The Ambassador's Wife's Tale

Who really looks after British interests abroad? Behind the pomp of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, another powerful force is busily but discreetly propping up the image of UK plc.

For 28 years, Julia was a diplomatic spouse, juggling a growing family while supporting the demands of her husband’s role. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes terrifying, she reveals the realities of life as an ambassador’s wife, from food shortages to terrorist incidents to rubbing shoulders with the Queen, Mrs Thatcher and George Best – and rubbing knees with Mikhail Gorbachev.

Light-hearted in style, The Ambassador’s Wife Tale has a serious core message: that the diplomatic wife stands centre-stage as the drama of world affairs unfolds.

‘Suspenseful and gripping...the last days of the Libya posting are as breathless as scenes in the Oscar-winning film Argo’ Daily Mail

‘Julia Miles describes with accuracy as well as with fine humour the varied, challenging and daunting tasks that wives of diplomats have to manage, often under very difficult circumstances’ Express Tribune

Hardback: 208 pps

Publisher: Eye (2015)

ISBN: 9781903070901