James Charles Harris

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Sir James Charles Harris, KCVO (1831–8 November 1904) was a British diplomat who served as Consul in Nice from 1884 to 1901 and, from 1888, as the Consul for Monaco. Born in Genoa, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, he started as Vice-Consul at Nice in 1881, became Consul in 1884, and later took on the Monaco post. He was the British Commissioner to the Nice Exhibition of 1884. He received the Jubilee Medal in 1899 and the Coronation Medal in 1902. His knighthood began with a provisional award by Queen Victoria in 1896, and he was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1899 and a Knight Commander (KCVO) in 1902.

Beyond diplomacy, Harris was an accomplished watercolor painter; he studied in London and Nice and was an honorary member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. He helped found the Société des Beaux-Arts de Nice and served as its secretary. He married German baroness Gerhardine von Gall, and they had six children. His eldest daughter, Anna Lydia, married Arthur von Eppinghoven, the youngest illegitimate child of Leopold I of Belgium. James Harris died in Nice on 8 November 1904.