Lord John, as he is generally called, is a descendent of the third daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice. After being educated at Cambridge and the Sarbonne, Lord John joined great Brittain's diplomatic corps, eventually rising to become the United Kingdom's ambassador to India.In 2000, President Bartlet called him in as a consultant on the military buildup along the Indian-Pakistani boarder. His relationship with the Bartlet administration causes the UK to make him it's ambassador to the United States two years later.Lord John is an extremely colorful character, known for being pompous and aloof, frequently salacious (trying to fondle the first lady), possibly alcoholic, and a lunatic, in Leo McGarry's account, though Leo may be biased to the extent Lord John frequently forgets knowing who he is or choosing to call him Gerry!