Britain’s ambassador to Nato has reportedly left diplomats astonished by sparking up a romance with an Italian intern almost half his age.
Senior figures have raised concerns that 55-year-old Angus Lapsley, a father-of-two, is dating his assistant Francesca Cortini, 29.
The pair are understood to have met while she was a 27-year-old intern at Nato HQ, soon after Lapsley narrowly avoided the sack for leaving 50 pages of ‘top secret’ documents at a bus stop in Kent.
But now their romance has become an ‘open secret’ amongst diplomats. It is thought that the couple could even be living it up at the plush British residence in Belgium, a five-storey hotel which Lapsley is entitled to use and shares with two colleagues.
A source told The Times: ‘They have made no attempt to hide their relationship. Angus used the residence as if it was his, and the woman was there for Christmas and summer receptions.’
Lapsley pulled out of a meeting at Nato headquarters on Wednesday, according to reports, after he and the Foreign Office were made aware that details of his relationship would soon be made public.
It is reported that Lapsley’s eyebrow-raising romance with Cortini has been deemed such an issue that it has even been brought to the attention of Admiral Sir Keith Blount, the most senior British officer in Nato.
The UK’s soon-to-be ambassador to the European Union, Dame Caroline Wilson, has also raised alarm, saying it is ‘inappropriate’ for the couple to be living together at the idyllic Rue Ducale townhouse in Brussels.
Britain’s ambassador to Nato Angus Lapsley, 55, has raised eyebrows after sparking up a romance with his assistant Francesca Cortini, 29
The pair are understood to have met while she was a 27-year-old intern at Nato HQ, soon after Lapsley narrowly avoided the sack for leaving 50 pages of ‘top secret’ documents at a bus stop in Kent
Here, the couple are pictured together in a photo taken from Lapsley’s X page where he is seen serving her a crepe
Yet, after review, Nato decided that Lapsley and Cortini’s controversial romance does not break any guidelines.
‘Nato requires all managers to declare any real or perceived conflict of interest,’ an official said. ‘This policy is longstanding and has not been changed in recent years.’
Unlike in the British military, Nato does not consider romantic relations within the chain of command a sackable offence.
Only last year, former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy Ben Kay was sacked and stripped of his Admiral rank for having an affair with a subordinate.
Lapsley has made bosses at Nato aware of his new romance, according to The Sun, which began after he separated from his wife Gina.
The diplomat was only appointed as the UK’s ambassador in 2025, less than four years after he faced an investigation for an almost comical blunder while on secondment to the Ministry of Defence from the Foreign Office.
Lapsley left 50 pages of confidential documents containing the secret locations of British special forces soldiers in Kabul, Afghanistan, behind a bus stop in Kent.
A source said that the files had fallen out of the Canterbury native’s bag as he rushed to work, and were found wet and piled up at the bus stop by a member of the public.
It is thought that the couple could even be living it up at the plush British residence in Belgium, a five-storey hotel which Lapsley is entitled to use and shares with two colleagues
Lapsley has made bosses at Nato aware of his new romance, according to The Sun, which began after he separated from his wife Gina
The mishap sparked a furious reaction from senior figures in America, who feared it could have endangered their troops in South Asia.
Lapsley was the director-general for strategy and international at the Ministry of Defence at that time and had been lined up to become the UK’s ambassador to Nato – a role he ultimately waited four years to scoop.
He had his security clearance suspended following the incident, but later reinstated after an investigation.
He was then appointed to a planning role before succeeding Sir David Quarrey as the UK’s representative for Nato only last month.
