Ambassador Inigo Lambertini

Inigo Lambertini is, as of 6th October 2022, the Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom, after having served as a diplomat on four different continents. He is the nineteenth Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom since the founding of the Italian Republic, the thirty-sixth since Italian unity and the first from Italy who will present the Letter of Credence to King Charles III.

  • Retracing his career path – in 1987 he began his diplomatic career with an assignment to the Foreign Ministry’s Directorate of Economic Affairs in Rome; From 1991 – to 1993 he served as Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Italy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (ex Zaire). Following this, he was assigned to the Italian embassy in Brazil, where he headed the commercial office from 1993 until 1997.
  • Between 1997 and 1999 he was Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the EU in Brussels and from 1999-2001 he served as Adviser to the Coordination Unit of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome.
  • In 2001 he was posted to Washington DC, where, until 2005 he was Counsellor on Domestic Policy at the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC and subsequently became First Counsellor.
  • Following his time in the United States, from 2005-2009 he served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the OECD in Paris.
  • In January 2009 he was promoted to the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary. In 2014 Inigo Lambertini was appointed Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador.
  • In 2017 he became Deputy Head of the Italian Delegation at the UNSC, while in November of that same year, he served as co-chair of the Security Council.
  • Since July 2018, Lambertini took his duties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome as Chief of Diplomatic Protocol, a position he held until his very recent arrival in London on 6th October 2022.
  • In January 2021 he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador.
  • He holds the Honour of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

In his posting to London, Ambassador Lambertini stated that it is taking place “during a very unique historical moment, with momentous changes that are still underway, but at the same time in line with secular traditions”. His approach to guiding the diplomatic mission will centre on “pragmatism, the safeguard of the many Italian nationals and of the Italian companies based in the United Kingdom.” Furthermore, he stated that he also aims for “continuous political and cultural dialogue with the objective of further strengthening the deep friendship which ties Italy and the UK”.

Italian Embassy London

The Italian Embassy in London is one of the most important Italian bilateral embassies in the world.  On the basis of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961, the embassy’s functions include the following:

  • Represent Italy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
  • Safeguard the interests of Italy and its citizens, within the limits set by international law;
  • Negotiate with the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
  • Gather information, by any legal means, on conditions and events in the United Kingdom and report back to the Italian State;
  • Promote friendly relations and develop economic, cultural and scientific collaborations between Italy and the United Kingdom.

This Embassy coordinates a network comprising two consulates (London and Edinburgh), two cultural institutes (London and Edinburgh), an Italian Trade Agency Office and an Italian National Tourist Board Office. The Embassy comprises a number of departments, staffed by personnel of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as well as by staff from other ministries and public institutions.

The Italian consulates in London and Edinburgh provide a range of consular services to both Italian and foreign nationals who live in the consulates’ respective catchment areas.

The Embassy

The Italian Embassy at No. 4 Grosvenor Square is a fascinating place, with a magnificent art collection and a lively history. The land occupied today by the square and the surrounding area was once part of the manor of Ebury, which belonged to Westminster Abbey and later became the property of the Crown.

James I sold the land in 1623 to private purchasers, and then in 1626 the manor of Ebury was bought by Hugh Audley, who left it to his wife, Mary Davies, upon his death. She later married Sit Thomas Grosvenor, whose son, Sir Richard, began developing the area around 1710. Sir Richard’s plans were ambitious. He wanted Grosvenor Square to be one of the largest in London, extending over six acres and bordered on all four sides by imposing elegant buildings.

The east side, where the Italian embassy is located, was originally designed by the Scottish architect Colen Campbell (1676-1729), but his ideas were never transformed into reality. A drawing by Campbell, in which the Neo-Palladian nature of his project, is held by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It is unclear why Campbell’s plan was discarded, but work began on the site in 1725 under the direction of John Simmons. No.4, whose location in the centre of the east side made it the most important house on that side, was finished in 1728, and the construction of the whole group of seven houses was completed by 1735.

No. 4 was larger than the other buildings and its façade had a prominent central section crowned with a pediment. Some of the decorative elements were repeated on the end houses, giving the impression that the row of houses was a single palatial building. Despite the exceptional location and the beauty of the architecture, No. 4 failed to sell, until Simmons took the unusual measure of making it a raffle prize in June 1739.

The new owner was Francis Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham, who rented it to Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk, who lived in it until 1741. In February 1742 Lord Effingham sold the house for £5,500 to Thomas Watson-Wentworth, Earl of Malton, later 1st Marquess of Rockingham, who carried out major renovations to the building, notably changing the layout of the interior and adding plastered ceilings.

His son, Charles, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham and prime minister in 1765 and in 1782, lived at No. 4 Grosvenor Square from 1751 to his death in 1782. He bequeathed it to his nephew, William Wentworth, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, who lived there for fifty years. Lord Fitzwilliam was an important politician of his time. He held the post of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1795 for just eight days before being dismissed by prime minister, William Pitt, who was annoyed by his intention to implement the Catholic Emancipation immediately. Lord Fitzwilliam invested large sums of money in the house, spending £3,986 in 1785 alone.

The Fitzwilliams renovated the house again in 1872 and in 1902, adding an extra floor and a rear extension connecting to the buildings on Three Kings Yard, where the Chancery is today. In 1931 the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam surrendered the lease back to the Grosvenors, and on the 25th of March of the same year Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, granted a 200-year lease to the Italian state.

 

Show all timings
  • Monday09:30 - 12:30
  • Tuesday09:30 - 12:30
  • Wednesday09:30 - 12:30
  • Thursday09:30 - 12:30
building Own or work here? Claim Now! Claim Now!
image