Queen’s alum receives British Empire Medal 

09 December 2015

A Queen’s 1980 BA French and Spanish graduate, Helen Beggs Frigieri, has received the British Empire Medal (BEM) in recognition for services to relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See in Rome.

Personal Assistant to HM Ambassador to the Holy See since 2008, Ms Frigieri has lived in Italy for 30 years. The BEM was presented by His Excellency Nigel Baker who succeeded Queen’s graduate Mr Francis Campbell in 2011 as the UK’s Ambassador to the Holy See.

The ceremony took place at the end of November in the Ambassador’s Residence and was attended by the Vatican Under Secretary for Relations with States and other Holy See officials, members of Ms Frigieri’s family and Embassy guests.

Speaking on his ambassadorial blog Ambassador Baker said: “Helen’s award was for her dedication, professionalism and sheer hard work in the organisation of no less than six Royal visits to the Holy See in the last five years.

“As I noted in my speech at the ceremony, from a policy perspective, these were crucial visits that helped to provide the framework for the steady improvement and thickening of the bilateral relationship in recent years.

“The Royal relationship with the Holy See is important to our hosts. In particular, the visit of The Queen to the Vatican in April 2014 – only the fourth of her reign – demonstrated the significance of relations between the global British and Holy See networks at the start of a new Pontificate.”

He went on: “The success of such visits does not happen by magic. They require months of planning, focus on detail, and readiness to respond to last minute emergencies. Helen’s qualities shone through during the preparation of each of the visits. She is in many ways just the sort of “unsung heroine” for whom the honours system is best designed. I am delighted that she has been publicly honoured in this way.”

Ms Frigieri served as Deputy Estates Manager in the British Embassy to Italy from 1985-2008 before which she was an Information Assistant at the British Tourist Authority.

Francis Campbell, who served as Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan in Karachi between 2011 and 2013 and then Head of the Policy Unit in the FCO and Director of Innovation at UKTI, was appointed Vice-Chancellor at St Mary's University in Twickenham, London in 2014.

Inquiries to Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office; tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5321

 

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