By . Claire Ellicott . PUBLISHED: . 19:26 EST, 21 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:15 EST, 22 March 2013 . Margaret Thatcher: Felt the weight of responsibility over the Falklands War . The first big battle Margaret Thatcher faced over the Falklands was not against Argentina but with some of her own MPs, secret documents reveal. While the Conservative Party presented a united front, briefing notes prepared for the Prime Minister show the level of opposition and discontent the Iron Lady faced from within. The papers, released today by the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust, reflect the turmoil within the party following Argentina's surprise invasion of the British dependency on April 2, 1982. While some urged instant reprisals, . others, including Ken Clarke, then a junior minister, cautioned against . all-out war in the South Atlantic. Negotiations were continuing at the . United Nations even as Britain assembled a Task Force which 74 days . later would retake the islands. In a briefing note on April 6, the . Chief Whip Michael Jopling wrote to new Foreign Secretary Francis Pym: . 'You may like to have general reaction to events in the Falkland . Islands.' The opinions of Mr Clarke, along with . Sir Timothy Raison, MP for Aylesbury, were described as: 'Hopes nobody . thinks we are going to fight the Argentinians. We should blow up a few . ships but nothing more.' Tory 'wet' Sir Ian Gilmour said: 'We are making a big mistake. It will make Suez look like common sense.' Stephen Dorrell was described as . 'very wobbly – will only support the fleet as a negotiating ploy. If . they will not negotiate we should withdraw.' Five MPs urged Mrs Thatcher to 'keep calm' adding 'we can get away without a fight' while others were 'all taking a hard line' and West Devon MP Peter Mills warned: 'My constituents want blood'. Scroll down for video . Chief Whip's note revealed the divided opinions within the Tory . party over how to respond to the invasion of the Falklands. Reactions . range from: 'My constituents want blood to 'We must try and get away . without a fight' Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meets personnel aboard the HMS Antrim in 1983 during her five-day visit to the Falkland Islands . British PM Margaret Thatcher out for in a Union Jack-flying Challenger tank during maneuvers at NATO training ground near Falling Bostel . The papers show that some of her most . loyal advisers – including John Hoskyns, David Wolfson and Alan Walters . – discussed plans that included selling off the Falklands. Historian . Chris Collins, from the trust – set up to administer Baroness . Thatcher's papers – said: 'These papers reveal how stressful this . situation was, it was a massive undertaking which tested her to the . full. In the early days of the conflict there was great confusion and . doubt. We might have expected her to be breathing fire. She's not. She's . always making the case.' The files contain a strongly-worded letter she never sent to the then-US President Ronald Reagan that showed her frustration at attempts by the Americans and her own Cabinet to offer a ceasefire,  abandoning the principle that the Falkland islanders should choose their own destiny. Margaret Thatcher felt betrayed by close ally Ronald Reagan (pictured here over lunch on June 6, 1982 at the Palace of Versailles) who tried to persuade her to offer a ceasefire . A hand-written note also appears to show Lady Thatcher grappling with how to justify the Duke of York's deployment as part of the task force sent to retake the Falklands amid fears that the Queen’s third child could be killed in action. The note, prepared after April 2, 1982, possibly in preparation for a speech or press conference, shows that she settled on a brief but broadly supportive position. 'If asked about Prince Andrew it is the express wish of The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and of Prince Andrew himself, that if the Invincible sails he sails with her,' she wrote. The . papers also show that Mrs Thatcher barely annotated a Falklands report . by defence chiefs in September 1981– a sign that, six months before the . invasion, she did not sense any problems. This was largely down to the fact . that British intelligence had wrongly informed her that 'the Argentine . government would prefer to pursue their sovereignty claim by peaceful . means.' What's more, . senior defence officials discouraged confrontation, fearing not only the . expense but also the risk of actually losing. A hand-written note by Lady Thatcher appears to show how she grappled with her response to the Duke of York's deployment as part of the Falklands task force . In a secret memo from defence chiefs to the Prime Minister, they said: 'Such a deployment would be very expensive....Their geographical advantage and the relative sophistication of their armed forces would put our own task group at serious risk.' The day after Argentina’s invasion of the remote British territory in the South Atlantic on April 2 1982, 22-pages of notes taken by Lady Thatcher's parliamentary aide Ian Gow, during a meeting with stunned backbenchers, reveal MPs' anger at the Foreign Office who they accused of giving wrong information to the Commons. Cabinet member Sir Humphrey Atkins famously told the House that an attack was not imminent, hours after Argentinian forces had taken Port Stanley. 