Which Historical Figures Would You Invite To Dinner?

Remember this game? Imagine that you had a magical machine that could bring anyone from history right into your dining room for a wonderful dinner party. Who would you choose? And I mean anyone from any time period. It's hard to choose, that's for sure.

How do you select guests for a real dinner party? People who you know will get on well together because they have so much in common? Or people who will argue and have some interesting debates? Imagine Napoleon meeting Louis Armstrong. Or Marilyn Monroe having a chat with Queen Victoria. Maybe you'd like to see Mozart and Elvis meeting up.?

In this game, anything is possible.

Here, I have chosen six British people. That might - or might not - be the only thing they have in common. Will they get on with each other? Will they argue? Let me know what you think in the comment section below - or even write your own article to be included on this page.

Think fictional characters would be more fun? Then click here.

Images from Wikimedia Commons.

I couldn't resist. I do think that Diana will have some good stories to tell, don't you? If we can get hold of some truth drug to slip into her drink, it could be even more fun.

Not only would we get some great stories, it could be SO juicy. 'Tell me Diana,' another guest is sure to ask 'how do you feel about Charles being married to Camilla?'

And what about her boys? Didn't they turn out great? I'd love to know what she thinks about William's marriage and his baby son. Does she approve of Kate?

Best of all, what would she think about the other guests and what would they talk about, I wonder? And just as interesting, what will they make of her?

This was pretty irresistible too. I don't know about you but I have loads of questions I'd like to ask John Lennon. For example, did Yoko Ono really split up the Beatles?

I'd love to hear about his early days - those in Hamburg when the group were first starting out. What was it really like at the Cavern Club back in those days?

Do you think he'd tell us anything that will change our perceptions? Paul McCartney always says that their writing partnership was about 50-50. True or not?

The big question is, how will he get on with Diana? They were both cult figures who were thrust into the limelight at an early age - a good basis for a great conversation, I think.

Now we go way back to Elizabeth the First. Although she was known as 'the Virgin Queen' I suspect she was far from it. She and Diana would have great conversations about royalty throughout the ages.

She a strong woman who would lead her country into war if necessary. How would that go down with Give-Peace-a-Chance John Lennon? I'm imagining heated conversations

Elizabeth was a highly intelligent woman. I imagine that she might have difficulties relating to people from the twentieth century. Or maybe not? She was a forward-thinker.

What I'd like to ask her is the truth about the death of her married lover's wife. Did Robert Dudley really kill his wife hoping that Elizabeth would marry him?

The thought of British warmongers Queen Elizabeth the First and Sir Winston Churchill chatting is a pretty fascinating idea, even more so when you throw Lennon into the mix.

Remember too that Diana, Princess of Wales' maiden name was Spencer too. She and Sir Winston were distantly related by marriage. This could be interesting indeed.

Diana, like John Lennon was known for peace initiatives which I'm sure they'd talk about. Diana was too young to remember Churchill but Lennon wasn't.

As coincidence would have it, do you remember John's middle name? That's right, Winston. I strongly suspect he was named after Churchill. Another interesting conversation...

I would have loved to have met Diana Mitford (Lady Mosley). She and Churchill knew each other. But there's more to it than that - a good whiff of scandal.

One of Diana's sisters, Rebecca, married Esmond Romilly who was related to Churchill by marriage. But more than that, it was often thought by the family that Esmond was Churchill's illegitimate son.

It would be nice to unravel that mystery. But I wonder how the two Dianas would have got on together? Both were from aristocratic families and fashion leaders in their day.

She was a fervent supporter of her husband, who was the founder of the British Union of Fascists. Indeed they were both imprisoned during WW2. What would Lennon make of that?

We have quite a few serious conversations going on between our guests so I've invited Douglas Adams to bring some humour and fun to the occasion.

The other guests, with the exception of the two royal women, also wrote books. In particular Lennon and Churchill had similar senses of humour to Douglas Adams.

John Lennon was (unbelievably) twelve years older than Douglas Adams and it's possible he never read his books. Churchill and Elizabeth the First certainly didn't.

Ideally, after my fantasy dinner party, Douglas Adams would write a book about it and I'm pretty sure it would be a best seller even beating Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy

I wrote about a bunch of Brits but there are lots of other themes that I can think of. You can surely think of more. Plus, what food would you serve? What music would be playing? I'd love to know. When you write your own, let me know and I'll link it from this page.

Have a terribly sensible and serious group or be a bit silly - no rules!

• Your favourite writers - Shakespeare meets John Fowles meets Robert Frost. Wow.
• Theme your party around a location, as I did. Famous Australians, French chefs, American sports stars...
• A profession is good idea. Artists or philosophers or actresses or supermodels.
• Be daring. How would Atilla the Hun, Hitler and Julius Caesar fare?

Let me know about your own choices in the comments below. Post the link if you've written about your own ideal dinner party.