Skip to main content

Margaret Thatcher: The Grocer's girl who 'got above herself'

Why is Margaret Thatcher the object of puerile public hatred? Because she was ‘divisive’, we’re told. But her real crime was getting above herself — even in death.

According to The Guardian, royal officials have expressed concern about her funeral. Specifically, ‘about whether it is appropriate for such a controversial figure to be escorted on her final journey by more than 700 military personnel’.

Giving her such a send-off apparently trespasses on the privileges of monarchy who, by tradition, ‘are associated with ceremonial aspects of the military’. Getting above herself, in other words.

Thatcher didn't appreciate the fact that, outside her bubble, those who resented her new airs and graces were plotting her downfall. She'd got above herself, poor girl

When it was announced that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would attend Wednesday’s funeral, I thought this might be a sign that  the monarch wanted to lay to rest (forgive the pun) the notion that HM didn’t get on with our first woman prime minister.

For, in 1986, the Sunday Times reported — after a briefing by HM’s then press secretary, Michael Shea — that the Queen was worried about Mrs Thatcher’s ‘abrasive’ style of government.

Peter Morgan’s current West End play about the monarch and her  premiers, The Audience, has Thatcher (played by Haydn Gwynne) waving a copy of the newspaper at the Queen.

Is the Queen's planned attendance of Thatcher's funeral a sign that the monarch wants to lay to rest the notion that HM didn't get on with our first woman prime minister?

Thatcher confided to a friend of mine involved in the story that the row had knocked nine points off her poll ratings, ‘but it stopped any  further briefing against me from  the Palace’.

So why would the Queen, against precedent, attend Thatcher’s unwanted ‘state’ funeral if she found her divisive and not unifying? Like many aspects of our constitutional monarchy, it’s mysterious. On the other hand, perhaps there’s less in this row than meets the eye, as Dorothy Parker once said of a  pretentious play.

Meanwhile, Ken Livingstone says that a statue of Thatcher should not be put on Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth because it has been reserved for the Queen.

Ken Livingstone said that the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square has been reserved for the Queen and so can not be used for a statue of Thatcher

‘Red Ken’ blurts this out on the BBC TV comedy show Have I Got News For You?, saying it was something he’d heard while mayor of London.

Does the Queen really want a statue of herself in Trafalgar Square? I don’t know. But any suggestion that she does is enough to prevent Thatcher occupying the fourth plinth. And getting above herself again.

The former Tory leader, the winner of three General Elections, won’t  be having a state funeral like  Winston Churchill.

      More from Peter McKay...   In 70 years, have we gone from the greatest to the weakest? Silly spats prove how weak our leaders are 19/05/13   Is Cameron readying his lifeboat like Blair? 12/05/13   Don't panic yet, Dave. It's Red Ed who should be worried... 05/05/13   Sir, we are charging you with being a celebrity... 28/04/13   Will one of our cities be next to face 'lockdown'? 21/04/13   Ed needs a dose of the old Blair snake oil 07/04/13   Labour's addiction to welfare hurts us all 31/03/13   Now Dave's 'dog whistle' guru is calling the tunes 24/03/13   VIEW FULL ARCHIVE

The reason, it’s explained to us, is that she was ‘divisive’ while Churchill was ‘a unifying figure during one of the gravest moments in British history’. That’s bunk.

As her friend Simon Heffer pointed out in Saturday’s Mail, Churchill also divided opinion sharply, by using troops (not just police) to subdue protesting coal miners. And he infuriated trades unionists by breaking the 1926 General Strike.

Divisive means ‘causing or tending to cause disagreement or dissension’. Trying to govern a country usually involves disagreement and dissension. (Except in places such as North Korea, of course, where they are  punishable by death.)

For their part, Labour’s Harold  Wilson and his successor as PM, James Callaghan, caused enormous disagreement and dissension, while bankrupting the country and causing strikes which left the dead unburied and the streets piled high with  rotting rubbish.

Describing their policies as ‘divisive’ would be an understatement. The truth is that they closed more coal mines than Thatcher. Also, the Labour governments from 1997 to 2010 — even Gordon Brown’s — were guided overwhelmingly in their economic policies by her example, not Wilson’s.

So forget ‘divisive’ Thatcher. The real reason why she’s hated is because she was the daughter of a grocer, climbed to the top of the political greasy pole and appeared thereafter to ape the beliefs, attitudes and even the accent of her betters.

Dying in the Ritz, the guest of its wealthy owners, will have said it all for those who think Thatcher got above herself.

So will the fact that she planned for herself a state funeral in all but name and left us with a rumpus over where her statue should be sited.

She didn’t appreciate the fact  that, outside her bubble, those who resented her new airs and graces were plotting her downfall. She’d got above herself, poor girl.

Lady Thatcher’s selection of I Vow To Thee My Country for her funeral is a more ambiguous choice of ‘patriotic hymn’ than you might imagine. It’s from a poem written by Eton and Balliol-educated Sir Cecil Spring-Rice (1859-1918), but nowhere in the three verses is the ‘country’ identified as Britain. Spring-Rice said: ‘I am an Irishman, you see, that’s what expresses me.’ He was a cousin of the Irish Republican  gun-runner, Mary Spring-Rice.

Jane Seymour has separated from her fourth husband

The news that actress Jane  Seymour, 62, has parted from her fourth husband, actor-director James Keach, is broadcast by fellow thespian Richard E Grant.

