A Downing Street visitors book packed with signatures from world leaders welcomed by Margaret Thatcher has sparked fury from Number 10 after it was put up for auction by a former civil servant who ‘rescued it from being destroyed’.
The ornate gold-lettered red book features a dizzying array of signings dating from 1980 to 1995, featuring royalty, world leaders, and the great and the good from the Iron Lady’s time as Prime Minster, and that of her successor John Major.
During her time in office, Mrs Thatcher famously struck up warm friendships with US President Ronald Reagan and the former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, with both leaders visiting Number 10 on several occasions.
According to the Daily Mail, it was placed for auction with Chiswicks with a reserve price of £9,000, however Express.co.uk has seen the page featuring the historic item appears now to have been taken down.
The ‘owner’ of the piece of national history is a former civil servant who had a 24-year-long career. The paper says he claims he rescued the tome after the book was “almost destroyed” in a pile of boxes “marked for incineration”.
According to The Times, Chiswick Auctions still plans to sell the book and a spokeswoman said the seller had contacted Downing Street in 2017 and 2020 offering to return it but that they had no reply.
Valentina Borghi from the auction house told the paper: “Having twice had no response from No 10, due to ill health and the cost of living crisis, my client has taken the very difficult decision to put the book up for auction in the hope of being able to meet some of those unaffordable expenses.”
However it’s reported Government lawyers have asked for a halt to be called to the auction as a “goodwill gesture”.
With such a span of history covered by the book, the number of famous names inside is staggering. King Charles, then a Prince was a signatory, and so too were his late mother and father Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Political giants at the centre of world-changing events are also recorded inside, with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signing during a time when the Berlin Wall came down and Communism ended in Russia.
The Times reports in an email sent to the civil servant wanting to sell the book says there are no “Government Visitors Books in the National Archive collection”.
