[3] For almost seven years the embassy was home to the Australian activist and journalist Julian Assange, who initially entered on 19 June 2012 claiming diplomatic asylum,[4][5][6] which was granted by the Ecuadorian government on 16 August 2012.

The structure that houses the embassy is a white stucco-fronted red-brick building on Hans Crescent in the Knightsbridge area of London.

[1] The co-founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, was a resident of the embassy for seven years after entering it on 19 June 2012 to claim diplomatic asylum after being wanted by Swedish authorities for questioning over four alleged sexual offences.

[5][7][8] The Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation in May 2017, claiming they could not expect the Ecuadorian Embassy to communicate reliably with Assange with respect to the case.

[11] Patiño described the British government's statement as "a clear breach of international law and the protocols set out in the Vienna Convention.

[22] On 3 April 2019, WikiLeaks claimed that the Ecuadorian embassy would expel Assange within a few hours or days but Jose Valencia, Foreign Minister of Ecuador called it a rumour.