Count Metternich began his career in the diplomatic service in 1882. He held early diplomatic postings in
London,
Brussels and
South America. He was appointed
Envoy Extraordinary from the German Empire to the
Court of St. James's in September 1901 in the absence for illness of the Ambassador,
Count von Hatzfeldt. He was formally appointed
German Ambassador in November, when Count Hatzfeldt resigned shortly before his death. King
Edward VII received his credentials at
Marlborough House on 2 December 1901. During his tenure, he endeavored in vain to ease the tense German-British relations caused primarily due to the
naval arms race between the two countries. He wrote in a report to Chancellor
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg on July 10, 1916, "In a realisation of their plan to resolve the Armenian Question by destroying the Armenian race, the Turkish Government is not stopped neither by our representatives, nor by the public opinion of the west". ==Honours==