil Service
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