Peter Hope (diplomat)

Sir Peter Hope KCMG TD (29 May 1912 – 12 March 1999) was a British intelligence officer, later a diplomat, ambassador to Mexico.

Career

Charles Peter Hope was educated at The Oratory School and Imperial College, London. While there he had an affair with Mary Farmar, later the novelist Mary Wesley.^[1]

He joined the Royal Artillery in 1939, but was attached to MI6 and was involved with the formation of the Special Operations Executive. In 1941 he transferred to MI5 and was posted to SHAEF in 1944 to track down British traitors, one of whom was Harold Cole, arrested by Hope in 1945.^[2] In 1946 Hope transferred to the Foreign Office. He was Minister at Madrid 1959–62, Consul-General at Houston 1963–64,^[3] Minister and Alternate UK Representative to the United Nations 1965–68 and Ambassador to Mexico 1968–72.^[4]

Hope was appointed CMG in the New Year Honours of 1957^[5] and knighted KCMG in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1972.^[6] He was a Knight of the Venerable Order of St John,^[7] a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico), a Grand Officer of the Order pro merito Melitensi (Malta) and a member of the Order of Saints George and Constantine (Greece).

References

1. Marnham, Patrick, Wild Mary: A Life of Mary Wesley (Random House, 2007), pp.33-34
2. West, Nigel, The Circus - MI5 Operations 1945-1972 (Stein and Day, 1982), page 23
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43020. p. 4859. 4 June 1963.
4. The London Gazette: no. 44554. p. 3557. 26 March 1968.
5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 40960. p. 5. 1 January 1957.
6. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45678. p. 6258. 3 June 1972.
7. The London Gazette: no. 49678. p. 3986. 19 March 1984.

Sources

• HOPE, Sir (Charles) Peter, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012
• Sir Peter Hope obituary, p. 21, The Times (London), 16 March 1999