WE ARE PROUD TO OFFER YOU DIPLOMAT magazine’s 65th anniversary special issue. Diplomat was created in a different world for a different diplomatic corps that included less than 50 countries, yet claimed to be the largest in the world. So a formidable woman named Betty millan and a romanian journalist, remy Hefter, decided to start a magazine for london’s foreign diplomats. it contained 24 pages and just one advert. Subscriptions were two guineas (£2.10) or $8.50. (The price hasn’t gone up too much!)  The finances of Diplomat in the early days were a murky issue; it’s believed that m16 helped out in return for what it called ‘low level intelligence’ from the editor. it’s said that Betty even helped the police track down Carlos the Jackal, who she recognised when he turned up at the offices to buy photographs of receptions.

Today, Diplomat is the world’s oldest magazine for diplomats, and we celebrate over six decades working with london’s diplomatic community. recent years have seen many publications come and go. in fact, Diplomat is older than Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Time Out, The Independent, Private Eye and even The Sun. from regime change to climate change, we’ve tracked all the developments at the Court of James’s.

In celebration of this great event, we cast an eye back to the state of the world in 1947, when Diplomat’s first ever issue was rolling off its pre-digital press. George Vi was on the throne and Clement atlee was in downing Street. as one of our writers concludes: ‘diplomacy, then as now, was the oil that kept the engines of state running smoothly.’

We’ve taken a nostalgic trip through the decades to give you a taste of how Diplomat has reflected the world of diplomacy in this great city. We look at how diplomacy has changed between 1947 and 2012; pick from the cast of history’s most colourful diplomats and look at some of Diplomat’s spectacular covers over the years. I hope you enjoy this special publication.

As always, we also want to hear from you, our readers, on article suggestions, new appointments, local news, issues and other events in the mission that you would like covered. please contact me at e: vvk@diplomatmagazine.com Have a wonderful summer and enjoy london 2012. despite our unpredictable weather, it’s sure to be a spectacular few months!