After Mexico achieved its independence in September 1821, Britain was the first European great power to recognize Mexican sovereignty.

[7] In 1861, President Benito Juárez suspended Mexico's interest payments to its creditors in France, Spain, and Britain.

After a few months, both the Spanish and British government became evidently aware that Emperor Napoleon III of France was planning to initiate regime change in Mexico in order to expand its empire and take advantage of the fact that the United States was involved in its civil war (1861–65) and was not able to implement the Monroe Doctrine.

[9] After 1880, the British turned their attention in Mexico primarily to investments in railways and mines, sending both money and engineers and skilled mechanics.

In 1900, there were 2,800 British citizens living in Mexico, a relatively small number in contrast to the 15,000 Americans, 16,000 Spaniards, 4,000 French, and 2,600 Germans.

Zimmermann was the German Foreign Minister who tried to induce Mexico to join the war against the United States in the hope of diverting American attention away from Europe.

[4] In 1981, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher became the first British head-of-Government to visit Mexico to attend the North–South Summit in Cancún.

Subsequently, the ministries of foreign affairs of both countries decided to expand the scope of the Dual Year to other areas.

[15] The many cultural events that took place in the United Kingdom included exhibitions of artists such as the British-born Mexican artist Leonora Carrington and Carlos Amorales; a folkloric Mexican dance spectacle by the Ballet Folklórico de México; a Lucha libre show at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as many seminars and concerts.

[16] The UK was the guest of honour at the Feria de las Culturas Amigas held in Mexico City[17] and the Guadalajara International Book Fair.

In March 2015, President Enrique Peña Nieto, accompanied by the First Lady, Angélica Rivera, paid a State visit to the United Kingdom.

[18] In September 2022, Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard flew to London to represent Mexico and attend the State funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

[20] In May 2024, it was revealed that the British ambassador, Jon Benjamin, had been removed from his position earlier in the year when a video emerged of him pointing an apparently loaded machine gun at embassy employees while on tour of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Durango.

[26] Mexico's main exports to the UK include: turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines; telephones and mobile phones, parts and accessories for motor vehicles, tubes and pipes of iron or steel, minerals, medical instruments, coffee, fruit, honey, fish, and alcohol.

The U.K.'s main exports to Mexico include: machinery and mechanical appliances, motor cars and other vehicles, medical instruments, chemical based products, ferroalloys, iron, steel, platinum, and clothing articles.

[31] It has been reported that Mexican drug cartels have been using the port city of Liverpool for smuggling cocaine into Britain and Europe.