1. Sir Percy Lyham Loraine, 12th Baronet, was a British diplomat.
15 Facts About Percy Loraine
1. 2.
Percy Loraine was British High Commissioner to Egypt from 1929 to 1933, British Ambassador to Turkey from 1933 to 1939 and British Ambassador to Italy from 1939 to 1940.
3.
Percy Loraine was the last of the Loraine baronets, having no sons to succeed him.
4.
Percy Loraine took part in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference which was held following the end of World War I, before being sent as minister in Tehran and then Athens.
5.
Percy Loraine became close to Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk while serving in Ankara, which improved the relations between the two countries.
6.
Percy Loraine was the last British ambassador to Italy before the start of World War II.
7.
On 10 June 1940, Percy Loraine was presented with the Italian declaration of war on the United Kingdom by Galeazzo Ciano, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Percy Loraine "did not bat an eyelid", as Ciano recorded in his diary.
8.
Percy Loraine took an interest in horse racing and thoroughbred horse breeding: his horse Darius won the 2000 Guineas in 1954.
9.
Percy Loraine worked for the Jockey Club on the introduction of photo-finish cameras to racing.
10.
Percy Loraine died at his London home on 23 May 1961 aged 80.
11.
Percy Loraine had no children and the baronetcy became extinct.
12.
Percy Loraine was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1933, a CMG in 1921, KCMG in 1925 and GCMG in 1937.
13.
In 1924 Percy Loraine married Louise Violet Beatrice, daughter of Major-General Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, brother of the 2nd Earl of Wharncliffe.
14.
Sir Percy Loraine lived at Styford Hall, Stocksfield-on-Tyne, and at Wilton Crescent, Belgravia.
15.
Percy Loraine's friends included Gertrude Bell, fellow diplomat Sir Lancelot Oliphant, and Sir Arnold Wilson.