LONDON — Sir Nicholas Henderson, a former British ambassador to the U.S. who helped build support for Britain’s war effort in the Falkland Islands, died in his sleep Monday morning in London, his family said. He was 89.
Henderson also served as ambassador to Poland, Spain, Germany and France, and as private secretary to Britain’s foreign minister.
Alexandra Drogheda, his daughter, said Henderson played an instrumental role in building support in the U.S. for Britain’s decision to invade the Falkland Islands after they were seized by Argentina in 1982.
She said her father also became known in Washington and elsewhere for his “stylish and eccentric” style of dress.
“It was stylish English dressing, but everything was slightly awry,” she said. “He had already retired once when he was brought out of retirement to serve in Washington. He loved Washington and felt he understood it very well.”
Henderson wrote several books, and excerpts from his diary have been posted on the Margaret Thatcher Foundation website, offering rare insights into the pleasures and pressures of diplomatic life.
He described, for example, how much planning went into an official dinner at the British Embassy in Washington in which Thatcher hosted the Reagans in 1981. Henderson described how Thatcher seemed disappointed that President Ronald Reagan left without asking her to dance.
“So I went up to her and said, ‘Prime minister, would you like to dance?’ ”
“Mrs. T. accepted my offer . . . and . . . confessed to me that that was what she had been wanting to do all the evening,” he wrote. “She loved dancing, something, so I found out, that she did extremely well.”
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