Memo Reveals Margaret Thatcher Was Accidentally Promoted to 'HRH' During Kuwait Visit

The "Royal Highness" title is attributed exclusively to the members of the royal family - something that late British leader Margaret Thatcher certainly wasn't.

During her 1998 private visit to Kuwait, former UK PM Margaret Thatcher was inadvertently promoted to "Her Royal Highness", according to a disclosed file obtained by The Daily Mail.

The hiccup was revealed in a memo from Sir Graham Boyce, then-UK ambassador in the country. According to the document, menus at a dinner thrown by a Kuwaiti crown prince described Thatcher as "HRH Baroness Lady Thatcher".

"It was striking... how eager even the most worldly Kuwaitis were to meet Lady Thatcher – and to have their photographs taken in her company," Boyce reportedly wrote in the memo.

During her visit, Thatcher received almost as much attention as former US presidents, Boyce continued.

"Although the visit, organised by oil company LASMO, was private, it was inevitable that the Kuwaitis would give Lady Thatcher as much, if not greater, attention than that accorded to former US Presidents," the memo read.

The three-day visit came eight years after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990. Thatcher strongly supported the ensuing US-led intervention in the region, and and sent British troops to the frontline.