Sir James Lamb Weatherall (28 February 1936 – 18 March 2018) was a senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic from 1989 to 1991 and then as Her Majesty's Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps from 1992 to 2001.

Naval career

Educated at

Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip and his son King Charles III. Musician Davi ...

and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Weatherall joined the

in 1954.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He was given command of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

HMS ''Andromeda'' in 1982, serving with her in the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, and took command of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

HMS ''Ark Royal'' in 1985. He joined the staff of the

Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

in 1987 and then became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic in 1989 before retiring in 1991. In retirement he became Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps and a Trustee of the UK arm of the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

. Sir James also served as Warden of

Box Hill School Box Hill School was a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private coeducational Boarding school, boarding and day school until they merged with Reigate Grammar School and became RGS Surrey Hills in 2025. It was situated in the village of Mic ...

, a public school in Mickleham, near Dorking in Surrey, England until his death. Weatherall was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in the

1989 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

and appointed a

Knight 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 ...

(KCVO) in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipie ...

Family

In 1962 Weatherall married Hon. Jean Stewart Macpherson, daughter of

Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn (3 August 1908 – 11 October 1987) was a Scottish Tory and National Liberal politician. Background and education The member of an important Liberal family from Inverness-shire, Macpherso ...

; they had two sons and three daughters. She died on 15 December 2021.

References

External links

''The Telegraph'' obituary
28 March 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherall, James 1936 births 2018 deaths People educated at Gordonstoun Royal Navy vice admirals Marshals of the Diplomatic Corps Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order