Sir Antony Acland
Foreign Office Permanent Under-secretary, Ambassador to the US and favourite of Mrs Thatcher
SIR ANTONY ACLAND, who has died aged 91, was the only man to be successively Permanent Under-secretary at the Foreign Office and Ambassador to the United States; he had previously served as Ambassador to Luxembourg and to Spain.
In his three-volume biography of Margaret Thatcher, Charles Moore described Acland as “one of Mrs Thatcher’s favourites”, and this was perhaps partly because he was perfectly capable of standing up to her. In a 2001 interview for the British Diplomatic Oral History Programme at Churchill College, Cambridge, Acland recalled that he had to be “pretty rough” to put a message across.
“She was always claiming that the Foreign Office was wanting to make a compromise … and at one moment when I thought she was being unnecessarily critical, I said, ‘If you want to get another Permanent Under-secretary for heavens sake do, I am not particularly liking the job and perfectly happy to go on to something else.’ That gave her pause. She did say, ‘All right, no more Foreign Office bashing.’ I nearly said to her, ‘I don’t know how long that will last, Prime Minister,’ but I bit it back and said, ‘Thank you very much.’”
Antony Arthur Acland was born on August 12 1930 into a well-known Devonshire family that from the 12th century had accumulated large estates, mainly in the north-east of the county. He was not born into the landowning branch of the family, but was brought up at Feniton Court, near Honiton, an attractive Georgian house with a home farm that belonged to his father, Brigadier Peter Acland. His mother was a descendant of the celebrated 19th-century Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Stratford Canning.
Following family tradition, Antony went to Eton and Christ Church, Oxford where he read PPE. At neither of these institutions did he distinguish himself academically, but he was generally liked and admired for his good looks, good humour and good sense. He was also respected as a fine shot and a competent horseman.
As a younger son, Antony had no expectations, and he was not at all sure what to do after his National Service (then still compulsory in 1952). When he decided to try for the Foreign Office he was obliged, because of his modest academic record, to take the long and exacting Civil Service Commission examination, from which he emerged very creditably as a member of the Foreign Service in 1953.
In his early years in the Service he was cast as an Arabist, and was posted to various Middle East missions. At that stage he was doing well, but was not yet marked out as a star.
The first indication that he might reach the heights was when he was picked out as a junior private secretary to the Secretary of State: he was assistant private secretary to Selwyn Lloyd from 1959 to 1962. Then, as First Secretary at the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York, he began to be regarded as well above the average and earned glowing reports from his superiors.
After a short spell in Geneva, he went to the Foreign Office as head of the Arabian Department at a particularly difficult time, 1970. It was there that he showed his quality, and from then on his recognised ability was only matched by good fortune in being at the right place at the right time.
He became private secretary to Sir Alec Douglas-home in 1972, continuing in the same capacity under James Callaghan. He then went off as a young Ambassador to Luxembourg in 1975, and from there to Spain in 1977.
From Madrid he returned to London to be an under-secretary of state at a crucial time, becoming first the deputy under-secretary presiding over the Joint Intelligence Committee and then, at the beginning of the Falklands War, the Permanent Under-secretary – in which capacity he won Margaret Thatcher’s approval, in spite of her proclaimed dislike of the Foreign Office.
Having been Head of the Diplomatic Service from 1982 to 1986, Acland finished his career as Ambassador to the United States.
His first wife, Anne Verdon, was a devoted and loyal consort during the greater part of Acland’s career. However, she developed cancer and died in 1984. For several years he was sadly bereft, but he soldiered on and went to Washington as a widower.
Two years later, however, he married a cousin, Jennifer Dyke, and she accompanied him for the remainder of his term in the US. They made a good-looking couple and, like Acland’s first wife, Jenny had an attractive personality and a lively mind, and she and Acland were admirable and generous hosts.
Close friends of the then president, George HW Bush, they were wellplaced to promote British interests, though Acland was said to be considered too aloof by the James Baker entourage at the State Department – one Washington wag described him as having “one pinstripe too many”.
They stayed in Washington until 1991, having been asked by the new prime minister, John Major, to prolong their tour somewhat beyond the usual retiring age.
Antony Acland always gave the impression of effortless professional skill. Some colleagues, indeed, were inclined to underrate him. But in fact he was a hard worker who took endless trouble to master his brief. He was also considerate to his juniors, and to those who for one reason or another had not prospered in the Service.
With such a record, it was not surprising that Acland should find himself much in demand in retirement. He joined the boards of Booker and of Shell, and he became Provost of Eton (1991-2000), a job that he and his wife thoroughly enjoyed.
They took the decision to buy a remote farmhouse on Exmoor – on what had once been Acland land – where they were able to ride, walk, garden and savour the country life in which they had both grown up. It provided, too, a fine place in which to entertain children, stepchildren and grandchildren.
From time to time Acland contributed to public policy debates. In 2000 he was one of a group of retired diplomats who came out in favour of the anti-euro campaign led by the former Foreign Secretary Lord Owen. “Prodi [Romano Prodi, then President of the European Commission] and Fischer [Joschka Fischer, German foreign minister] want total political union,” he said. “We can’t have that.”
Throughout his life Acland was an all-rounder. His personal qualities commended him to such very different chiefs as Sir Alec Douglas-home and James Callaghan, while his Anglican faith supported him throughout his life, particularly during the sad period when his first wife was dying.
He was not a natural orator, but by taking pains he became an accomplished speaker, nearly always contriving to strike the right note with the audience he was addressing. Perhaps the most daunting public occasion on which he had to perform was to give the address at the memorial service for his old boss, Lord Home of the Hirsel, at Westminster Abbey.
The Douglas-home family were quite clear that they wanted Acland to do it and he naturally agreed. But he had many misgivings at the prospect of addressing such a large and distinguished congregation in such an awesome setting. In the event he did it very well.
He was chairman of the Ditchley Foundation from 1991 to 1997 and Chancellor of the Order of St Michael and St George from 1994 to 2005. In 2001 he was appointed a Knight of the Garter. He was also a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and of various other charitable bodies. He was appointed CMG and KCVO in 1976, KCMG in 1982, GCMG in 1986 and KG in 2001.
Antony Acland is survived by his wife and by two sons and a daughter from his first marriage.