Best Of

I spent a little while yesterday trying to come up with a better play on "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", than the thread header

I remembered a joke from Frasier, when they're considering Tina and Archie as guests to a dinner party and Frasier says "Don't cry for me Arch and Tina". I found a song by and Tina Turner from her 3rd solo album written by an Archie (Jones, i think), but couldn't develop it into either an amusing or even interesting play on words

I persisted on the Archibald searches, and stumbled on an Archibald Butt. He was a probably gay American soldier who became military aide to Presidents Taft and Roosevelt. He died on the Titanic, with his his supposed partner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Butt

More interesting than him though, was the note that Australian born Scot and future British diplomat extraordinaire Archibald Clark Kerr, Baron Inverchapel, had stayed with him on his first visit to DC

Kerr is probably best known for his infamous 1943 missive to a friend while stationed in Moscow:

"My Dear Reggie,

In these dark days man tends to look for little shafts of light that spill from Heaven. My days are probably darker than yours, and I need, my God I do, all the light I can get. But I am a decent fellow, and I do not want to be mean and selfish about what little brightness is shed upon me from time to time. So I propose to share with you a tiny flash that has illuminated my sombre life and tell you that God has given me a new Turkish colleague whose card tells me that he is called Mustapha Kunt.

We all feel like that, Reggie, now and then, especially when Spring is upon us, but few of us would care to put it on our cards. It takes a Turk to do that.

Sir Archibald Clerk Kerr,

H.M. Ambassador"


1/2

Just penning this would be sufficient to be worthy of mention, but this guy was truly extraordinary

He was apparently almost romantically involved with the Queen Mum, before she became Queen. He was Ambassador to China from 1938 to 42, whilst it was invaded by Japan and the consulate was destroyed. He stayed on after the rest of the staff were evacuated to keep the British flag flying

He was then moved to Moscow, where he developed a very close relationship with Stalin - often involving mammoth drinking sessions - and following Churchill's order: "You want a directive? All right. I don't mind kissing Stalin's bum, but I'm damned if I'll lick his arse!"

After the war he was appointed Ambassador to the USA, where his career was pretty much ended by his friendship with the superior of Burgess and Maclean. He then worked on the Committee for the Study of European Unity which drew up the blueprint for the Council of Europe

During his early diplomatic career he had postings around Central and South America, including time in Buenos Aires, and a job in Chile. While in Santiago he met his wife, the daughter of a millionaire, Maria Theresa Diaz Salas. She was known as Tita

So I kind of got there - Arch and Tita - but so glad I found his story. I've ordered the book about him "Radical Diplomat" by Donald Gillies

https://www.waterstones.com/book/radical-diplomat/donald-gillies/9781350182455

https://www.scottishbanner.com/2024/11/22/the-scot-who-changed-the-world/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Clark_Kerr,_1st_Baron_Inverchapel