LONDON - Visitors’ books from Downing Street signed by some of the most famous figures in recent history have been made public for the first time. World leaders and members of the Royal Family are among the names in the three red leather, gilt-tooled volumes being released by the National Archives, spanning 1970 to 2003. The names of visitors to No 10 are not made public so the books provide a valuable record of who had private conversations with prime ministers.
One of the volumes was offered for sale earlier this year by a London auction house who said it had been rescued from a waterlogged basement by a former civil servant, but the government blocked the sale saying it was Crown property. Dr Jack Brown, lecturer at King’s College London described the books as “wonderful..
. historical novelties”. As the first resident researcher at No 10, he explained the book wasn’t left on a table for everyone to sign, but only offered to special guests.
Some left private messages, especially to Margaret Thatcher, who spent more than a decade in Downing Street from 1979 to 1990. In 1989, then US President George Bush wrote: “With Respect, Friendship and Gratitude for this Relationship that means so much”. Dr Brown said he was referring to the so-called special relationship between Britain and the US, rather than a personal bond, but President Bush’s wife Barbara also signed, adding: “Me.
Too.” Relations with fellow EU leaders were not always so smooth. That same year .
