No.127
The Trusty Servant
Serving our Country abroad
Sir David Miers KBE CMG and Peter
Hilken OBE were contemporaries in
Toye’s (50-55) and met up in Tehran at
the time of the Islamic Revolution, 1978-
79. David was serving in the Embassy,
Peter in The British Council. The Trusty
Servant poses some questions:
Did you get on well while together in
Toye’s, and have you remained good
friends ever since?
D Yes, but we have only seen each
other rarely. One attractive aspect
of friendships made during five
years of close proximity at school
is the ease with which they can be
resumed even after long intervals.
P I think we always got on well,
though I remember David
frowning at me when I dropped
a catch at point in an under-16
game. David was friends with
everyone! Since then we have met
about once every decade.
What made you both decide to join
differing parts of the foreign service,
David the FCO, Peter the British
Council?
P In the 60s the countries Britain
had colonised were getting their
independence. I thought this
was exciting. I believed the new
nations would need help from us
to develop and modernise their
economies and education systems
and I thought that we should help,
building a different, post-colonial
relationship with them. I also
wanted to see the world outside
these small islands!
D Britain’s relations with countries
overseas are important for our
prosperity, security and quality of
life. Working for the government
to defend and advance our
David Miers arrives in Laos, 1968
overseas interests seemed likely
to be useful and attractive. The
Foreign Service was said to
recruit good people so it seemed
reasonable to apply and even if it
turned out to be disappointing it
would look OK on one’s CV.
You were both in Iran in November
1978, when the Islamic Revolution
forced the Shah to abdicate, and
allowed Khomeini to return from
9
exile and take power. What was it like
to be in Tehran when that happened?
D Highly instructive and never
dull. This was no Middle Eastern
coup d’état, but a revolution as
profound and interesting as the
French or Russian one. Quite
a privilege to witness it unfold
at first hand and professionally
useful to study it, report on it,
advise on the consequences etc.