William Alistair Harrison (born 14 November 1954) is His Majesty's

Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps His Majesty's Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is the King's link with the diplomatic community in London, arranges the annual diplomatic corps reception by th ...

. He was previously

Governor of Anguilla The governor of Anguilla is the representative of the monarch in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Government of the United Kingdom. The governor is the highest authority ...

from 21 April 2009 to 23 July 2013.

Early life

Harrison was born on 14 November 1954 in

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, in the United Kingdom. He studied at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle The Royal Grammar School (RGS), Newcastle upon Tyne, is a coeducational private day school for pupils aged between 7 and 18 years. Founded in 1525 by Thomas Horsley, the Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, it received royal foundation by Queen Eliz ...

. He then went on to read Literae Humaniores at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

, graduating in 1977. In 1995, he has also gained a Diploma in Economics at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Diplomatic career

In 1977, he joined

Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

. He first worked in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Section of the Defence Department of

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. He had

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

training in 1978. He was posted to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

between 1979 and 1982. He was a Private Secretary to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of the

from 1984 to 1986. From 1987 till 1992, he was based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as part of the UK Mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. He returned to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and became Deputy Head of the Middle East Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a position that he held until 1995 when he was once more posted to Warsaw, Poland. He then worked as a Foreign Policy Adviser to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, from 1998 to 2000. Harrison once more joined the UK Mission to the United Nations in 2000. With this experience, he returned to the Foreign Office in London to head the United Nations Department between 2003 and 2005. From 2005, he held the position of High Commissioner to

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. In 2008–09, he was Head of the Zimbabwe Unit at the Foreign Office. In April 2009, he became the

.HM Governor
official site. In 2014, he became HM

Honours

On 25 March 1996, Harrison was appointed Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(CVO). He was appointed Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG) in the 2012 Birthday Honours. In 2020, he received

Bene Merito honorary badge Bene may refer to: * Bene AG, a European office furniture product and services company * Bene Israel ("Sons of Israel") are a historic community of Jews in India * Bene (Crete), a town of ancient Crete, Greece * a prefix denoting a society in th ...

of the

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

.Decyzja nr 58 Ministra Spraw Zagranicznych z dnia 22 czerwca 2020 w sprawie nadania Odznaki Honorowej Bene Merito.

Personal life

Harrison's first wife was Theresa Mary (née Morrison). They were married from 1981 to 1991, when their marriage was dissolved. In 1996 he married Sarah Judith (née Wood). The couple have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Alistair 1954 births Alumni of the University of London Alumni of University College, Oxford Members of HM Diplomatic Service Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Governors of Anguilla Living people People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne People from Guisborough High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Zambia Marshals of the Diplomatic Corps 20th-century British diplomats