Sir Reginald James Bowker (2 July 1901 – 15 December 1983) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Burma, Turkey and Austria.

Career

Bowker was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

. He joined the Diplomatic Services in 1925 and served in Paris, Berlin, Ankara, Oslo and Madrid before being appointed Minister in Cairo 1945–47 (second to the Ambassador, and

chargé d'affaires A (), 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 ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

between ambassadors); High Commissioner and, after independence in 1948, Ambassador to

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

1947–50; an assistant Under-Secretary (head of department) for the Middle East and North Africa at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

1950–53; and Ambassador to Turkey 1954–58. Bowker was also the Chairperson between 1965-1972 and vice president between 1958 and 1983 in British Institute of Archeology at Ankara. When Bowker left Turkey, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' correspondent there commented that during his term Bowker's last post was Ambassador to Austria, 1958–61.

Honours

Bowker was appointed in 1945, knighted KCMG in the 1952

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, and awarded the additional, senior knighthood of GBE when he retired in 1961.

Elsa Bowker

In 1947 Bowker married Elsa Gued, whom he had met in Cairo while he was posted there. Lady Bowker (as she became) was a noted

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

. She continued to live in London after Sir James' death, and in 1992 she met, and became a ''

confidante The confidant ( or ; feminine: confidante, same pronunciation) is a character in a story whom a protagonist confides in and trusts. Confidants may be other principal characters, characters who command trust by virtue of their position such as d ...

'' of,

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. Lady Bowker died in 2000. She had no children.Lady Bowker – Confidante of the Princess of Wales whose gossip and wisdom enlivened the salons and drawing rooms of London society
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 4 October 2000, page 25

References

BOWKER, Sir (Reginald) James
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowker, James 1901 births 1983 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Myanmar Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Turkey Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Austria Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George