I had a brief contretemps with a Brit today, which as you can imagine — yours truly being such an unabashed Anglophile — made me frightfully uncomfortable.

But all ended well.

I tried to be a wag this morning with regard to Her Majesty’s former ambassador to her ancestors’ former colonies:

It’s called “diplomacy,” old boy — you’re not supposed to tell the TRUTH… https://t.co/fyhwC9xOVH

— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) July 10, 2019

But one of our friends across the pond took it amiss:

Actually he was diplomatic. But his primary position, with respect, is to be the eyes and ears of HM the Queen in the US. The US cannot and must not think it can dictate how our ambassadors communicate in secret confidential documents to our Queen….

— Only sane person? (@NaughtyNooNoo89) July 10, 2019

I immediately sought to mend the rift:

I fear you took my Tweet seriously, rather than for the irony I intended to communicate…

— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) July 10, 2019

Fortunately, my explanation was accepted:

Good sir, then I apologise. I have seen too many tweets from your fellow countrymen with a genuinely held view that all secret diplomatic communications ought to only say lovely positive things about your president and mistook you as another. But I retract and apologise.

— Only sane person? (@NaughtyNooNoo89) July 10, 2019

So all is well, I believe. Fortunately, the English have no problem admitting error, unlike us. “Sorry” is their favorite word. Which is one of the things I love about them, in spite of my recent tour of Ireland, which should have radicalized me against the Sassenach. But it didn’t…

Make no mistake: I wish all the best to Mr. Darroch, and hope Her Majesty will find a good situation for him going forward. He’s the Queen’s good servant, and a friend to this country as well. It’s the truest friend who tells us what we need to hear.

So to all my friends over there, ones I’ve met and those I haven’t: God Save the Queen. And mind how you go…

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