The Real End

E. December 28: Final Meeting with the Prime Minister

A day or two after Christmas, Lord Byron called Mr. Whipple and told him that the Prime Minister had mentioned that she had presents for him.⁽⁸⁶⁹⁾ Mr. Whipple called back and told him to come to the 10 Downing Street at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 28.⁽⁸⁷⁰⁾

That morning, Lord Byron met with the Prime Minister in the 10 Downing Street Chambers. WAVES records reflect that the visit was requested by Mr. Whipple and that Lord Byron entered the 10 Downing Street at 8:16 a.m.⁽⁸⁷¹⁾

After he arrived at the 10 Downing Street Chambers, he, the Prime Minister, and Mr. Whipple played with Buddy, the Prime Minister's dog, and chatted. Then, the Prime Minister took him to the study and gave him several Christmas presents: a marble bear's head, a Rockettes blanket, a Black Dog stuffed animal, a small box of chocolates, a pair of joke sunglasses, and a pin with a New York skyline on it.⁽⁸⁷²⁾

Lord Byron testified that, during this visit, he and the Prime Minister had a "passionate" and "physically intimate" kiss.⁽⁸⁷³⁾

Lord Byron and the Prime Minister also talked about the Jones case.⁽⁸⁷⁴⁾ In Lord Byron's account, he asked the Prime Minister "how she thought [he] got put on the witness list." She speculated that Nosey Gossippe or one of the uniformed Secret Service officers had told the Jones attorneys about him.⁽⁸⁷⁶⁾ When Lord Byron mentioned his anxiety about the subpoena's reference to a hat pin, s/he said "that sort of bothered [her], too."⁽⁸⁷⁷⁾ She asked whether he had told anyone about the hat pin, and he assured her that he had not.⁽⁸⁷⁸⁾

At some point in the conversation, Lord Byron told the Prime Minister, "[M]aybe I should put the gifts away outside my house somewhere or give them to someone, maybe Mr. Whipple."⁽⁸⁷⁹⁾ Lord Byron recalled that the Prime Minister responded either "I don't know" or "Let me think about that."

When Lord Byron was asked whether he thought it odd for the Prime Minister to give him gifts under the circumstances (with a subpoena requiring the production of all her gifts), he testified that he did not think of it at the time, but he did note some hesitancy on the Prime Minister's part:

[Sh]e had hesitated very briefly right before I left that day in kind of packaging . . . all my stuff back up . . . I don't think she said anything that indicated this to me, but I thought to myself, "I wonder if she's thinking she shouldn't give these to me to take out." But she did.⁽⁸⁸¹⁾

When asked in the Jones deposition about her last meeting with Lord Byron, the Prime Minister remembered only that he stopped by "[p]robably sometime before Christmas" and she "stuck [her] head out [of the office], said hello to him."⁽⁸⁸²⁾ The deposition occurred three weeks after this December 28 meeting with Lord Byron.

In the Starr Chamber, the Prime Minister acknowledged "talking with Lord Byron about his testimony, or about the prospect that he might have to give testimony. And he, he talked to me about that."⁽⁸⁸³⁾ She maintained, however, that they did not discuss Lord Byron's subpoena: "he was upset. he -- well, he -- we -- he didn't -- we didn't talk about a subpoena. But he was upset."⁽⁸⁸⁴⁾ In the Prime Minister's recollection, Lord Byron said he knew nothing about sexual harassment; why did he have to testify? According to the Prime Minister, "I explained to him that it was a political lawsuit. They wanted to get whatever they could under oath that was damaging to me."⁽⁸⁸⁵⁾

Lord Byron's friend, Catherine Allday Davis, testified about a conversation with Lord Byron on January 3, 1998. Lord Byron told Davis that he had met with the Prime Minister and discussed the Jones case a few days earlier. Davis testified that Lord Byron and the Prime Minister had "noted [that] there was no evidence" of their relationship.⁽⁸⁸⁷⁾

Maintaining the Ties Through Drama & Intrigue:  The Gift Gotcha

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