The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Holy See has held that title since 1982. Before that the British heads of mission to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

were styled Attaché resident at Rome and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.

History of representation

Diplomatic relations were broken off between the Pope and the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On ...

in 1534, after the

Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the En ...

of that year declared that

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

was "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England". This break continued throughout the remaining existence of the Kingdom of England and its successor the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

(1707–1800). However, after the formation 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 ...

an "unofficial official" was kept in Rome from the mid-nineteenth century, holding the title of representative to the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

.Chadwick, 1988, p. 2. With the rise of

Italian nationalism Italian nationalism is a movement which believes that the Italians are a nation with a single homogeneous identity, and therefrom seeks to promote the cultural unity of Italy as a country. From an Italian nationalist perspective, Italianness is ...

, the Papal States were conquered by the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

and a unified

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

was declared in 1861. In 1874, due to the Roman Question, the Conservative government withdrew this representative, reasoning that it was not cost-effective to maintain a representative to a "non-existent state". Missions between 1874 and 1914 were designated "special and temporary". In 1914 the United Kingdom formally re-established diplomatic relations with the Holy See. A minister was sent to the papal court during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to court the favour of the Pope towards the

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

. This mission was maintained after the war for the perceived value of its prestige (a "quiet place for a not very distinguished diplomat") and the conflicts in Ireland, Malta, Quebec, and Australia, which had Roman Catholic dimensions. After the rupture in 1930–33 due to difficulties in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, the post was filled with more experienced and respected diplomats. From 1914 to 1982 the diplomatic representative of the United Kingdom to the Holy See had the rank of

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

, as did the UK's representatives to many other countries until the 1960s, but partly because there was already a British ambassador in Rome, to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The British envoy to the Holy See was upgraded to

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

in 1982. It has been claimed that the Minister was always a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and that

Francis Campbell Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell (born 20 April 1970) is a British diplomat and academic. Since January 2020, he has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. From 2014 to 2020, he was the Vice-Chancellor of St Mary's Un ...

, appointed ambassador in 2005, was "the first Catholic to hold the position of emissary of the

Court of St James The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

to the Holy See since the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

"; in fact, however, the first two 20th-century envoys, Sir Henry Howard and Count de Salis, were Catholics.

List of heads of mission

Attachés resident at Rome

''The United Kingdom was represented by an

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

to the legation at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

resident at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

.S.T. Bindoff, E.F. Malcolm Smith and C.K. Webster
''British Diplomatic Representatives 1789-1852''
Royal Historical Society, 1934 *1832–1844: Thomas Aubin *1844–1853: William Petre *1853–1858: Richard Lyons *1858–1870: Odo Russell *1870–1874: Henry Clarke Jervoise *1874: ''post abolished''

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary

*1914–1916: Sir Henry Howard *1916–1923:

John Francis Charles, 7th Count de Salis-Soglio Sir John Francis Charles de Salis, 7th Count de Salis (19 July 1864 – 14 January 1939) was an Anglo-Irish British diplomat and landowner Family background He was the elder son of Count John Francis William de Salis (1825–1871), a diplomat ...

*1922–1928: Hon. Sir Odo Russell *1928–1930: Sir Henry Chilton ''Relations downgraded due to the Church's interference in Maltese politics''

Chargés d'affaires

*1930–1932: George Ogilvie-Forbes *1932–1933: Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary

*1933–1934: Sir Robert Clive *1934–1936: Sir Charles Wingfield *1936–1947: Sir D'Arcy Osborne *1947–1951: Sir Victor Perowne *1951–1954: Sir Walter Roberts *1954–1957: Sir Douglas Howard *1957–1960: Sir Marcus Cheke *1960–1965: Sir Peter Scarlett *1965–1970: Sir Michael Williams *1970–1975:

Desmond Crawley Desmond John Chetwode Crawley, CMG CVO (2 June 1917 – 26 April 1993) was a British diplomat, who served as administrator under the Raj to Commonwealth diplomat, from the Asian sub-continent to West Africa, and, finally, from behind the Iron C ...

*1975–1977:

Dugald Malcolm Captain Dugald Malcolm, CMG CVO TD (22 December 1917 – 16 February 2000) was a British diplomat, Her Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Holy See 1975-1977. Malcolm was born in 1917, the son of Major- ...

*1978–1980:

Geoffrey Crossley Geoffrey Crossley (11 May 1921 – 7 January 2002) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He scored no championship points. He also participated in ...

*1980–''1982'': Sir Mark Heath

Ambassadors

*''1982''–1985: Sir Mark Heath *1985–1988: David Lane *1988–1991: John Broadley *1991–1995: Andrew Palmer *1995–1998:

Maureen MacGlashan Maureen Elizabeth MacGlashan, CMG was Assistant Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law from 1986–1990 and is now a Fellow of the Centre. From 1963 to 1998 she was a member of the British Diplomatic Service. She served in, amon ...

*1998–2002:

Mark Pellew Mark Edward Pellew CVO (born 28 August 1942), a British diplomat, was Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Holy See 1998–2002. Pellew was educated at Winchester CollegeMaclure, P. S. W. K.; Stevens, R. P. ''Winchester College, A Registe ...

*2002–2005:

Kathryn Colvin Kathryn Colvin, CVO (born 1945) is a British diplomat. Life She received a BA(Hons) at the University of Bristol. She went on to obtain a Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieure from Bordeaux, and become a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguist ...

*2005–2011:

*2011–2011:

George Edgar Christopher George Edgar (born 21 April 1960) is a retired British and European diplomat who served as the British High Commissioner to the Republic of Fiji. Early life and education Edgar is the son of Dr William Macreadie Edgar and Dr Fred ...

''(

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassado ...

)'' *2011–2016:

Nigel Baker Nigel Marcus Baker (born 9 September 1966) is a British diplomat, who was formerly List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Bolivia, Ambassador to Bolivia and List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Holy See, Ambassador to the Hol ...

*2016–2021: Sally Axworthy *2021–:

Christopher Trott Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

Notes

References

* Chadwick, Owen (1988
''Britain and the Vatican During the Second World War''
Cambridge University Press

External links

UK and Holy See
gov.uk {{Lists of heads of UK diplomatic missions

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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

History of representation

List of heads of mission

Attachés resident at Rome

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary

Chargés d'affaires

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary

Ambassadors

Notes

See also

References

External links