Carol Thatcher
Encyclopedia
Carol Thatcher is a British journalist, author and media personality. She is the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher
, a former British Prime Minister
, and Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt
.
Thatcher has published biographies of both her parents. Additionally, she produced a documentary of her father which contained his only public interview. Thatcher won the fifth series of the reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. In early 2009, she was removed from her on-air position at BBC One
after refusing to apologise for making an off-air comment backstage that was deemed a racial pejorative
about tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
, were born six weeks prematurely in 1953. According to Margaret Thatcher, Denis Thatcher responded to seeing his offspring for the first time; "My god, they look like rabbits. Put them back." Margaret Thatcher was selected for Finchley
in 1958 and was elected as a member of Parliament
in 1959. The following year, Thatcher was sent to be educated at Queenswood School, Hertfordshire. Thatcher studied law at University College London
before moving to Australia in 1977 to begin a journalism career. While there, her mother was elected Prime Minister. Thatcher has said, "You need quite good shock absorbers and a sense of humour to be the Prime Minister's child."
, 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
.
Thatcher published her first book, Diary of an election: with Margaret Thatcher on the campaign trail in 1983. Her second book, a collaboration with tennis player Chris Evert
called Lloyd on Lloyd, was released three years later. It became Thatcher's first best-seller.
Later publications included a 1996 best-selling biography of her father, Below the Parapet. In 2003, Thatcher produced a Channel 4
documentary about him called Married to Maggie. Thatcher captured the only public interview Denis Thatcher
gave in his lifetime; he died shortly after its release.
Thatcher's freelance career has contributed articles to magazines and papers as well as television.
, making regular 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
.
According to The Times
, Thatcher called Tsonga "half-golliwog" and "the golliwog Frog". Presenter Adrian Chiles
, comedian Jo Brand
, journalists and several guests were with Thatcher when she made the remark. When others protested about her use of the word, Thatcher stated through her spokesperson that the comment was meant in jest.
The BBC stated that Thatcher would not work again on The One Show unless she made a more sincere apology. 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."
television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. The format of the show meant that she would be forced to spend at least a week in the Australian rainforest with a minimal supply of food in basic living conditions. One of her highlights in the show was for urinating on the ground. She did not own up and the camp accused Sid Owen.
She had to undergo one of the more infamous 'Bushtucker Trials' during her stay in the jungle—which saw her being forced to eat jungle bugs and kangaroo testicles to help sustain her fellow celebrities. Ultimately, she emerged as the fifth series winner and second 'Queen of the Jungle'.
tribe, or that her origins may date to the desert farmers of ancient Mesopotamia
, which centuries ago covered all of Iraq and large portions of contemporary Turkey, Syria and Iran.
on 13 February 2007 as a celebrity guest alongside presenter Yvette Fielding
and Medium David Wells
to search for paranormal activity at Tatton Hall
in Cheshire.
and Argentina for the documentary Mummy's War, in order to explore the legacy of the Falklands War
. Whilst receiving a highly positive reception from the pro-British islanders (who regard her mother as a heroine), her reception in Argentina provoked protests and demonstrations (including the cry "your mother is a war criminal!"). During her stay in Argentina she met a group of mothers who lost their sons during the conflict and stated, "We were fighting a war; we won, you lost" and reminding them that it was their country that invaded the islands, thus initiating the conflict. The interview ended with one of the women claiming that "God will punish her [Margaret Thatcher]".
which ended in 1979, just after the Conservatives won that year's general election. His severing of the liaison is alleged to have been the reason for Aitken being bypassed for a ministerial career; the Prime Minister reportedly told cabinet colleagues that she was damned if she was going to give a job to a man "who had made Carol cry".
Thatcher has been linked to Marco Grass, a Swiss ski instructor, since 1992. They share her homes in Klosters
and London. Thatcher has never married; "I like being permanently single. It suits me perfectly."
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, a former British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, and Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt
Denis Thatcher
Major Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, MBE, TD was a British businessman, and the husband of the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He was born in Lewisham, London, the elder child of a New Zealand-born British businessman, Thomas Herbert Thatcher, and his wife Kathleen, née Bird...
.
Thatcher has published biographies of both her parents. Additionally, she produced a documentary of her father which contained his only public interview. Thatcher won the fifth series of the reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. In early 2009, she was removed from her on-air position at BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
after refusing to apologise for making an off-air comment backstage that was deemed a racial pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
about tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Early life
Carol Thatcher and her twin brother, Sir Mark Thatcher, BtMark Thatcher
Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet is the son of Sir Denis Thatcher and Baroness Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, and twin brother of Carol Thatcher...
, were born six weeks prematurely in 1953. According to Margaret Thatcher, Denis Thatcher responded to seeing his offspring for the first time; "My god, they look like rabbits. Put them back." Margaret Thatcher was selected for Finchley
Finchley (UK Parliament constituency)
Finchley was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election; its best-known MP was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990...
in 1958 and was elected as a member of Parliament
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in 1959. The following year, Thatcher was sent to be educated at Queenswood School, Hertfordshire. Thatcher studied law at University College London
University College London Law Faculty
The UCL Faculty of Laws is one of the 10 constituent faculties of University College London . It is one of the world’s premier law schools, renowned for the quality of its teaching and its cutting-edge legal research...
before moving to Australia in 1977 to begin a journalism career. While there, her mother was elected Prime Minister. Thatcher has said, "You need quite good shock absorbers and a sense of humour to be the Prime Minister's child."
Career
Thatcher began her journalism career 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 an interviewer on its morning show. On her return to Britain, she worked as a presenter for LBCLBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
and wrote travel articles for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. Due to her mother's high profile political position, many newspapers refused to publish work with her byline
Byline
The byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article. Bylines are traditionally placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines place bylines at the bottom of the page, to leave more room for graphical...
