Judith Brown (later Macgregor) was born on 17 June 1952, the daughter of John Richard Brown and Beatrice Brown. She was educated at St Saviour’s and St Olave’s Grammar School and Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford (taking 1st class Hons in Modern History, 1974). In 1982 she married John Malcolm Macgregor, having three sons and one daughter.

She entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1976, and her diplomatic career included: Belgrade [Yugoslavia, later Serbia], 1978-81; FCO, 1981-86; Prague [Czechoslovakia, later Czech Republic and Slovakia], 1989; Paris [France], 1992-93; Deputy Head, Western European Department, FCO, 1993-95; Counsellor and Head of Security Strategy, FCO, 2001-03; FCO Chair, Civil Service Selection Board, 2003-04; Ambassador to Slovakia, 2004-07; Director for Migration, FCO, 2007-09; Ambassador to Mexico, 2009-13; High Commissioner to South Africa, 2013-17, and (non-resident) to Lesotho and Swaziland [later Eswatini], 2014-17.