Angus Lapsley, 55, has reportedly sparked up a romance with a young Italian intern

Britain's ambassador to NATO, Angus Lapsley, has sparked a major scandal by housing an Italian intern about half his age at his official residence in Brussels, The Times reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.

NATO has no specific rules banning personal relationships between senior officials and subordinates, although such ties could be grounds for dismissal in the British armed forces.

"They have made no attempt to hide their relationship. Angus used the residence as if it was his, and [the woman] was there [for] Christmas and summer receptions," a defense source told The Times.

The 55-year-old father of two's relationship with his former assistant, "now in her late twenties," reportedly drew attention within NATO, with the information reaching Admiral Sir Keith Blount, deputy supreme allied commander Europe and the most senior British officer, according to the newspaper.

Sources said Lapsley was allowed to remain in post and was later promoted to ambassador after a review of NATO relationship rules found no breach.

He had served as Assistant Secretary-General for Defense Policy and Planning at NATO until March 2025 before his promotion the following month, The Times noted, adding that previous holders of his new role lived in a shared diplomatic townhouse, a former hotel facing Brussels Park.

Lapsley previously drew public attention in June 2021 over a security breach, when he left 50 pages of classified papers at a bus stop during a work trip to Kent, England. The documents reportedly detailed British special forces in Kabul.

A Ministry of Defense source told The Times that, along with the classified materials, Lapsley left at least one personal diary, prompting then-Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to call for a review of his security clearance.

"It is not acceptable that the Foreign Office and others persisted to ignore concerns raised by me and others about this individual. Officials, by ignoring ministerial direction, have now risked the UK's reputation in NATO and undermined security," Wallace said, as cited by the newspaper commenting on Lapsley's diary.

One defense source told The Times that the department was not aware of the diary or any related security concerns.