.
Thatcher published her first book, Diary of an election: with Margaret Thatcher on the campaign trail in 1983. Her second book, a collaboration with tennis player Chris Evert
Chris Evert
Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
called Lloyd on Lloyd, was released three years later. It became Thatcher's first best-seller.
Later publications included a 1996 best-selling biography of her father, Below the Parapet. In 2003, Thatcher produced a Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary about him called Married to Maggie. Thatcher captured the only public interview Denis Thatcher
Denis Thatcher
Major Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, MBE, TD was a British businessman, and the husband of the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He was born in Lewisham, London, the elder child of a New Zealand-born British businessman, Thomas Herbert Thatcher, and his wife Kathleen, née Bird...
gave in his lifetime; he died shortly after its release.
Thatcher's freelance career has contributed articles to magazines and papers as well as television.
The One Show
From 2006 to 2009, Thatcher was a freelance contributor to the BBC One magazine programme The One ShowThe One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
, making regular 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
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...
Thatcher had, in a conversation in the show's green room
Green room
In British English and American English show business lexicon, the green room is that space in a theatre, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates performers or speakers not yet required on stage...
, referred to a black tennis player, reportedly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as a golliwog
Golliwogg
The "Golliwogg" was a character in children's books in the late 19th century and depicted as a type of rag doll. It was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers as a children's toy called the "golliwog", and had great popularity in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe and...
.
According to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Thatcher called Tsonga "half-golliwog" and "the golliwog Frog". Presenter Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles is a British television and radio presenter, currently working for ITV Sport presenting football coverage....
, comedian Jo Brand
Jo Brand
Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand is a BAFTA winning British comedian, writer, and actor.- Early life :Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957 in Wandsworth, London. Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers...
, journalists and several guests were with Thatcher when she made the remark. When others protested about her use of the word, Thatcher stated through her spokesperson that the comment was meant in jest.
The BBC stated that Thatcher would not work again on The One Show unless she made a more sincere apology. 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."
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
In November 2005 Thatcher was selected to appear with a number of fellow celebrities on the popular ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. The format of the show meant that she would be forced to spend at least a week in the Australian rainforest with a minimal supply of food in basic living conditions. One of her highlights in the show was for urinating on the ground. She did not own up and the camp accused Sid Owen.
She had to undergo one of the more infamous 'Bushtucker Trials' during her stay in the jungle—which saw her being forced to eat jungle bugs and kangaroo testicles to help sustain her fellow celebrities. Ultimately, she emerged as the fifth series winner and second 'Queen of the Jungle'.
100% English
DNA tests in association with a reality TV programme 100% English screened on Channel 4 on 13 November 2006 indicate that Thatcher may be descended from a BedouinBedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
tribe, or that her origins may date to the desert farmers of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, which centuries ago covered all of Iraq and large portions of contemporary Turkey, Syria and Iran.
Most Haunted
Thatcher appeared on LIVINGtv show Most HauntedMost Haunted
Most Haunted is a British paranormal documentary reality television series. The series was first shown on 25 May 2002 and ended on 21 July 2010. It was broadcast on Living and presented by Yvette Fielding. The programme was based on investigating purported paranormal activity...
on 13 February 2007 as a celebrity guest alongside presenter Yvette Fielding
Yvette Fielding
Yvette Fielding is a British broadcaster, producer and actress. She is best known for being the presenter of the TV shows Blue Peter, Most Haunted and Ghosthunting With....-Early life and career:...
and Medium David Wells
David Wells (medium)
David Wells is a Scottish medium and astrologer. Born in the community of Kelloholm in Scotland, Wells states that he discovered his abilities after suffering from pneumonia, learning astrology and studying the Qabalah to "ground" his abilities...
to search for paranormal activity at Tatton Hall
Tatton Hall
Tatton Hall is a country house in Tatton Park near Knutsford, Cheshire, England . It has been designated as a Grade I listed building which is owned by the National Trust and administered in conjunction with Cheshire East Council.-History:...
in Cheshire.
Mummy's War
In 2007, Carol Thatcher travelled to the Falkland IslandsFalkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
and Argentina for the documentary Mummy's War, in order to explore the legacy of the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. Whilst receiving a highly positive reception from the pro-British islanders (who regard her mother as a heroine), her reception in Argentina provoked protests and demonstrations (including the cry "your mother is a war criminal!"). During her stay in Argentina she met a group of mothers who lost their sons during the conflict and stated, "We were fighting a war; we won, you lost" and reminding them that it was their country that invaded the islands, thus initiating the conflict. The interview ended with one of the women claiming that "God will punish her [Margaret Thatcher]".
Personal life
Thatcher had a relationship with Jonathan AitkenJonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...
which ended in 1979, just after the Conservatives won that year's general election. His severing of the liaison is alleged to have been the reason for Aitken being bypassed for a ministerial career; the Prime Minister reportedly told cabinet colleagues that she was damned if she was going to give a job to a man "who had made Carol cry".
Thatcher has been linked to Marco Grass, a Swiss ski instructor, since 1992. They share her homes in Klosters
Klosters
Klosters-Serneus is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.Its well-known ski resort lies from Zurich, the nearest international airport. Transfer time is about 1.5 hours. Klosters is from Davos...
and London. Thatcher has never married; "I like being permanently single. It suits me perfectly."
External links
- Carol Thatcher on IMDb
- Unreality TV – News of Carol Thatcher on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!
- Carol Thatcher Explores Impoverished Cuba by Bike by The Daily Mail, 30 January 2010