The new British ambassador (second right) meeting the Prime Minister with ripped trousers at Delhi airport!

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The current British High Commissioner to India has been appointed as the new British ambassador to Spain. Alex Ellis previously was Deputy National Security Adviser for the Integrated Review on diplomacy, development and defence. Other former posts include the Director General of the Department for Exiting the European Union. He has also been British ambassador to Portugal and Brazil.

On X (formerly twitter) he recounted an amusing tale when he was at the airport in India last year to meet the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

"One of the biggest moments for an Ambassador/High Commissioner is when your head of government visits the country to which you’re accredited. Especially to the High Commissioner to India when your head of government is of Indian heritage and his wife is Indian. So extra anticipation as Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty arrive for the G20 Summit in Delhi. The red carpet unfurls…

"And I am ready, in my favourite suit - light, comfortable and my go to for many events. But…as I get up to go to the aircraft, disaster strikes. Yes, I have a huge rip in my trousers. But the red carpet is unfurled, the protocol is waiting, the plane door is about to open. And it’s windy….. . So it’s grin and hold it - note the firmly pressed arms tight by my side, and careful positioning to be downwind of the photographers. All passes without incident, amd the convoy is off. As DavidGHFrost once said to me, it’s the stuff they can’t train you for which makes the job…."

Alex Ellis will take up his new post in September. He succeeds Hugh Elliott who has been British ambassador to Spain for the last five years.