For the first time, Downing Street visitors’ books featuring famous figures from recent history have been unveiled by the National Archives. The three volumes are covered in red leather and gilt tooling and date back to between 1970 and 2003. The books contain names such as famous world leaders and members of the royal family, all of whom had private conversations with prime ministers, making them a valuable historical record.
As they have not been made public previously, the books have been described as historical novelties by Dr Jack Brown, a lecturer at King’s College London. Brown, who became Downing Street’s first resident researcher, stated that these books were only offered to special guests and were not left on a table for everyone to sign. They contain various messages, with some choosing to leave private notes, especially to Margaret Thatcher, who spent over a decade in Downing Street from 1979 to 1990.
These signatures come from people such as US President George W. Bush, French Prime Minister Michel Rocard, the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The 250th anniversary of Downing Street in 1985 was one of the occasions when the books were brought out for very few guests, including the Queen, Prince Philip, and six other prime ministers.
The book captures the changing times: President Mikhail Gorbachev signed in April 1989 while Eastern European leaders, including Vaclav Havel, visited No. 10 the following year after gaining independence from Russia. Despite being a seemingly semi-random collection of autographs, the book was a story of Britain’s place in the world, as told in these signatures over the years, said Dr Brown.
Although these books prove to be valuable historical records, the names of visitors to No. 10 are not made public, which only makes these new releases of visitors’ books a significant rarity
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