Theresa May’s first love... aide to the Queen who married a woman called Theresa Mary!
PS: Does he remind you of anyone, Philip?
THE extraordinary story of Theresa May’s secret first love at Oxford was revealed for the first time last night. He is a Philip May ‘lookalike’ who went on to marry a woman with the same first and second names as the Prime Minister – Theresa Mary.
Even more remarkably, he is closer to sovereign power than his former girlfriend Mrs May.
The Mail on Sunday can disclose that the PM’s first Oxford boyfriend Alistair Harrison is Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps and the Queen’s senior adviser on foreign affairs.
Mr Harrison, 63, like Philip May, a super-bright, slim six-footer, dated Mrs May in her early days at Oxford, where they all studied in the 1970s. It is thought her relationship with Mr Harrison ended shortly before she fell in love with Philip, 60.
Four decades later, Mrs May, 61, can almost wave to Mr Harrison from her Downing Street flat. He has an even grander grace and favour apartment at St James’s Palace half a mile away.
High-flying diplomat Mr Harrison has two of the most prestigious gongs. He’s a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, awarded for personal Commonwealth service to the Monarch. He is also a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). The Order’s registrar is ex-MI6 boss Sir David Manning, and fictional spy James Bond was decorated with a CMG by author Ian Fleming, fuelling rumours of its espionage connections.
In the TV comedy, Yes Minister fictitious mandarin Bernard Woolley tells his MP boss Jim Hacker, CMG stands for ‘Call Me God’.
The Prime Minister’s close friend at Oxford, Pat Frankland told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Theresa went out with Alistair a few times. He was her type – tall, highly intelligent and with small “c” conservative views. She only went out with men she could relate to socially and intellectually.’ She jokingly added: ‘They had to be intelligent or they wouldn’t be able to stand up to her.’
Mr Harrison’s Foreign Office career included postings in Eastern Europe, the UN and Africa.
After launching an anti-corruption drive while Governor of Anguilla in the Caribbean, he was given an armed guard to protect his family from protesters. Four years after leaving Oxford, Mr Harrison mar- ried Theresa Mary Morrison. They divorced after ten years. He married writer and marketing consultant Sarah Wood in 1996. The couple have three teenage children.
His appointment to the Royal Household in 2014 prompted speculation that it was linked to the gradual handover of more duties from the Queen to Prince Charles.
The post of Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps was created by James I in 1603. The Marshal and the Queen’s Equerry are the last two Royal courtiers expected to walk backwards discreetly when leaving the presence of the Monarch. Mr Harrison has defended the custom saying: ‘It makes sense. You don’t turn on your heel after introducing one person to another. It’s simply polite.’
His official uniform includes a feathered cocked hat and pendant with a sword on one side and an
‘He was her type – tall and highly intelligent’
olive branch on the other. By tradition, when he receives ambassadors from countries considered ‘unfriendly’ to Britain, the Marshal holds the sword side facing up. He quipped he ‘hoped to see more of the olive branch’ while he had the job.
Like Mrs May, Mr Harrison was an active member of Oxford University’s Oxford Union debating society.
Told that this newspaper had been informed of his student relationship with Mrs May, Mr Harrison said yesterday: ‘Oh, really.’
He said he knew the Mays and still saw them ‘from time to time’.
Pressed further about his dates with the future Prime Minister, he declined to comment further and joked that in his Oxford days he was ‘40 years younger and much more handsome’.
Mrs May declined to comment.