1. French president Jean Raymond Pompidou to the Queen - six-foot long wine-cooler in the shape of a grasshopper with rotating wings to become a drinks table - 1972, during state visit to France.

2. Chinese government to President Richard Nixon - two giant pandas - 1972, following US president’s visit to China.

3. Fiji Chiefs to the Queen - a whale’s tooth (the most prized possession of Fiji rulers) - 1977. Given to apologise for becoming a republic.

4. Saddam Hussein to Donald Rumsfeld – a three-minute video appearing to show Syrian biting the heads off snakes and stabbing puppies, set to the applause of Hafez al-Assad – US visit to Iraq in 1983.

5. Jordan’s King Abdullah to George Bush - a small arsenal of guns, and six jars of fertiliser - 2004. The Sultan of Brunei gave Bush a ’Worst Case Survival Handbook’ in the same year.

6. Barack Obama to Gordon Brown - 25 of his favourite movies on DVD - 2009. This was in return for £10,000-worth of gifts given to Obama by Brown, including two biographies of Winston Churchill and a pen and holder made from the wood of an anti-slavery ship. The DVD didn’t work in the UK.

7. Barack Obama to the Queen - an iPod - G20 summit 2009. It was the official gift from the 44th president and his wife. The Queen was ‘delighted’.



8. The People of the South Pacific Tanna Island to Prince Philip - a penis sheath made of grass - 2010. Prince Philip did not visit the Island.



9. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk to President Obama - Polish game ‘The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings’ - 2011. The game is said to be a national symbol of pride.



10. Australian Northern Territory government to Obama - crocodile insurance - 2011. Insured for $A50,000.



Marral Shamshiri