Dame Antonia Romeo is known in the Foreign Office by the curious nickname ‘Strong White’. The sobriquet is not a reference to the Oxford-educated diplomat’s taste in coffee, neither to the strength of her ambitions – which have just seen the 51-year-old reach the very top of the Whitehall ladder.
Rather, the name stems from her controversial decision to order a £100,000 refit of her luxury grace-and-favour apartment in Manhattan when, in 2016, she became Britain’s first female Consul-General in New York.
The lavish redecoration was initially vetoed by the Foreign Office on cost grounds – the apartment had only just undergone a previous makeover – so Romeo ordered staff to approach modish British paint brand Farrow & Ball.
The company duly provided free of charge sufficient quantities of its ‘Strong White’ paint, which retails at more than £100 for a 2.5-litre tin. The gift helped bring down the cost of Romeo’s refit to a more reasonable £31,250, including £12,000 to ship ‘government artwork’ across the Atlantic.
A grateful Romeo subsequently staged a taxpayer-funded drinks reception for Farrow & Ball at the £9million residence.
Starmer’s new Cabinet Secretary – the first woman to occupy a role said by some political insiders to be almost if not more powerful than that of the Prime Minister himself – has never been one to spurn the high life, including or perhaps especially when it is funded by taxpayers.
Nor is Romeo shy of promoting fashionable causes. Not for nothing has she attracted a second nickname: Whitehall’s ‘Queen of Woke’.
A lifelong party animal, as Consul-General she threw herself into New York’s social scene. Her grace-and-favour apartment groaned under the weight of framed photographs showing her smiling with celebrities from Meryl Streep to Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor, and, less salubriously, shamed ex-Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Dame Antonia Romeo is known in the Foreign Office by the curious nickname ‘Strong White’
At a reception to mark the centenary of British Vogue, Romeo was dressed in a gown by British designer Jenny Packham, whose clients also include Angeline Jolie and Dame Helen Mirren.
Romeo later waxed lyrical about her love for the luxury label Erdem, a favourite of A-listers such as Scarlett Johansson, ‘for nights out’, and she added ‘Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham for office life’. All the partying was offset with a daily routine of spin classes and healthy green juices.
Yet, the Strong White tag stuck. As, perhaps, did allegations of bullying.
In New York, Romeo was investigated after a complaint – or complaints, depending on who you believe – about her conduct. A report initially found ‘a serious case to answer’ before the probe was dropped by the Cabinet Office. She categorically denies the accusation.
This week Sir Matthew Rycroft, who was UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York when Romeo was Consul-General, told the BBC that there had been only one bullying complaint against her.
But last night one senior civil servant who worked with her in New York told me that the Cabinet Office statement was misleading: ‘There were multiple complaints presented in one dossier.
‘She terrified some people, especially women. It’s fine to be direct and assertive, as Antonia always was. She was clever and energetic but she was also threatening, forever saying she was well-connected in Whitehall. I am astonished No 10 has not done detailed and timely due diligence.’
The same concern over vetting was reflected by Sir Simon McDonald, former Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, who warned Downing Street extensive vetting was ‘vitally important’ for such appointments.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia as Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service
Referring to the scandal over Peter Mandelson, who was sacked as US ambassador because of close links to late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, the retired diplomat continued: ‘The Prime Minister has recent bitter experience of doing the due diligence too late. It would be an unnecessary tragedy to repeat that mistake.’
This week, it was also revealed Romeo had repaid travel expenses worth tens of thousands of pounds after commuting from London to New York at taxpayers’ expense, while other expenses she had claimed included thousands in private school fees for her children.
IN her new role as head of the civil service, Romeo will sit alongside Sir Keir Starmer in Cabinet meetings as the link between ministers and Whitehall, helping drive through government legislation. A poster reading ‘Keep Calm and Carry On Transforming’ sits above the desk in her office.
But not everyone appreciates all the ‘transformations’ she pursues. In particular, barbs have been thrown her way about some of her priorities as she climbed the Whitehall ladder.
After New York, Romeo was promoted by then-PM Theresa May to lead the crucial new Department for International Trade. Here, in the tumultuous aftermath of the Brexit vote, Romeo appeared fixated with fashionable issues. As the civil service’s ‘gender champion’, she established a ‘gender equality leadership group’ in Whitehall, proudly flying the ‘trans flag’ from DIT buildings. In weekly updates to staff, she highlighted ‘Non-Binary Awareness Week’ and ‘Transgender Awareness Week’, urging civil servants to watch a film, Seahorse, that told ‘the story of a trans man’s path to parenthood’.
Dame Antonia Rebecca Caroline Angharad Catherine Romeo, nee Rice- Evans, was educated privately at North London Collegiate School and £33,000-a-year Westminster School. She studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, then economics at the London School of Economics.
After a spell in the private sector at international management consultants Oliver Wyman, where she met her Italian husband John, she joined the civil service on a temporary contract as an economist in 2000. Within six years, the mother of three was principal private secretary to Labour’s Lord Chancellor, Lord (Charlie) Falconer, and transferred to the Cabinet Office when David Cameron became PM in 2010.
While her latest promotion has upset some of her former colleagues – and while her allies have been briefing that their objections are rooted in ‘misogyny’ – others welcome it. ‘To hell with grey diplomats. Antonia is fiercely clever, stylish, and utterly committed to her job,’ said one supporter last night.
Dame Antonia pictured meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace in 2023
After all, as well as being admired by Cameron and May, Romeo was the choice of Liz Truss as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury in 2022, though the appointment never took place.
I’m told that Starmer was warned about the bullying allegations against Romeo but was determined to have a female Cabinet Secretary.
Many Labour MPs, however, are concerned about the appointment. The downfall of Mandelson and the earlier resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s former chief of staff, who had pushed the former’s ill-fated appointment as US ambassador, have caused serious damage to the Government. The last thing Starmer needs is another crisis born of his own (mis)judgment.
Given all that, can we be certain it was pure coincidence that Romeo’s controversial appointment was announced at almost exactly the moment the news came through that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor had been arrested?
I, for one, doubt it.