Woman makes history as UK's new Vatican ambassador

A woman from Leicester has become the first from a minority background to become the UK's ambassador to Vatican City.

Tammy Sandhu was born and bred in the city before going on to have a 20-year career in the UK's diplomatic services, including postings in Rabat, Brussels, San Francisco and Chennai.

Having spent the past year learning Italian, the 44-year-old is now living in Rome, enjoying the food and hospitality - but admitted she still misses a good Leicester curry.

She said her "truly multicultural" upbringing meant diplomatic roles came "quite naturally" to her.

Sandhu said her parents first moved to the UK from Punjab in the 1960s.

They worked on market stalls and set up a successful family business selling household goods and manufacturing curtains and bedding.

Sandhu said it was this upbringing in what has become one of the first majority-minority-ethnic cities in the UK, that set her up for a successful career in diplomacy.

"My parents' story lives in me," she said "Leicester is still very much my home, though I've worked all around the world.

"That's where my home is. I talk about this in every speech I give.

"It is truly multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-faith, and the fact that it's a city where different people live so harmoniously.

"I think what my parents gave me and what Leicester really gives me is that ability to connect across cultures.

"I think it's something that a lot of British Asians have, but in a world like mine, in diplomacy, where the job is to connect between the UK and other countries, I think that upbringing means it's quite natural for me."

Sandhu's new role has particular importance despite Vatican City being the world's smallest sovereign state.

The country has global reach through the Catholic Church's 1.4 billion followers, extensive community networks and moral influence on major global issues.

"It's a really unique role because, of course, the Vatican is the smallest state in the world, but its influence around the world is, I think most people would say, pretty outsized," she said.

"In sort of diplomatic speak, ambassadors deal with bilateral relationships, so the relationship between the UK and another country."

Sandhu is now busy getting to know her new surroundings.

"It's incredible. First of all, I'm in Rome - full of culture, history and gelato," she said."But I am missing a Leicester curry.

"To be able to work with the Vatican, that has such reach, is amazing."

Sandhu received formal accreditation from Pope Leo XIV to become ambassador earlier this month, becoming the first woman from an ethnic minority background to hold the role.

She said she hoped the role will inspire others from a similar background to consider a career in diplomacy.

"For me, representation is not really about being the first, it's about not being the last," she said.

"If by doing this, I inspire one more person from Leicester to think big, dream big and really understand that, whether it's their story or the impact that they want to have in the world, that it really matters.

"That for me is gold."

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.