Charles David Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater
,
KCMG
(born 6 July 1941) (
, pronounced 'pole'
[1]
) is a British diplomat and businessman who served as a key foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
during the 1980s.
Early life and education
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]
Son of
Air Vice Marshal
John Frederick Powell
and his wife Ysolda,
[2]
Powell was educated at the
Cathedral Choir School, Canterbury
;
King's School, Canterbury
; and
New College, Oxford
, graduating
BA
in 1963 with first class honours in
Modern History
. One brother, Sir
Chris Powell
, is an advertiser; another,
Jonathan
, was chief of staff to Prime Minister
Tony Blair
.
Career
[
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]
Diplomatic
[
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]
Charles Powell joined
His Majesty's Diplomatic Service
in 1963. His first posting was as
Third Secretary
to
Helsinki
in 1965, where he was promoted to
Second Secretary
. In 1968, he returned to London, spending three years at the
FCO
. He was posted as
First Secretary
to
Washington, D.C.
in 1971, as the
Ambassador
's
Private Secretary
. Subsequent postings were to
Bonn
in 1974 and, as
Counsellor
, to UKREP
Brussels
in 1980.
[3]
He was seconded to
10 Downing Street
and served as Private Secretary to
Margaret Thatcher
(1983 to 1990) and then as Private Secretary to
John Major
(1990 to 1991). During his time working for Mrs Thatcher, he became one of her most trusted foreign policy aides.
Business
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Since 1992 Powell has served on the boards of
Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd
,
LVMH Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton
,
Caterpillar Inc.
,
Textron Corporation
,
Mandarin Oriental International Ltd
, Hongkong Land Ltd and
Schindler Holding Ltd
. He chaired the international advisory board of
Rolls-Royce
and is a member of the advisory boards of
Barrick Gold
,
Chubb Insurance
and
Thales
, and a strategic adviser to
BAE Systems
and an adviser to Bowmark Private Equity. He was for ten years chairman of both the
China-Britain Business Council
and the Singapore British Business Council, as well as chairman of the British Government's Asia Task Force.
House of Lords
[
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]
He currently sits as a
crossbench
life peer in the
House of Lords
. He is currently a member of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.
Charities
[
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]
He is chairman of the British Museum Trust, chairman of the Trustees of the Said Business School at Oxford University, and trustee of the Said Foundation, the Margaret Thatcher Scholarships at Oxford, the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust at Cambridge, chairman of the Atlantic Partnership and a member of King's College London Campaign Board.
Personal life
[
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]
He married Carla Bonardi in 1964. They have two sons, born in 1967 and 1968.
He has three younger brothers,
Chris
(co-founder of DDB Advertising Agency, and currently chair of
NESTA
), Roderick (Rod), and
Jonathan
, the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister
Tony Blair
, a member of the
Labour Party
.
Powell is an Honorary Fellow of the
Ashmolean Museum
in Oxford, a Foundation Fellow of
Somerville College
Oxford, and an Honorary Fellow of
King's College, London
, a Visiting Professor at St Mary's University and has an honorary DSc from Shiv Nadar University in India.
[4]
Honours
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In the media
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Powell has been interviewed for multiple documentaries about Margaret Thatcher and about foreign policy.
In popular culture
[
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]
Powell was portrayed by
Terence Harvey
in the 2004
BBC
production of
The Alan Clark Diaries
, by
James Fox
in 2009's
Margaret
and by
Dominic Rowan
in Netflix's
The Crown
'.
Arms
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]
Coat of arms of Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater
- Crest
- With a chapeau Gules charged with three bezants turned up Argent plumed on the sinister side with a swan's wing Or a ruined square based tower of the Roman campagna also Or.
[7]
- Escutcheon
- Quarterly Argent and Or on a chevron throughout Vert between three fleurs de lys Gules three mural crowns Or on a chief Azure three pigs passant Or winged Argent.
- Supporters
- On either side a lion Or that on the dexter supporting with the exterior foreclaws a shaft of palewise Argent entwined with oak leaves slipped Vert fructed Or and terminating in base a pheon reversed Argent and that on the sinister holding with the exterior foreclaws a lily slipped and leaved Proper.
- Motto
- Pedibus Stantibus
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References
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External links
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