William Harding was born 18 Jan 1927, son of Lieutenant Colonel G. R. Harding, DSO, MBE, and Grace Henley (née Darby). He was educated at Aldenham School and St John’s College, University of Cambridge. In 1955 he married Sheila Margaret Ormond Riddel (d 2002), having four sons.

After serving with the Royal Marines, 1945-48, Harding entered the Foreign Service in 1950, and his diplomatic career included the following posts: Singapore, 1951-52; Burma [later Myanmar], 1952-55; Paris [France], 1956-59; Permanent Under-Secretary’s Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1959-60; Santo Domingo, 1960-63; Latin America Department, FCO, 1963-67; Mexico City, 1967-70; Paris, 1970-74; Head of Republic of Ireland Department, FCO, 1974-77; Ambassador to Peru, 1977-79; Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Americas, FCO, 1979-81; Ambassador to Brazil, 1981-84; Deputy Under-Secretary of State for the Americas and Asia, 1984-86. Harding died on 4 December 2016.