Editing 10 Downing Street (section)

== 250th anniversary: 1985 ==
[[File:The Queen in Downing Street in 1985 to mark the 250th anniversary of Robert Walpole's occupancy of No.10.jpeg|thumb|Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in Downing Street in 1985, to mark the 250th anniversary of Robert Walpole's occupancy of No.10]]

In 1985, Number 10 was 250 years old. To celebrate, Thatcher hosted a grand dinner in the State Dining Room for her living predecessors: [[Harold Macmillan]], [[Alec Douglas-Home]], [[Harold Wilson]], [[Edward Heath]] and [[James Callaghan]].<ref>Time Magazine, ''People'' by Ellie McGrath, 16 December 1985</ref> Also in attendance were [[Elizabeth II]] and representatives of the families of every 20th-century Prime Minister since [[H. H. Asquith]], including Lady [[Olwen Carey Evans]] (daughter of [[David Lloyd George]]), Lady Leonora Howard (daughter of [[Stanley Baldwin]]), and [[Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon|Clarissa Avon]] (widow of [[Anthony Eden]] and niece of [[Winston Churchill]]).{{sfn|Seldon|1999|p=90}}

That same year, the Leisure Circle published Christopher Jones' book ''No. 10 Downing Street, The Story of a House''. In the foreword, Thatcher described her feelings for Number 10: "How much I wish that the public&nbsp;... could share with me the feeling of Britain's historic greatness which pervades every nook and cranny of this complicated and meandering old building&nbsp;... All Prime Ministers are intensely aware that, as tenants and stewards of No. 10 Downing Street, they have in their charge one of the most precious jewels in the nation's heritage".<ref name="multiref1"/>