Robin McLaren

Sir Robin McLaren KCMG
McLaren in Beijing
British Ambassador to China
In office 1991–1994
Monarch	Elizabeth II
President	Yang Shangkun Jiang Zemin
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Sir Alan Donald
Succeeded by	Sir Leonard Appleyard
British Ambassador to the Philippines
In office 1985–1987
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Morgan
Succeeded by	Keith MacInnes
Personal details
Born	(1934-08-14)14 August 1934
Died	20 July 2010(2010-07-20) (aged 75)
Education	Ardingly College
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge

Sir Robin John Taylor McLaren KCMG (14 August 1934 – 20 July 2010[1]) was a British diplomat.

Education

Robin McLaren was educated at Ardingly College, a boarding independent school for boys (now co-educational), in the village of Ardingly (near Haywards Heath) in West Sussex, followed by St John's College, Cambridge, and the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Life and career

McLaren was Chairman of Governors at Ardingly College, where the McLaren Library is named after him. He served in the Royal Navy from 1953 to 1955, and entered the Foreign Service in 1958. He held a range of diplomatic posts between 1958 and 1994, including being Assistant Private Secretary to Sir Edward Heath between 1963 and 1964. He went on to serve as British Ambassador to the Philippines between 1985 and 1987. He was senior British representative on the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group between 1987 and 1989,[1] and British Ambassador to the People's Republic of China between 1991 and 1994.[2] He was made KCMG in 1991, having been made CMG in 1982.

Honours

•  United Kingdom :
  • Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) – Sir (1991)

References

• Sir Robin McLaren, obituary, The Telegraph, 29 July 2010

1. Leung, Ambrose (23 July 2010). "OBITUARY – Robin McLaren, 1934–2010: The diplomat who helped smooth a path for Hong Kong's handover", South China Morning Post
2. "British Diplomatic History". Retrieved 16 May 2008.

External links

• Interview with Sir Robin John Taylor McLaren & transcript, British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1996

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Michael Morgan	British Ambassador to the Philippines 1985–1987	Succeeded by Keith MacInnes
Preceded by Sir Alan Donald	British Ambassador to China 1991–1994	Succeeded by Sir Leonard Appleyard