In snakeskin Louboutins, our woman in NYC loved to mix it with the A-list
NOT many of Britain’s consul generals favour snakeskin Christian Louboutin heels. But highflying Antonia Romeo, who’s rarely seen without hers, is no ordinary diplomat. When she became the first female British consul general in New York in July 2016, Mrs Romeo appeared to embrace the fashion scene with as much gusto as her trade-boosting endeavours. To her, the two went hand-in-hand, but critics say that in addition to promoting Britain, she did an expert job of promoting herself. So much so, indeed, that some detractors believe she was effectively cultivating her own brand. One of the social high points of her starry Manhattan tenure came on a warm Monday night in June 2017 when Mrs Romeo played host to high-profile members of the American fashion, publishing and theatre worlds. They gathered on the rooftop of the British residence on East 51st Street in honour of Anna Wintour, editorin-chief of Vogue. Balancing easy charm with razor sharp insights, the Oxfordeducated economist made an engaging host. She mingled with designers Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Michael Kors, chatted to New Yorker magazine editor David Remnick and then found Harvey Weinstein, whom she had met for the first time a few weeks earlier. On that occasion she posted pictures of herself on social media with the Hollywood producer beneath a caption suggesting that she let him know Britain ‘has the best film talent in the world’. If she had known then that four months later Weinstein would face allegations of sexual harassment, she might have been less quick to feed Twitter. Within weeks of arriving in New York, Mrs Romeo threw what was described as a girls’ lunch for ex-Chancellor George Osborne’s then wife Frances. Former Vanity Fair edit or Tina Brown was another guest. Then came a reception to mark the centenary of British Vogue. Dressed in a gown by British designer Jenny Packham, Mrs Romeo mixed with newlyweds Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch, model Alexa Chung, and celebrity photographer Josh Olins. At a lunch thrown by the editor of Cosmopolitan for the Absolutely Fabulous stars, she was pictured with Joanna Lumley.
Her main role was to keep dialogue – financial and cultural – open between the US and Britain, which she called ‘a lot of fun’.
Describing her working day, she said that she waved goodbye to her children at 7.15am, headed for either a working breakfast or spin class, before going to the consulate. At least
Parties with Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Joanna Lumley – and Harvey Weinstein
three or four nights a week she hosted events for British business at the official residence.
Yet within months of plunging into this whirl, she was lined up for the high-powered post of Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Trade on a mission to help strike post-Brexit trade deals with the rest of the world. At the time, she was described as ‘fiercely clever, stylish, and utterly committed to her job’ and one of the youngest permanent secretaries in Whitehall.
Mrs Romeo, who is now 45 and has three children, says: ‘It was too good an opportunity not to go for, even though I was living in New York at the time.
‘I believe it’s important to work in a job that you really love: if I’m going to leave my kids every day, it has to be for something amazing.’
Educated privately at North London Collegiate School and the £33,000-a-year Westminster School, she is the daughter of academics. ‘My father was a major influence on me,’ she said in an interview.
‘I was an enthusiastic Brownie girl guide and won all the badges bar one – the house orderly badge, which involved sweeping and making cups of tea. He refused to let me do it because he thought it was demeaning to women.’
After a spell in the private sector at management consultants Oliver Wyman, where she met her Italian husband John, she joined the Civil Service on a temporary contract as an economist in 2000.
Within six years she was principal private secretary to Labour’s Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer and transferred to the Cabinet Office when David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010.
In 2015 she became director-general of Cameron’s Economic and Domestic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office.
Thus far, exciting promotions have come quickly and easily over her 20-year Civil Service career. But whether the seemingly unstoppable Mrs Romeo can make her biggest step to Cabinet Secretary remains to be seen.