Catherine Jane Royle de Camprubi (born 1963) is a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

from 2007 to 2010. She is currently political adviser to the commander of the

Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS) is a NATO command with its headquarters at Brunssum, the Netherlands. It was established in 2004, as part of a reorganisation that reduced the number of NATO Military Command Structure headquarters. H ...

. In October 2025, she will succeed

Janet Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Janet Anne Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, (born 20 August 1955), is a British Labour Co-operative Party politician. A former secretary and adviser to Neil Kinnock, Royall was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004 after having stood uns ...

as Principal of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

Career

Catherine Royle gained a BA degree in

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

(PPE) from

in 1985, later converted into an MA. In 1986, she gained an MA from

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

. She joined the

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 ...

in 1986. Her first post was in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. She returned to the UK at the end of 1991 where she worked on various aspects of UK policy in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

until 1997. Royle then served in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and from 2001 to 2003 as Head of the Policy Unit on the

Convention on the Future of Europe The Convention on the Future of the European Union, also known as the European Convention, was a body established by the European Council in December 2001 as a result of the Laeken Declaration. Inspired by the Philadelphia Convention that led ...

. She acted as policy adviser to

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain, (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

during the drafting of

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all EU member states o ...

. Royle spent seven years in Latin America where she served as Deputy Head of Mission in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(2003–2006) and as British Ambassador to Venezuela (2007–2010), succeeding

Donald Lamont Donald Alexander Lamont (born 13 January 1947LAMONT, Donald Alexander
''Who's ...

and preceding

Catherine Nettleton Catherine Nettleton (born 13 March 1960) is a British diplomat who has been ambassador to Peru, ambassador to Venezuela, and UK Representative in Taiwan. Career Catherine Elizabeth Nettleton gained a BA degree from Exeter University and an M ...

. In September 2010, she was posted to

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

as Deputy Ambassador at the

British Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Co ...

. In August 2012 she took up the role as Head of the Secretariat of the International Police Co-ordination Board, and later served at personal adviser to the

Interior Minister of Iraq Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

. Royle joined NATO in January 2015 as political adviser to the commander of the

. In 2017, she was awarded the

NATO Meritorious Service Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. Ba ...

by General

Salvatore Farina Salvatore Farina (10 January 1846 – 15 December 1918) was an Italian novelist whose style of sentimental humor has been compared to that of Charles Dickens. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times. Biography A Sardinia ...

. In February 2025, it was announced by

that in October 2025 Royle will succeed

Principal of Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of the university's first two women's colleges. Male students were admitted for the first time in 1994. The head ...

, of which she is an Honorary Fellow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royle, Catherine 1963 births Living people Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of Aberystwyth University British women ambassadors Members of HM Diplomatic Service Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Venezuela 20th-century British diplomats