Thatcher Government Opposed Plan To Honour Mandela

Mr Mandela met Baroness Thatcher at her official residence after his release from prison in 1990

Then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government tried to stop Nelson Mandela receiving an honorary degree at the University of Lancaster from a member of the royal family, the London-based Times newspaper reports.

Media report continues:
It says it has seen documents which show that Richard Luce, a foreign office minister who is now a peer, sought to persuade the university to "quietly drop" the plan. 

Baroness Thatcher’s government had branded Mr Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) - then a liberation movement fighting minority rule in South Africa - a terrorist organization.

Despite the pressure, the university awarded Mr Mandela - then a prisoner on Robben Island – with the honorary doctorate in law in 1984.