'How could even an office boy at the FO say this?', the MP John Carlisle asked him to 'prolonged cheers'. The . files reveal how the responsibility of sending forces to the Falklands . weighed heavily on her shoulders, as well as her frustration with  the . BBC's failure to provide balanced reporting. They also contain large . amounts of her personal correspondence. All the files being released can be seen at www.margaretthatcher.org . Mrs Thatcher spent at least half an hour every day with a hairdresser, . even while on foreign trips, and planned her outfits well in advance, . the papers reveal. Staff had spent months planning an opulent banquet in Beijing in late 1982 to smooth diplomatic relations between Britain and China ahead of negotiations over the return of Hong Kong. But that didn't stop Mrs Thatcher trying to keep shark's fin and sea slugs off the menu – apparently for reasons of cost, not squeamishness. The British ambassador intervened to say such local delicacies would be 'conspicuous by their absence', the papers reveal. Sir Percy Cradock accused the PM of 'drastic economies'. Officials also had to convince her to serve champagne and Chinese drinks. Historian Chris Collins said: 'She didn't want to squander public money and could see the headlines back home: “Maggie cuts hospitals but spends a huge amount of public money on a banquet”. But eventually she yields.' However, the PM put her foot down when the Chinese suggested bread, butter and strawberry jam for dessert, demanding fruit salad instead. She also amended her party's in-flight breakfast menu, which initially included caviar. Mrs Thatcher, on her first overseas trip following the Falklands, put a cross next to it and wrote: 'No – much too expensive!'
Five MPs urged her to 'keep calm' adding 'we can get away without a fight'
Intelligence wrongly informed her that Argentina wasn't interested in war .
Defence chiefs warned her of the expense and risk of Britain losing .
She grappled with how to justify the Duke of York's deployment .
She was convinced that Falkland Islanders should choose own destiny .
By . Claire Ellicott . PUBLISHED: . 19:26 EST, 21 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:15 EST, 22 March 2013 . Margaret Thatcher: Felt the weight of responsibility over the Falklands War . The first big battle Margaret Thatcher faced over the Falklands was not against Argentina but with some of her own MPs, secret documents reveal. While the Conservative Party presented a united front, briefing notes prepared for the Prime Minister show the level of opposition and discontent the Iron Lady faced from within. The papers, released today by the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust, reflect the turmoil within the party following Argentina's surprise invasion of the British dependency on April 2, 1982. While some urged instant reprisals, . others, including Ken Clarke, then a junior minister, cautioned against . all-out war in the South Atlantic. Negotiations were continuing at the . United Nations even as Britain assembled a Task Force which 74 days . later would retake the islands. In a briefing note on April 6, the . Chief Whip Michael Jopling wrote to new Foreign Secretary Francis Pym: . 'You may like to have general reaction to events in the Falkland . Islands.' The opinions of Mr Clarke, along with . Sir Timothy Raison, MP for Aylesbury, were described as: 'Hopes nobody . thinks we are going to fight the Argentinians. We should blow up a few . ships but nothing more.' Tory 'wet' Sir Ian Gilmour said: 'We are making a big mistake. It will make Suez look like common sense.' Stephen Dorrell was described as . 'very wobbly – will only support the fleet as a negotiating ploy. If . they will not negotiate we should withdraw.' Five MPs urged Mrs Thatcher to 'keep calm' adding 'we can get away without a fight' while others were 'all taking a hard line' and West Devon MP Peter Mills warned: 'My constituents want blood'. Scroll down for video . Chief Whip's note revealed the divided opinions within the Tory . party over how to respond to the invasion of the Falklands. Reactions . range from: 'My constituents want blood to 'We must try and get away . without a fight' Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meets personnel aboard the HMS Antrim in 1983 during her five-day visit to the Falkland Islands . British PM Margaret Thatcher out for in a Union Jack-flying Challenger tank during maneuvers at NATO training ground near Falling Bostel . The papers show that some of her most . loyal advisers – including John Hoskyns, David Wolfson and Alan Walters . – discussed plans that included selling off the Falklands. Historian . Chris Collins, from the trust – set up to administer Baroness . Thatcher's papers – said: 'These papers reveal how stressful this . situation was, it was a massive undertaking which tested her to the . full. In the early days of the conflict there was great confusion and . doubt. We might have expected her to be breathing fire. She's not. She's . always making the case.' The files contain a strongly-worded letter she never sent to the then-US President Ronald Reagan that showed her frustration at attempts by the Americans and her own Cabinet to offer a ceasefire,  abandoning the principle that the Falkland islanders should choose their own destiny. Margaret Thatcher felt betrayed by close ally Ronald Reagan (pictured here over lunch on June 6, 1982 at the Palace of Versailles) who tried to persuade her to offer a ceasefire . A hand-written note also appears to show Lady Thatcher grappling with how to justify the Duke of York's deployment as part of the task force sent to retake the Falklands amid fears that the Queen’s third child could be killed in action. The note, prepared after April 2, 1982, possibly in preparation for a speech or press conference, shows that she settled on a brief but broadly supportive position. 'If asked about Prince Andrew it is the express wish of The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and of Prince Andrew himself, that if the Invincible sails he sails with her,' she wrote. The . papers also show that Mrs Thatcher barely annotated a Falklands report . by defence chiefs in September 1981– a sign that, six months before the . invasion, she did not sense any problems. This was largely down to the fact . that British intelligence had wrongly informed her that 'the Argentine . government would prefer to pursue their sovereignty claim by peaceful . means.' What's more, . senior defence officials discouraged confrontation, fearing not only the . expense but also the risk of actually losing. A hand-written note by Lady Thatcher appears to show how she grappled with her response to the Duke of York's deployment as part of the Falklands task force . In a secret memo from defence chiefs to the Prime Minister, they said: 'Such a deployment would be very expensive....Their geographical advantage and the relative sophistication of their armed forces would put our own task group at serious risk.' The day after Argentina’s invasion of the remote British territory in the South Atlantic on April 2 1982, 22-pages of notes taken by Lady Thatcher's parliamentary aide Ian Gow, during a meeting with stunned backbenchers, reveal MPs' anger at the Foreign Office who they accused of giving wrong information to the Commons. Cabinet member Sir Humphrey Atkins famously told the House that an attack was not imminent, hours after Argentinian forces had taken Port Stanley. 'How could even an office boy at the FO say this?', the MP John Carlisle asked him to 'prolonged cheers'. The . files reveal how the responsibility of sending forces to the Falklands . weighed heavily on her shoulders, as well as her frustration with  the . BBC's failure to provide balanced reporting. They also contain large . amounts of her personal correspondence. All the files being released can be seen at www.margaretthatcher.org . Mrs Thatcher spent at least half an hour every day with a hairdresser, . even while on foreign trips, and planned her outfits well in advance, . the papers reveal. Staff had spent months planning an opulent banquet in Beijing in late 1982 to smooth diplomatic relations between Britain and China ahead of negotiations over the return of Hong Kong. But that didn't stop Mrs Thatcher trying to keep shark's fin and sea slugs off the menu – apparently for reasons of cost, not squeamishness. The British ambassador intervened to say such local delicacies would be 'conspicuous by their absence', the papers reveal. Sir Percy Cradock accused the PM of 'drastic economies'. Officials also had to convince her to serve champagne and Chinese drinks. Historian Chris Collins said: 'She didn't want to squander public money and could see the headlines back home: “Maggie cuts hospitals but spends a huge amount of public money on a banquet”. But eventually she yields.' However, the PM put her foot down when the Chinese suggested bread, butter and strawberry jam for dessert, demanding fruit salad instead. She also amended her party's in-flight breakfast menu, which initially included caviar. Mrs Thatcher, on her first overseas trip following the Falklands, put a cross next to it and wrote: 'No – much too expensive!'
should withdraw.' Five MPs urged Mrs Thatcher to 'keep calm' adding 'we can get away without a and get away . without a fight' Prime Minister Falkland islanders should choose their own Thatcher grappling with how to justify the Duke informed her that 'the Argentine . government only the . expense but also the risk of actually response to the Duke of York's deployment as part