David Beattie was born in 1938. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he read Classics and then Russian. He served with the Royal Navy during his National Service (1957-1959) and joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1963. He served at Moscow (twice), Nicosia, Vienna (at the MBFR talks between NATO and the Warsaw Pact), and Brussels as Deputy Head of the UK Delegation to NATO from 1987 to 1992. From 1992 to 1997 he was HM Ambassador at Berne, accredited concurrently to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1989. He is a Freeman of the City of London and was Master of his Livery Company in 2006-2007. He is an Honorary Life Member of the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce. He is married and has two daughters. He lives in England's oldest recorded town, Colchester (Essex). His published works include Liechtenstein - A Modern History (2004, with a second, revised and augmented edition in 2012). In 2007 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Princely Liechtenstein Order of Merit.