Education
Porter was brought up in the Lake District and educated at Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School and Leeds University.
Porter was brought up in the Lake District and educated at Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School and Leeds University.
In 1939, Porter was sent to Bucharest, Romania on an academic post with the British Council but was quickly transferred to the Legation, and remained there until it was withdrawn from Romania on 12 February 1941. On 1 March 1941, Porter was recruited by SOE, and was one of a covert three-man mission that was parachuted into Romania in December 1943 to instigate resistance against the Nazis at "any cost" (Operation Autonomous). The SOE agents were captured and held as prisoners-of-war until, on 23 August 1944, King Michael of Romania carried out his anti-German coup d"état.
Porter met King Michael that night and remained in the country during the King"s desperate efforts to prevent Soviet domination.
In June 2008 he was awarded the Cross of the Royal House of Romania. He joined the in May 1946 and served in London, Washington, District of Columbia, the United Kingdom delegation to North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Cyprus, as United Kingdom representative to the Council of Europe, and India.
He was ambassador in Senegal (with concurrent accreditation in Guinea, Mali, and Mauritania) and to the Arms Control Committee in Geneva. National honours Foreign honours.