Letter from Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain to President Harry S. Truman

"NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE' Mr. President, We have spent two very happy days as your guests. Before we leave I am therefore very glad to present to you a gift from my father The King. I feel that this ceremony makes a fitting climax to what has been a delightful and memorable occasion for both of us. The renovation of the White House has attracted interest all over the world. Everyone knows how closely it has been bound up with the history of your country and how important it is to your people as a symbol of national pride. If it had been impossible to preserve this beautiful building many people in Britain would have shared your disappointment. As it is, we are glad to join with you in celebrating its restoration; and my father, who has many happy memories of his own stay in the house, has wished to mark the event with a personal gift. It gave The King great pleasure when he found the overmantel which is before you now. The work of 18th century artists, and embodying the finest British craftsmanship, it seems perfectly suited for the place which it will occupy. It/cont'd.