Why Margaret Thatcher refused to share her Concorde flight with a panda
‘She is not taking a panda with her – pandas and politicians are not happy omens!’
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Margaret Thatcher refused a request to fly a panda in the back of her Concorde when she visited Washington for her first summit with Ronald Reagan, according to papers released on Friday.
The then prime minister was drawn into the scheme in January 1981, the same month that Reagan was inaugurated, when the Smithsonian Institution in Washington appealed to London Zoo for the loan of its male panda, Chia Chia.
“Lord Zuckerman sees this as a signal demonstration of the special relationship and would be very happy to time the announcement of the loan or the delivery of the panda in any way that the prime minister thought would be most likely to benefit Anglo-American relations,” cabinet secretary Robert Armstrong wrote.
The “Iron Lady” was not convinced, however, that she should be involved in promoting London Zoo’s efforts to bring a new mate to a female panda.
“Lord Z knows more about pandas than I do – I am sure he can arrange these things,” she said in a handwritten note.
Her private secretary, Clive Whitmore, replied to Zuckerman: “She has commented that she is not taking a panda with her – ‘Pandas and politicians are not happy omens!’”
