The two-month delay in responding to invites from both Margaret Thatcher and the Queen risked creating, said Britain's Ambassador to Washington Sir Nicholas Henderson, the "worst possible impression on London."

 

The White House was determined to make a good impression, though, and asked what the Commander-in-Chief should wear to go horse riding at Windsor Castle.

 

The aforementioned fashion inquiry is but one gem within a 485-page treasure-trove of hitherto confidential documents surrounding Reagan's 48-hour, 1982 visit made public by the National Archives.