New British Ambassador to Holy See presents credentials to Pope Leo
Pope Leo XIV received Britain’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Tarandip Kaur “Tammy” Sandhu, at the Vatican this morning (Friday 28th August) as she formally began her diplomatic mission.
Sandhu presented her letters of credence to the Pope during a morning audience at the Apostolic Palace, the Holy See Press Office announced. The ceremony formally marks the beginning of her service as the United Kingdom’s diplomatic representative to the Holy See.
The posting is Sandhu’s first appointment as an ambassador and follows more than two decades in Britain’s diplomatic service.
The Ambassador posted a message on her X account after the meeting: “Humbled and honoured to present my Letters of Credence to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. It was both a privilege and a deeply moving moment. I look forward to strengthening UK–Holy See ties and working together on the global challenges of our time.”
Born in Leicester in 1982, Sandhu studied for part of her school years at Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong before attending the University of Warwick, where she earned a degree in English literature. She later completed a master’s degree in international public policy at University College London.
She joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2005, beginning her career with assignments dealing with parliamentary relations and counter-terrorism.
Sandhu’s diplomatic service subsequently took her overseas. From 2009 to 2012, she served as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Morocco. She then moved to Brussels, where she was deputy spokesperson at the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representation to the European Union from 2012 to 2014.
From 2014 to 2017, she served in Chennai, India, as deputy head of mission and head of the international trade department. She later returned to London for a role in the Foreign Office’s human resources directorate.
Her later diplomatic career included senior assignments in the United States. Sandhu served as deputy consul-general in San Francisco from 2021 to 2023 and then as consul-general there from 2023 until 2025.
The British government announced her appointment to the Holy See earlier this year as successor to Christopher Trott.
Relations between Britain and the Holy See encompass diplomatic cooperation on a range of international and humanitarian concerns, including freedom of religion or belief, conflict resolution, modern slavery and the role of religion in international affairs.
Sandhu, who is married and has one daughter, now takes up responsibility for representing the British government in its relations with the Holy See at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.