Ivor Roberts was born on 24 September 1946, the son of Leonard Moore Roberts and of Rosa Maria Roberts (née Fusco); he was educated at St Mary’s College, Crosby, and Keble College, Oxford, and in 1974 married Elizabeth Bray Bernard Smith, having two sons and one daughter.

Roberts entered the Diplomatic Service in 1968 and his career included: Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS), 1969; Third, later Second Secretary, Paris [France], 1970-73; Second, later First Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1973-78; First Secretary, Canberra, 1978-82; Deputy Head of News Department, FCO, 1982-86; Head, Security Co-ordination Department, FCO, 1986-88; Minister and Deputy Head of Mission, Madrid [Spain], 1989-93; Chargé d’Affaires, Belgrade, 1994-96; Ambassador to Yugoslavia [later Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia], 1996-97; Senior Associate Member, St Antony’s College, Oxford, 1997-98; Ambassador to Ireland, 1999-2003; Ambassador to Italy and San Marino, 2003-2006.