The First Lady of memoirs signs in, with her special warmth reserved for women, children and Americans

If Hillary Clinton needs any advice on book signings for her big-selling autobiography, then there is probably nobody better to ask than Eric Hammond, a retired builder from Upminster. He is a veteran.

"I did six hours for Paul McCartney once. I've done them all: Gorbachev, John Travolta, Colin Powell. They're all much the same to me really, but Mr Gorbachev was the nicest because he shook hands with everybody,'' said Mr Hammond, 75, who was first in the queue outside Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London, last night for Mrs Clinton to sign his copy of Living History, all 534 action-packed pages of it.

While Mr Hammond was waiting, Mrs Clinton's aide had performed a neat little pirouette for the photographers to demonstrate how she would display the book - "She knows how to do this kind of thing, she's been photographed before," he assured them unnecessarily - and Waterstone's staff went around the stacks of books in the background, discreetly removing the signs that said "Erotica" and "Gay Interest".

When finally Mrs Clinton arrived, the demands of whisking several hundred people through a confined space in an hour prevented Mr Hammond from imparting his wisdom to her as he was briskly ushered past the former first lady for a brief flash of a smile and a "Hullo, how are you, nice to see you today" from Mrs Clinton.

As she sat at the desk, Mrs Clinton was rather dwarfed by the predictable phalanx of crop-haired US secret service agents scanning the line for sinister visitors. One sincerely hoped that the more urbane-looking chap from Scotland Yard had briefed them on the latest threat - comedy terrorists dressed as Osama bin Laden - or something very nasty could have ensued.

They didn't get any comedy terrorists, but they did get a couple of joke spectacles and false nose combos, donned rapidly by Andy Ozment and friend Abbie Liel, both American students working in London, when they persuaded one of the press photographers to use their camera to take a picture of them with Mrs Clinton. Said Mr Ozment, 25, "We've been planning this all week and bought the masks yesterday. We just thought it might be fun and that she would go along with it. I'm very interested in her and politics. I want to be a policy maker.''

The only other interruption to the smooth flow of the queue was the two elderly gentlemen in grubby macs, one of whom had a slightly askew toupee, whose companion had something very important that he wanted Mrs Clinton to sign as well. They were gently escorted away by Mrs Clinton's smooth young press officer.

Otherwise most of the queue were Americans or Britons, like Mr Hammond interested in political memoirs. Certainly Mrs Clinton's account of life with Bill and the trials and tribulations of Monicagate has been well received, already selling enough to cover her reported $8m (£5m) advance from Simon & Schuster. This week's trip to Europe has already taken in Paris and Amsterdam, followed on Saturday by Oxford - where her daughter, Chelsea, is studying - and then Berlin.

Although Mrs Clinton has rejected suggestions that the book is a clearing of decks for a future presidential attempt, the handshakes and especial warmth were particularly on display for the fellow Americans, the women and the children. Certainly she had one vote tied up from Scarlett Elkins, 21, from Nashville, studying in London, who said: 'I think she behaved remarkably, very very gracefully, and I think she would make a good president.''