Madame Tussauds entity ceased to exist. On 17 July 2007, as part of the financing for the Tussauds deal, Merlin sold the freehold of Madame Tussauds to private investor Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury under a sale and leaseback agreement. Although the attraction sites are owned by Prestbury, they are operated by Merlin based on a renewable 35-year lease. Madame Tussaud's wax museum became a major tourist attraction in London, incorporating (until 2010) the London Planetarium in its west wing and a large animated dark ride, "The Spirit of London", opened in 1993. Today's wax figures at Tussauds include historical
Madame Tussauds in Madame Tussauds London in April 1933; it was frequently vandalised and a 1936 replacement had to be carefully guarded. In January 2016, the statue of Adolf Hitler was removed from the London museum in response to an open letter sent by a staff writer of "The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles", followed by significant support for its removal from social media. The first Madame Tussauds in India opened in New Delhi on 1 December 2017, with its operator Merlin Entertainments planning an investment of 50 million pounds over the next 10 years. It features over 50 wax models