Sir Oliver Franks: What I would most like for Christmas

I have retailed this anecdote from Read My Lips by Matthew Parris and Phil Mason before but, hey, it's Christmas:

In 1948, a Washington radio station contacted ambassadors in the capital, asking what each would most like for Christmas. Britain's representative, Sir Oliver Franks, mistook the request. 

French Ambassador: Peace throughout the world. 

Soviet Ambassador: Freedom for all people enslaved by imperialism. 

Sir Oliver: Well, it's very kind of you to ask. I'd quite like a box of crystallised fruit.

Thirty-four years later, as Lord Franks, he was to chair the inquiry into the events leading to the Falklands War.