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President Reagan, Prince Hussain & his goldfish

In the 1980s, when President Reagan was about to hold his first ever meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in Switzerland, the President was staying at a fine residence outside Geneva on the shore of Lake Geneva. The villa belonged to Prince Karim Aga Khan. The Prince, the Begum and their three children, Princess Zahra and her brothers Prince Rahim and Prince Hussain, had moved out so that the President could use the house.

It turned out that the only condition for the stay was in a note to President Reagan from Prince Hussain, the youngest, who was ten years old, in which he asked that his goldfish be fed everyday. According to Nancy Reagan, the Begum who was her good friend had told her: “Now there’s just one thing. My son has some goldfish that he adores and would you mind feeding the goldfish in the morning. And Ronnie of course right away said ‘well, of course, absolutely’. “….(read the rest in DIPLOMACY)