Carol Thatcher

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Carol Jane Thatcher (born 15 August 1953) is an English journalist, author and media personality. She is the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister from 1979 to 1990, and businessman Denis Thatcher.

She has written biographies of both her parents and also produced a documentary about her father which contained his only public interview. She won the fifth series of the reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Early life

Thatcher was born on 15 August 1953 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She and her twin brother, Mark, were born six weeks prematurely by caesarean section. According to Margaret Thatcher, her husband Denis Thatcher responded to seeing their children for the first time by saying, "My God, they look like rabbits. Put them back."<ref name="scotsman" /> Thatcher's mother was selected for the constituency of Finchley in North London in 1958 and was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1959.<ref name="London Gazette">Template:London Gazette</ref><ref name="MT biography">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1960, Thatcher was sent to Queenswood School, a girls' boarding school near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, before attending St Paul's Girls' School.<ref name="london telegraph">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The Guardian">Template:Cite news</ref> She graduated with a law degree from University College London,<ref name="The Guardian" /> before moving to Australia in 1977 to begin a journalism career.<ref name="london telegraph" /> While she was there, her mother was elected prime minister. Thatcher later said, "You need quite good shock absorbers and a sense of humour to be the prime minister's child."<ref name="london telegraph" />

Journalism career

File:Thatcher greets daughter Carol with Carters 1979.jpg

Thatcher (left) with U.S. President Jimmy Carter, her mother (middle right), and First Lady Rosalynn Carter (far right) in 1979

Thatcher began her career as a journalist in Australia, working on The Sydney Morning Herald from 1977 to 1979. She became a TV reporter at Channel Seven, also in Sydney, and later a reporter on its news morning show, 11AM. On her return to Britain,Template:When she worked as a presenter for LBC, BBC Radio 4, TV-am and wrote travel articles for The Daily Telegraph. Due to her mother's high-profile political position, many newspapers refused to publish work with her byline.<ref name="The Guardian"/><ref name="indinterview" />

Her first book, Diary of an Election: with Margaret Thatcher on the campaign trail, was published in 1983. Her second book, a collaboration with tennis player Chris Evert Lloyd called Lloyd on Lloyd, was released three years later. It became Thatcher's first best-seller.<ref name="indinterview">Template:Cite news</ref>

Later publications included a 1996 best-selling biography of her father, Below the Parapet.<ref name="indinterview" /> In 2003, Thatcher produced a Channel 4 documentary about him called Married to Maggie. Thatcher captured the only public interview Denis Thatcher ever gave; he died shortly after its release.<ref name="AmazDVD">Template:Cite book</ref> Thatcher's freelance career has included contributing articles to magazines and papers as well as television work.<ref name="telemothersshadow">Template:Cite news</ref>

Reality shows

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Template:Main In November 2005 Thatcher appeared with a number of fellow celebrities on the ITV television show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! The format of the show meant that she would spend at least a week in the Australian rainforest with a minimal supply of food in basic living conditions. Ultimately, she emerged as the fifth series winner and second 'Queen of the Jungle'.<ref>Robin Stummer "Carol Thatcher: 'I partly blame Mark for Mummy's anguish'" Template:Webarchive; The Independent, 11 December 2005; Retrieved 7 February 2009</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Most Haunted

Thatcher appeared on Living TV's Most Haunted on 13 February 2007 as a celebrity guest alongside presenter Yvette Fielding<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Citation needed span

Mummy's War

In 2007, Thatcher travelled to the Falkland Islands and Argentina for the documentary Mummy's War, in order to explore the legacy of the Falklands War.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The One Show

From 2006 to 2009, Thatcher was a freelance contributor to the BBC One magazine programme The One Show, making filmed reports and joining the presenters and guests in the studio for discussions.

On 3 February 2009, British media reported that during the 2009 Australian Open Thatcher had, in a conversation in the show's green room, referred to a black tennis player, reportedly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as a golliwog.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to The Times, Thatcher called Tsonga "half-golliwog" and "the golliwog Frog".<ref name="Times">Patrick Foster Carol Thatcher's golliwog remarks ‘made eyes roll in the green room’ Times Online, 6 February 2009 </ref> Presenter Adrian Chiles, comedian Jo Brand, journalists and several guests were with Thatcher when she made the remark.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The BBC stated that Thatcher would not work again on The One Show unless she made a more sincere apology.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Thatcher refused, saying "I stand by what I said. I wasn't going to apologise. I never meant it in a racist way. It was shorthand. I described someone's appearance colloquially—someone I happen to greatly admire."<ref name="telemothersshadow" />

Personal life

Thatcher had a relationship with Jonathan Aitken, which ended in 1979.<ref>Francis Elliott "Lady Thatcher's friends hit back at 'betrayal of family secrets'", The Independent, 28 May 2006; Retrieved 7 February 2009</ref> As this happened just after the Conservatives won the general election, Aitken's breaking up with Thatcher is alleged to have been the reason for his being bypassed for a ministerial career; Thatcher's mother, the Prime Minister at the time, reportedly told cabinet colleagues that she was "damned" if she was going to give a job to a man "who had made Carol cry".<ref name="scotsman">Gillian Bowditch "Oh Carol, why are we so in love with you?" The Scotsman, 7 December 2005; Retrieved 8 February 2009</ref><ref>"UK Politics: Jonathan Aitken – a 'swashbuckling' life", BBC News, 7 December 1998; Retrieved 8 February 2009.</ref>

Thatcher lives with ski instructor Marco Grass in Klosters, Switzerland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Biography of Carol Thatcher Unreality TV (Archived)