Education
Born in Liverpool, Roberts was educated at Street Mary"s College, Crosby and the University of Oxford (, now Honorary Fellow), graduating with a degree in Modern Languages in 1968 and proceeded to take his Master of Arts in 1972.
Born in Liverpool, Roberts was educated at Street Mary"s College, Crosby and the University of Oxford (, now Honorary Fellow), graduating with a degree in Modern Languages in 1968 and proceeded to take his Master of Arts in 1972.
He was previously British Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Ireland, and Italy. He was knighted in 2000. Roberts joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) as Third Secretary in 1968.
He went to study Arabic at MECAS in the Lebanon in 1969, and was posted to Paris in 1970.
He was acting Head of Chancery in Luxembourg in 1973 before returning later that year to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to serve firstly in Eastern European and Soviet Department (Balkans desk), then in Western European Department (German desk) and subsequently in European Integration Department, where he worked on the European Community"s Common Agricultural Policy and the European Parliament. He was appointed First Secretary at the British High Commission in Canberra in 1978.
In 1980 he was posted temporarily to the newly independent Pacific state of Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides) as Political Adviser at the time of a rebellion. He returned to Canberra as Head of the Economic and Commercial Department and Agricultural Adviser until 1982.
He then returned to London and took up the post of Deputy Head of News Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. From 1989 to 1993 he was Minister in the British Embassy in Madrid.
He was appointed Chargé d"Affaires and Consul-General in Belgrade in March 1994, and after recognition of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by the United Kingdom, he became Ambassador. During his time at Belgrade he conducted negotiations on behalf of the international mediators (David Owen and Carl Bildt) with both the Yugoslav authorities and the Bosnian Serbs. Roberts was also involved in the negotiations for the release of British soldiers held hostage by the Bosnian Serbs in May/June 1995.
He left Belgrade at the end of 1997.
Roberts returned as Ambassador to Ireland 1999–2003, and to Italy from March 2003 until his retirement in 2006. After Sir Ivor retired from Her Majesty Diplomatic Service in September 2006 he took up his post as President of Trinity College, Oxford.
On 24 September 2006 (his 60th birthday), The Observer"s Pendennis column reported that following his outspoken valedictory report, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has abandoned the centuries-old tradition of allowing departing diplomats to speak their minds. In April 2007, The Independent confirmed the story.
Sir Ivor is the Chairman of the Council of the British School at Rome and a Patron of the Venice in Peril Fund.
Roberts married Elizabeth Smith, a scholar of French poetry and formerly a diplomat in the Australian Foreign Service, in 1974. Lady Roberts is a writer and lecturer on Balkan politics.
In 1998-1999 he took a sabbatical year as Senior Associate Member of Street Antony"s College, Oxford. He also chairs the Board of the King"s College Group in Madrid and is a Member of the International Advisory Board of The Independent News and Media Group.