‘Whoopee! I’m a diplomat’ ... says the 'rock chick' replacing our man in Moscow at the tensest time since the Cold War

There will no doubt be many an old school male eyebrow raised when self-confessed ‘rock chick’ Anne Pringle arrives for work in Moscow tomorrow.

Not that this will daunt the new British ambassador to a nation notoriously unused to having women in high positions.

Because Ms Pringle’s attention will be too fixed on the issues that have brought Anglo-Russian relations to their lowest ebb since the Cold War to be the slightest bit unnerved by being the first woman to hold the job in its 450-year history.

As the Foreign Office high-flyer revealed: ‘I don’t think being a woman makes a difference. I don’t jump out of bed every morning thinking “whoopee I’m a girl”. I jump out of bed thinking “whoopee I’m a diplomat and I’m raring to go’.”

Ms Pringle, 53, moves into the role amid heightened tension over Russia’s conflict with Georgia and the Kremlin’s refusal to extradite former spy Andrei Lugovoi, who is suspected of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London.

She said of the challenges ahead: ‘I’m not a pushover. I’m quite resolute, very focused and committed.

‘I’m well trained, with the right background, and ready for the job. My objective is to try to ensure we have sensible, sustained dialogue on issues.

‘What I really do not want is that we are in different corners of the room shouting past each other. My style is very open and friendly.’

Married Ms Pringle, who replaces Sir Anthony Brenton, has served two previous postings to Moscow in a career that began in 1977 after a degree in French and German at St Andrews.

And while her diplomatic background might be conventional, she has a more unconventional admission for an ambassador.

‘I’m a rock chick from the Seventies and Eighties,’ she said. ‘I used to follow Genesis hugely. I love Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams – they’re people I still like and follow.’

So when she was ambassador to the Czech Republic and her idol Sir Mick Jagger wanted to celebrate his 60th birthday in Prague during a world tour, there was only one venue – her official residence.

‘His people were in touch with the Embassy saying he wanted to celebrate in Prague and did we know any venues,’ she said. ‘He wanted privacy and no intrusion by the Press.

‘We went back and forth and in the end I said that one of the places with that sort of seclusion was my residence – a very old palace with great views of Prague Castle.’

Accompanying Sir Mick, now 65, were girlfriend L’Wren Scott, his daughters Jade and Elizabeth and former Czech president Vaclav Havel. Ms Pringle, who lived on the same street in South-West London as the Rolling Stone, said: ‘He had a private dinner party and then my husband and I were invited to his bash. Did we speak? Absolutely, he used to live ten doors away from us.’

Her penchant for rock’n’roll also helped her forge relations with some of the Czech Republic’s most senior politicians.

‘The government were quite young and I think that helped,’ she added. ‘I was known as someone who likes rock music, and a lot of members of the cabinet at the time were my age.

‘In the end, I think this job is about getting the policy right and making connections with people. So when you’re at a difficult moment, these personal connections could help both sides get through it in a sensible way.’

Following Prague, the diplomat has spent the past four years as the Foreign Office’s director of strategy and information in London.

Her husband Bleddyn Phillips, who is global head of the oil and gas division of City law firm Clifford Chance, is relocating with her to head up his company’s Moscow office – at a time when Russia and Britain are still wrangling over control of BP oilfields. But she insists: ‘What he is involved in will not overlap with my work.’
Glasgow-born Ms Pringle’s predecessor told last week’s Mail on Sunday that current bugging of diplomats in Moscow was as rife as in the Cold War.

The new ambassador is naturally prepared. She said: ‘It’s obviously on your mind. You’re very conscious in public and private spaces in that what you say might be listened to. So you’re careful.

‘Am I worried? Not at all.’