He tweets: ‘Jane Seymour is Solitaire again [a reference to  her Bond role] after her fourth marriage goes Up The Khyber.  What can we do for her? It’s like  an Agatha Christie. Who’s next?  I’m worried …’

How ungallant, portraying Ms Seymour as a predatory woman. Grant should wash out his mouth with soap.

A friend of Jane’s is quoted as describing the bearded Keach  as ‘a very charismatic man, but he’s a flirt and has a wandering eye. They’ve been having trust issues . . .

Trust issues? How poignant. Jane said after their marriage in 1993: ‘We got our happy ending, which is all that matters.’

A smaller spoonful of SugarBusiness tycoon Alan Sugar says winning the constructive dismissal case brought against him by Apprentice winner Stella English is a victory against our compensation culture and vows to crusade against ‘ambulance- chasing lawyers’.

All power to him on that score, but I wonder if  the BBC ought to have a re-think over The Apprentice.

Contestants are warned, the tribunal was told, that if they win the contest and get a job with his organisation, Lord Sugar won’t be their line manager and they would rarely see him.If viewers were told the same, wouldn’t that damage further the credibility of the show.

Lord Sugar heralded the tribunal's decision as a victory against Britain's compensation culture

The Princess Diana Memorial Fund has  been exposed by this newspaper as having been hijacked by Left-wingers to fund ‘pro-immigration propaganda’. But it seems to have been hijacked by lawyers long before.

We may wonder why this wasn’t anticipated by its first chairman, lawyer Anthony Julius, who negotiated the Princess’s divorce. His own company, Mishcon de Reya, charged the fund £500,000 in 1998.

The awful, smirking showbiz type Simon Cowell is in the newspapers again. Meaning he must have a show to publicise.

'I’d love to have a family,’ he says to one of them.  ‘I’d love to father a girl,’ he tells another.

Simon Cowell has told the media he would like to start a family

Or, own a dog with three legs, he informs a third.

What’s stopping him, we may wonder. Other than his present, so-called life. But mustn’t be too unkind.

The late Michael  Jackson’s 15-year-old daughter, Paris (by ‘birth mother’ Debbie Rowe) shows off her ‘edgy, bold new look’ for photographers, chopping off her hair and dyeing the tips red with food colouring before prancing in a stage-costume while brandishing a guitar.

I suppose it was unrealistic to hope weird, dope-addicted Jackson’s children wouldn’t launch themselves into the disgusting pit of showbiz.

Princess Marie Marguerite Fahmy, French wife of late Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey of Egypt

Marguerite’s bottom line?Marguerite Alibert, the sexy but ‘utterly loathsome’ lover (in 1917) of Edward, Prince of Wales, then 23, was said to be expert in bed and in parting rich men from large quantities of money.

But she came a cropper after marrying a rich, Egyptian playboy called Ali Kamel Fahmy bey, who splashed out on women, boats and gambling — and expected  the women to do as they were told.

Marguerite complained of his love-making style, which she described to Noel Coward as ‘par la derriere’.

In 1923, in their suite at the Savoy Hotel, London, she shot him dead, but was acquitted of murder at the Old Bailey.

The story is the subject of Andrew Rose’s new book, The Prince, The Princess And The Perfect Murder. I can’t get over Marguerite complaining to Noel Coward, of all people, about Ali’s unorthodox canoodling habit.

Labour’s money worries

Labour leader Ed Miliband has secured a pledge of up to £1 million from property developer Andrew Rosenfeld, who lived in Swiss tax exile after making an estimated £100 million.

In 2008, he gave the party £1 million and then more than £500,000 last year. It’s reckoned he’s overtaken Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling as the party’s biggest donor, apart from the trades unions.

Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls sneer about the supposed Tory reliance on millionaires, but where would they be without their own Daddy Big Bucks, Mummy Big Bucks and Big Union Bucks? They can expect their finances to be subjected to a forensic probe before the General Election.

The Tories don’t have the answers to all of life’s problems, but they usually know who has the money, where they’re spending it and why.







Popular posts from this blog

Study Abroad USA, College of Charleston, Popular Courses, Alumni

Thinking for Study Abroad USA. School of Charleston, the wonderful grounds is situated in the actual middle of a verifiable city - Charleston. Get snatched up by the wonderful and customary engineering, beautiful pathways, or look at the advanced steel and glass building which houses the School of Business. The grounds additionally gives students simple admittance to a few major tech organizations like Amazon's CreateSpace, Google, TwitPic, and so on. The school offers students nearby as well as off-grounds convenience going from completely outfitted home lobbies to memorable homes. It is prepared to offer different types of assistance and facilities like clubs, associations, sporting exercises, support administrations, etc. To put it plainly, the school grounds is rising with energy and there will never be a dull second for students at the College of Charleston. Concentrate on Abroad USA is improving and remunerating for your future. The energetic grounds likewise houses various

Best MBA Online Colleges in the USA

“Opportunities never open, instead we create them for us”. Beginning with this amazing saying, let’s unbox today’s knowledge. Love Business and marketing? Want to make a high-paid career in business administration? Well, if yes, then mate, we have got you something amazing to do!   We all imagine an effortless future with a cozy house and a laptop. Well, well! You can make this happen. Today, with this guide, we will be exploring some of the top-notch online MBA universities and institutes in the USA. Let’s get started! Why learn Online MBA from the USA? Access to More Options This online era has given a second chance to children who want to reflect on their careers while managing their hectic schedules. In this, the internet has played a very crucial in rejuvenating schools, institutes, and colleges to give the best education to students across the globe. Graduating with Less Debt Regular classes from high reputed institutes often charge heavy tuition fees. However onl

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick.  Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o