![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Magna-Carta-scaled.jpg\")
An original version of the Magna Carta from 1300 held by Harvard Law School. It was thought to be a copy until 2025. Credit: Michael F. Fitzgerald<\/p>\nThe Speaker of the British House of Commons visited Cambridge Thursday to see an English document, the Magna Carta.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo come all this way to find a piece of history from \u2026 England and the fact that the [democratic] world has been built on the values of the Magna Carta \u2026 that\u2019s what binds us together so much,\u201d said Sir Lindsay Hoyle. <\/p>\n
He called the document a sign of the unique relationship shared by the United States and the United Kingdom. \u201cYour constitution is entwined in the history of the Magna Carta, and \u2026 nobody else can say that. We together have got something special, and that\u2019s what makes our relationship much more special than any other country.\u201d<\/p>\n
An original version of the Magna Carta from 1300 held by Harvard Law School. It was thought to be a copy until 2025. Credit: Michael F. Fitzgerald<\/p>\n
Hoyle was in Massachusetts after a stop in Washington, D.C., where he was hosted by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Hoyle had invited Johnson to visit the UK in honor of the U.S.\u2019s 250th anniversary of declaring independence. Johnson became the first sitting U.S. Speaker to address Parliament<\/a>. Hoyle came on a return visit to formally celebrate the declaration of independence. In Massachusetts, Hoyle also made a speech at the State House, saw the Red Sox at Fenway Park, and went to Duxbury to tour the Myles Standish Burial Ground, then tour the Mayflower II. Standish, the military advisor to Plymouth Colony who came over on the Mayflower, was originally from Chorley, Hoyle\u2019s district in the UK.<\/p>\n The copy of the Magna Carta (Latin for great charter) he viewed has been part of Harvard Law School\u2019s collection for decades, but just last year was identified as an original version<\/a> from the reign of King Edward I in 1300. There are earlier Magna Cartas, including one Edward issued in 1297 (the first was written in 1215). The version from 1300 included articles on how to enforce the charter. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBest $30 ever invested\u201d<\/p>\n The Magna Carta was the reason for Hoyle\u2019s time in Cambridge. Harvard library staff brought the document from its vault and gave Hoyle and his traveling party, which included his wife, an archivist, an overview of how it was discovered to be one of only seven surviving originals of the document. It had been in Harvard\u2019s collection since 1946, but was thought to be an important but less unique sheriff\u2019s copy.<\/p>\n Hoyle leaned over to give it a close look, then stood up and marveled at the centuries-old document. \u201cThat is quite something,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very, very special, very impressive. It\u2019s priceless, to me. The true value cannot be measured by money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI presume it\u2019s goatskin?\u201d he asked at one point. And he speculated on whether it might be the very first copy made. \u201cWho knows? It could be number one. And we\u2019ve [the UK] got number two!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing something like this so close, I\u2019ve got to say, it\u2019s very moving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Told that it had been purchased by Harvard for $27.50 in 1946, Hoyle said \u201cthat\u2019s probably the best $30 I\u2019ve ever heard of being invested.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Watson, assistant dean for library and information services at Harvard Law School, said the most recent original sold at auction went for multiple millions of dollars.<\/p>\n Hoyle said he would be inviting several members of the Massachusetts legislature to visit the UK in the fall. He said he is not sure if representatives of Cambridge will be among them. Hoyle did say that he wants to foster a stronger relationship between the UK and Massachusetts in research and development, biotech, and student exchanges.<\/p>\n Not a fan of proportional voting<\/p>\n The United Kingdom\u2019s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, is a vocal advocate for changing<\/a> its voting system from a \u00a0\u2018first past the post<\/a>\u2019 system similar to that used in most elections in the United States, where the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they don\u2019t get a majority of the votes. Burnham favors some form of proportional representation, or PR.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260723_164150-scaled.jpg\")
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, examines an original copy of the Magna Carta held by Harvard Library. Credit: Michael F. Fitzgerald<\/p>\n
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Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, visited Harvard after a speech at the Massachusetts State House. Credit: Michael F. Fitzgerald<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cambridgeday-logo-640x56.png\"){kind=logo}
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