Three visitors’ books for No 10 Downing Street have been released by the National Archives, revealing messages and signatures left by some of the most prominent figures in global affairs in modern times.
The thick tomes cover from 1970, when Edward Heath was Prime Minister, to 2003, when Tony Blair was in power.
Revealed to the public for the first time, we can now show that the late Queen signed her visits as Elizabeth R, while her son, as the Prince of Wales, regularly signed the visitor books as just Charles.
His then-wife also signed her name underneath the prince’s, simply writing Diana.
The signatures of US presidents, such as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, grace the thick volumes, while other pages are devoted to long lists of foreign dignitaries visiting on the same day.
At the end of his visit in 1989, President George H W Bush wrote: “With respect, friendship, and gratitude for this relationship that means so much.”
His wife, Barbara Bush, added: “Me too.”
In 1996, South Africa’s president Nelson Mandela wrote that “Visiting Downing St, No 10, is always an unforgettable experience.”
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The 250th anniversary of No 10 in 1985 is a particularly extraordinary page, with the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh signing the page, followed by all five surviving former prime ministers: Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan, and the then-serving premier Margaret Thatcher.
Other major figures include Second World War general Field Marshall ‘Montie’, who signs the book as Montgomery of Alamein, and Churchill’s wife Clemetine.
The visitor books came to attention when one was offered for sale at auction.
Reports indicated that a retired civil servant found one of the books when he was removing boxes marked after a flood in Whitehall.
But the floated £15,000 sale was cut short 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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The thick tomes cover from 1970, when Edward Heath was Prime Minister, to 2003, when Tony Blair was in power.
Revealed to the public for the first time, we can now show that the late Queen signed her visits as Elizabeth R, while her son, as the Prince of Wales, regularly signed the visitor books as just Charles.
His then-wife also signed her name underneath the prince’s, simply writing Diana.
The signatures of US presidents, such as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, grace the thick volumes, while other pages are devoted to long lists of foreign dignitaries visiting on the same day.
At the end of his visit in 1989, President George H W Bush wrote: “With respect, friendship, and gratitude for this relationship that means so much.”
His wife, Barbara Bush, added: “Me too.”
In 1996, South Africa’s president Nelson Mandela wrote that “Visiting Downing St, No 10, is always an unforgettable experience.”
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The 250th anniversary of No 10 in 1985 is a particularly extraordinary page, with the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh signing the page, followed by all five surviving former prime ministers: Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan, and the then-serving premier Margaret Thatcher.
Other major figures include Second World War general Field Marshall ‘Montie’, who signs the book as Montgomery of Alamein, and Churchill’s wife Clemetine.
The visitor books came to attention when one was offered for sale at auction.
Reports indicated that a retired civil servant found one of the books when he was removing boxes marked after a flood in Whitehall.
But the floated £15,000 sale was cut short 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.
Find Out More...