ABSTRACT
The chapter provides empirical material drawn from archives in the U.K. and U.S., which illuminates the growing interest in the concept of ‘engendering diplomacy’. The role of diplomatic wives and families in forwarding British and American interests in Pakistan in the period 1954–1961 is considered respectively through Alec and Dodo Symon and Horace and Katharine Hildreth. The chapter examines the importance of entertainment and leisure pursuits such as golf and hunting in establishing informal links with key Pakistani political players. The Hildreth Papers reveal how family legal matters and a shared interest in hunting brought Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the American Ambassador’s attention. Horace Hildreth provided Bhutto at an early stage of his career with an important introduction to the leading bureaucrat Iskander Mirza. Hildreth’s daughter was married to Mirza’s son. Alec and Dodo Symon regularly played golf with Ayub Khan, Pakistan’s first military ruler. The British High Commissioner ended his lengthy tenure with the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to Pakistan. The chapter introduces material and a perspective on the royal visit, which has not been viewed before.
