Goodbye Laura!

London’s diplomats will bid a fond farewell to Laura Howard, the Lady Clerk to the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, who will be departing after seven years in service.

Arriving in October 2000, she worked with the previous Marshal, Vice Admiral Sir James Weatherall, smoothing the transition to Sir Anthony Figgis in February 2001.

“With the help of four dogs Sir Anthony and I organised the day-to-day duties of the Marshal as well as many wonderful State Occasions, including The Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002,” she smiles.

She arrived a single woman, but it wasn’t long before Laura caught the eye of a dashing equerry in the Queen’s Household and she and Oliver were married in 2004. Her final duty was also romantic: The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s Diamond Wedding Service.

The couple will be retiring to Somerset to enjoy country life with dogs, chickens and lots of gardening.

Laura’s warmth and cheer will be greatly missed but we all welcome her successor, Jane Thomson, formerly private secretary to the Spanish Ambassador.