Various explanations have been given for the first fall from office of Mustafa Reshid Pasha, the initiator of the Tanzimat reform movement. Papers from the French and Austrian archives and the recently catalogued papers of Lord Ponsonby, British ambassador during the time of Reshid Pasha's first period in office (1839-1841)suggest that the British ambassador played a leading role in the Ottoman reformer's fall. Although Lord Ponsonby worked with Reshid Pasha to bring about the military defeat of Mehmet Ali, governer of Egypt, he came to mistrust the minister, particularly for Reshid's efforts to limit the power of Sultan Abdul Mecid. Lord Ponsonby's concern for the power of the Sultan as the only stable institution in the country went hand-in-hand with his suspicion of Reshid Pasha as "too French." As Ponsonby switched his support to the Sultan's chamberlain, Riza, he may have been influjenced by political figures within the Phanariot community on whom he was dependent for information and for access to the Sultan. The intertwining of personality, reform and diplomacy is particularly complex ast this period. Would Riza Pasha have risen to a leadership role wmong the conservative party in the Ottoman government if Lord Ponsonby had not backed him over Reshid? In a rare document we see the British ambassador vowing to protect Riza if, as sof often happened, Reshid, aftr a brief hiatus, returned to power. Reshid Pasha begged in vain for European loans, financial advisors and foreign assistance with his reforms. This paper will argue that a reformer with a limited power base requires not only the right international context in order to succeed, but a happy coincidence of personalities as well.