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News & ArtsWednesday, December 30, 2009
News / History Margaret Thatcher and the Strange Case of the 20 Karate Ladies
Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 10:46 AM
The BBC reveals:
Japan was asked not to greet Britain's first female prime minister with a security escort of 20 "karate ladies", newly-released government papers show.Iron Maggie got her 20 Karate gentlemen.Margaret Thatcher visited Tokyo for an economic summit in June 1979 - a month after winning the general election.
After Japanese officials confirmed the "karate ladies" story, the Lord Privy Seal wrote to the Foreign office.
He said Mrs Thatcher wanted "to be treated in exactly the same manner" as other leaders and not "singled out".
The letter, written on 21 May 1979, is among government papers released by the National Archives under the 30-year rule.
It begins by relating concerns of the then Cabinet Secretary, Sir John Hunt, about a report on British TV about the plan to have 20 "karate ladies" attend Mrs Thatcher in Tokyo.
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