Edward Graham Mellish Chaplin (born 21 February 1951) is a British diplomat, notable for serving as British ambassador in occupied Iraq from April 2004. Until January 2011 he served as British ambassador to Italy. He was the former Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary.[1]
Chaplin was educated at Wellington College, an independent school near the village of Crowthorne in Berkshire, followed by Queens' College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a BA 1st Class Hons. Degree in Oriental Studies, in 1973.
Married Nicola Helen Fisher. One son, 2 daughters.
Chaplin headed the Middle East and North Africa department at the Foreign Office in the 80s, notably being briefly detained and assaulted by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1987.[2][3]
Chaplin represented UK at the Nasiriyah conference, where he declared, in April 2003:
The military task is almost completed (...) Our vision for Iraq's future is simply to restore it to its natural place: united, at peace with itself and its neighbours, enjoying effective representative government, playing a leading role in the affairs of the Arab nation and the international community. (...) The Interim Iraqi Authority will put in place a consultative process to decide on the electoral process and the new political structures that best serve the interest of the Iraqi people [4]
In April 2004, after the Invasion of Iraq, Chaplin was appointed ambassador to the Iraqi Governing Council in occupied Iraq.
Chaplin was one of the witnesses of The Iraq Inquiry.
On 1 December 2009, Chaplin gave evidence to The Iraq Inquiry in which he spoke about post-war planning for Iraq.[5]
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