A diplomatic juggling act

Sarah Bowden, the tall, willowy, American wife of Jamie, Britain’s Ambassador to Bahrain, seems effortlessly to juggle her hectic life, working full time as an Information Technical Specialist at Bahrain’s US Embassy, coping with five lively youngsters and carrying out diplomatic social duties.

The couple arrived in November 2006 from Kuwait where Jamie was Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy.
“It has been pretty hectic ever since,” says Sarah, cuddling five-year-old Katie and laughing at the antics of Ned and Hugh, her four-year-old identical twins.
During school holidays and half terms, her brood is swelled by Archie, 13, and Frederica, 12, Jamie’s two older children who attend boarding school in England.
“We had three royal visits within the first few months: Princess Anne arrived very shortly after our arrival, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited in February, followed by Prince Andrew in March. We also hosted the British delegation to the Security Conference, received visiting British business delegates, a Baroness stayed a night in the Residence surrounded by our rambunctious children, we held Christmas celebrations for the British community and in April, the annual birthday party for HM Queen Elizabeth II. It really was a baptism of fire!
“We love it here. The Bahrainis are charming and friendly and although my life is a juggling act, we are very happy,” says Sarah who admits that except for special occasions, she tries to stay home on week nights to be with the children.
“Having young children can pose unusual problems such as when I was running in the Parent’s Race at the school’s sports day and received an urgent call to return to the Residence because The Duchess of Cornwall had decided to pop in unexpectedly!”
When possible, Sarah attends Royal ladies’ majlises and recently participated in the annual Embassies Bazaar sponsored by the Children and Mother’s Welfare Society, where professionally-trained British Janet’s, traditional English cakes won them third prize. Sarah also manages the Residence staff, plans menus for lunches and dinners, and recently introduced a different format to traditional Embassy coffee mornings by hosting a cultural evening for ladies – with more to come, she hopes.
“Times have changed and the future can be uncertain so it’s not unusual for diplomatic wives to work especially if you enjoy your career as I do, and have help with the children. I find that working helps to put things into perspective; I’m so busy that I don’t have time to worry about unimportant issues.”
“I enjoy diplomatic life and one of my most memorable experiences was attending a midnight dinner with Prince Charles, hosted by the British Ambassador to Kuwait upon the death of the late Amir. It was an undreamt of opportunity to meet the Prince at a small gathering, and he was very relaxed and charming.”
Sarah was born and grew up in Washington DC, where her grandfather was a prominent architect and her father, a government engineer.
“At university I read Political Science and French, the latter being my ‘ticket to Europe’ where I studied at the Sorbonne in Paris for a year. It was a fantastic opportunity to explore Europe where I travelled by train to Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany and Northern Spain. On a later trip to England, I coincidentally visited the same Cotswolds region where Jamie and I would begin married life.”
Drawn to the Orient, Sarah travelled to Taiwan in the mid-80s and spent a year with a local family, working as senior editor of an English trade magazine.
She also visited Japan and China, the latter just opening up to tourism. During the next few years, Sarah worked with Asian-related organisations and publications and obtained two Masters degrees in East Asian studies at Yale University.
She studied for a semester in Beijing, cycling everywhere and exploring the city and its famous Hutongs, (back streets and houses) now sadly demolished.
Sarah joined the State Department in Washington in the information management area and met Jamie in 1997 when he was attached to the British Embassy. Two years later they were married and Jamie was posted back to England, where they lived near his family home in Gloucestershire.
Jamie, an Arabist, was an Army Officer in the Royal Green Jackets before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986.
Prior to Washington, his postings included Aden, Khartoum and Riyadh. In England, Sarah refocused her career speciality to information management, which offered more opportunities to work in US Embassies in the Middle East, where she would inevitably follow Jamie.
“Meanwhile, I had three children within 18 months. Jamie was temporarily posted to Afghanistan, but I was too busy with babies, housework and dogs to sit around and worry.
“When the twins were eight weeks old, we arrived in Kuwait where Jamie was the Deputy Head of Mission and also spent six months in Baghdad in the same capacity. But again, my mind was kept occupied by resuming my career at the US Embassy in Kuwait and looking after children.”
Both Sarah and Jamie have twin sisters, so it’s not surprising that the couple has produced identical twins. Ned and Hugh are mirror images of each other, although Ned is slightly blonder and the quieter one.
“It’s fascinating to watch their interaction when playing together,” comments Sarah. “They dress up and role play with one being more dominant for a month, then switch so the other one gets a chance. It’s hilarious! Katie is a real little girl who loves reading and is even writing her own stories. The three of them attend St Christopher’s School Awali, which has a real village atmosphere.”
“We arrived from Kuwait with an English Bull Terrier and an adopted Saluki and cat, but unfortunately the dogs didn’t adapt to Bahrain. When Princess Anne was here, Jamie had to rush out of his office to break up a fight between the dogs, a story he later shared with the Princess, who also loves the breed. Reluctantly we gave the Saluki away to a wonderful British family. Then four months later, the Bull Terrier succumbed to kidney disease and 10 days later our cat ran away!”
A poster appeal to find Henry, the missing moggy, has been made in the local area.
“The children are now demanding another dog, so perhaps we’ll get a Dachshund which would be more suitable for Embassy life. My children don’t know it yet but they’re going to be vets when they grow up – at least that’s my dream!” she confides with a laugh.
“I enjoyed an idyllic childhood living only ten minutes from Washington city centre, yet surrounded by woods. My maternal grandfather, a US Navy Rear Admiral who fought in two World Wars, had a profound influence on my attitude to life.
“He was a wonderful character and my sisters and I adored him. Even in retirement he ran his house like a well-run ship. He had a strict schedule and we all had our orders,” she laughs.
“At nine o’clock it was ‘feed the ducks’, at ten it was ‘chop wood’.
“He always had a twinkle in his eye and a dog by his side and was still swimming in his 80s.
“During the war, he ran convoys of supplies to Britain (dangerous work but stoically supported by his English-born wife) and is credited with inventing the method of refuelling at sea.
“Jamie grew up in the Gloucestershire countryside where he enjoyed hunting and jokes that he married me because fox hunting is banned in England but still legal in Virginia and Georgia! We were both raised with dogs and horses and Katie is having riding lessons at the Dilmun Club, so ideally we would like to give our children a similar lifestyle. I’ll try to relearn my English riding – which regressed when I worked on Wyoming ranches in my teens and rode Western style – and Jamie can hunt like a Southern fox-hunting gentleman! “This summer we’ll visit my family in the States and return via Gloucestershire.
“When the children are older we’d love to take all five on an African Safari. But right now I’d like to explore Bahrain, develop more friendships here, get some exercise, and spend more time with the family.”

Special Report
By Maeve Skinner