No 10 visitors' books signed by VIP Downing Street guests made public for first time
No 10 visitors' books, featuring the signatures of the VIPs who entered the famous black door on Downing Street, among them presidents and princesses, has been released to the public for the first time.
The three volumes of the book cover more than three decades, from 1970, when Edward Heath was prime minister, to 2003 when Tony Blair was in office.
The illustrious list of names includes successive US presidents from Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush senior through to Bill Clinton and George Bush junior.
At the end of his visit in 1989, the elder Mr Bush wrote: “With respect, friendship, and gratitude for this relationship that means so much” to which his wife, Barbara, added: “Me too.”
When the late Queen visited she would sign herself Elizabeth R, while the present King and his then wife were simply Charles and Diana.
In 1996 South Africa’s president Nelson Mandela noted “Visiting Downing St, No 10, is always an unforgettable experience” while Czech president Vaclav Havel added a heart sign under his name.
Two particularly remarkable pages commemorate the 250th anniversary of No 10 in 1985.
The first is signed by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who signed himself Philip.
The facing page is then signed by all five surviving former prime ministers, Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan, as well as the then incumbent Margaret Thatcher.
Other notable visitors over the years included Sir Winston Churchill’s widow, Clementine, the Second World War commander Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
Among those no doubt less fondly remembered are the notorious Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe.
The existence of the books came to light earlier this year when one was offered for sale at auction. It has now have been released to the National Archives at Kew, west London.
According to the auctioneers, Chiswick Auctions, the seller was a retired civil servant who found it after he was given permission to remove water-damaged boxes marked for incineration following a flood in Whitehall.
It had been expected to raise around £15,000 but the sale was suspended after the Cabinet Office claimed it was government property under the Public Records Act 1958.
The Cabinet Office declined a request for comment on the decision now to release all three books to the National Archives.
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