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| The Queen and Margaret Thatcher had a difficult relationship |
The Monarch also referred to the then prime minister as “that woman” to Commonwealth leaders and made jokes about her behind her back, it was claimed.
As the Queen celebrates her official birthday this weekend, author Dean Palmer told how the two most powerful women in recent history had repeated disagreements that were “very personal, class driven and distinctly female”.
In The Queen And Mrs Thatcher: An Inconvenient Relationship, the fi rst published analysis of their lack of rapport, Palmer claims the two female figureheads “met and disliked each other on sight”.
The book tells how Mrs Thatcher’s “entire character was anathema” to the Queen. It also reveals how she mocked Thatcher’s accent, which she described as “Royal Shakespeare received pronunciation from circa 1950”. Meanwhile, Thatcher loathed trips to Balmoral, considering them a “tedious waste of time”.
The Falklands War also caused further resentment between the pair as Thatcher became lauded as “mother of the nation” and the “public face of Britain abroad”. Veteran television producer Mr Palmer, who has made documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, writes: “For over a decade they quietly waged a war against each other on both a personal and political stage, disagreeing on key issues including sanctions against South Africa, the miners’ strike and allowing US planes to bomb Libya using British military bases.
Elizabeth found the means to snub and undermine her prime minister through petty class put-downs and Press leaks.” » | Camilla Tominey | Sunday, June 14, 2015
The Queen And Mrs Thatcher: An Inconvenient Relationship by Dean Palmer is published by The History Press, £20.
