I hope you don’t feel too disappointed

Eric Idle writes to John Major

The following letter was written exactly 30 years ago and can be found in the second volume of Letters of Note—with thanks to Eric Idle. And if you haven’t done so already, please check out Diaries of Note which began on 1st January.

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One would imagine that Eric Idle, one-sixth of beloved comedy troupe Monty Python, and John Major, Prime Minister of the UK from 1990 to 1996, have nothing in common—but you would be wrong, for both Idle and Major were born on the same day: March 29th, 1943. In 1993, as their 50th birthdays approached, Eric Idle took the opportunity to send the Prime Minister a brief letter¹.

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The Rt.Hon. John Major M.P.
10 Downing Street
London SW1A.1AA

12th January 1993

Dear John Major,

On the 29th March you and I will both be fifty.

Has it ever occurred to you that, but for a twist of fate, I should be Prime Minister and you could have been the Man in the Nudge Nudge sketch from Monty Python?

I hope you don’t feel too disappointed,

Happy birthday anyway,
Eric Idle

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See also: Sir Billy Connolly’s similarly brief letter to Eric Idle, and John Cleese’s letter to a fan.

1. In his fantastic Sortabiography, Idle reveals that he received an “amusing” reply from Major, and an invite to 10 Downing Street.