Rupert Joy has spent much of his life living and working in the Islamic world. He grew up in Lebanon; studied Arabic in Cairo; and has served with the diplomatic service in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Iraq. His last full overseas post was as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Rabat.

Rupert was born in London and spent his childhood in Beirut before the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. He was educated at schools in Lebanon and England before studying Modern History at New College, Oxford (1982-85). After leaving university, he worked briefly as an English teacher at the British Council in Hong Kong (1986-87) and later as a book editor in Hong Kong and London (1987-90).

He joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1990, as Bilateral Desk Officer in Soviet Department (1990-91). After Arabic language training, he helped organise HRH The Prince of Wales’ visit to Saudi Arabia in 1993. He served as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Sana’a from 1994-95, during the Yemeni civil war. From 1995-96, he served as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Riyadh.

From 1996 to 1999, Rupert worked in London as Head of Crisis Management in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s Counter-Terrorism Department, dealing with international counter-terrorism policy and co-ordinating the UK response to overseas hostage crises. In 2000, he was posted as Deputy Head of Mission to the British Embassy in Rabat.

In 2003, Rupert took a sabbatical to study his second love, the international wine business, at Dijon Business School in France. After obtaining a Masters Diploma in the International Wine & Spirits Trade, he worked for businesses in the Rhône Valley and Bordeaux, and as a freelance wine writer.

Resuming his diplomatic career in 2005, Rupert did a brief stint in southern Iraq as Deputy Consul-General in Basra, before working as Head of South America Team in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London (2005-08). In 2009, he was appointed British Ambassador to Uzbekistan.

Rupert speaks French, Arabic and Russian. He and his wife, Kirsteen, have three children. His interests include wine, archeology and history.