Sir David Robert Campbell Durie, (born 21 August 1944) is a retired British civil servant, whose last major public appointment was as

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

Early life

Born into a family with a military tradition, Durie grew up in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Together with his twin brother, Ian (1944–2005), Durie was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

. He read Natural Sciences at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Career

Durie joined the

Ministry of Technology The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...

in 1966 before going on to work in various posts at the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

, the Cabinet Office and the

Department of Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry may refer to: Current * Department of Trade and Industry (Isle of Man) * Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines) * Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (South Africa) Former * Department of Trade ...

. In 1991 he became Minister and Deputy UK Permanent Representative to the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

in Brussels and in 1995 he returned to the Department of Trade and Industry before leaving the Home Civil Service in 2000. He served as

from 2000 to 2003. He is a former Governor of The Queen's School, Kew.

Personal life

Durie lives in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

, London. He is married to Susan (née Weller), and has three daughters.

Honours and awards

Durie was appointed a

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 I ...

(CMG) in the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other c ...

, and promoted to a Knight Commander of the same Order (KCMG) in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

. He was appointed a Knight of the Venerable Order of St. John (KStJ) in 2000. Durie was also invested as Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Francis I (KCFO) by

Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (born 24 February 1963) is one of two claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Early life Prince Carlo was born in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France, the only son of Prin ...

(then Duke of Calabria) in 2003.Constantinian Order 2003 – Investiture of Durie, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, and others
– Constantinian Order at Youtube

References

External links

Durie family website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Durie, David Living people 1944 births Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Civil servants in the Department of Trade and Industry Civil servants in the Ministry of Technology Governors of Gibraltar Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of the Order of St John Civil servants from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish civil servants 21st-century Scottish civil servants People educated at Fettes College School governors