Denis Thatcher

 ( 1915 Births ) 

Thatcher and his first wife never lived together. Their married life became confined to snatched weekends and irregular leaves as Thatcher was often abroad during the war. When Thatcher returned to England after being demobilised in 1946, his wife told him she had met someone else and wanted a divorce.

Thatcher was so traumatised by the event that he completely refused to talk about his first marriage or the separation, even to his daughter, as she states in her 1996 biography of him. Thatcher's two children found out about his first marriage only in 1976 (by which time, their mother had become Leader of the Opposition) and then only when the media revealed it.

In 1953, they had twin children (Carol Thatcher and Mark Thatcher), who were born on 15 August at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, seven weeks premature. Thatcher was watching the deciding Test of the 1953 Ashes series at the time of the twins' birth. They had watched the Coronation earlier in the year from Parliament Square.

Not long after the 1964 general election, Thatcher suffered a nervous breakdown which put a severe strain on his marriage. The breakdown was probably caused by the increasing pressure of running the family business, caring for his relatives, and his wife's preoccupation with her political career, which left him lonely and exhausted. Thatcher sailed to South Africa and stayed there for two months to recuperate. His wife's biographer David Cannadine described it as "the greatest crisis of their marriage", but immediately after, he recovered and returned home, he maintained a happy marriage for the rest of his life.

This second marriage for Thatcher led to the future prime minister being sometimes referred to as "Mrs Denis Thatcher" in such sources as Preselection minutes, travel itineraries, and society publications such as Queen, even after she was elected a Member of Parliament. As Margaret's political career progressed, she preferred to be known only as "Mrs Thatcher".

According to John Campbell, a biographer of his wife, "their marriage was more a partnership of mutual convenience than a romance", quoting their daughter Carol in her biography of Denis:

Thatcher became managing director of his family's firm Atlas Preservatives in 1947 and chairman in 1951, leading its overseas expansion. By the early 1960s, he found being in sole control of the family company difficult. This, his wife's political career, and their desire for financial security caused Thatcher to sell Atlas to Castrol in 1965 for £530,000 (£ today). He continued to run Atlas and received a seat on Castrol's board; after Burmah Oil took over Castrol in 1966, Thatcher became a senior divisional director, managing the planning and control department. He retired from Burmah in June 1975, four months after his wife won the Conservative Party leadership election.

In addition to being a director of Burmah Oil, Thatcher was a director and deputy chairman of Attwoods from July 1983 until January 1994. Annual accounts for year ended 31 July 1994 Attwoods 5 December 1994 page 14 He was also a director of Quinton Hazell and a consultant to Amec and CSX. Annual accounts for year ended 31 July 1992 Attwoods 2 December 1992 page 9

His wife's biographer Robin Harris concludes:

In an interview with The Times in October 1970, Thatcher said: "I don't pretend that I'm anything but an honest-to-God right-wingerthose are my views and I don't care who knows 'em." His public image was shaped by the satirical "Dear Bill" columns appearing since 1979 in Private Eye, which portrayed him as a "Gin-sozzled, rightwing, golf-obsessed halfwit", and Thatcher found it useful to play along with this image to avoid allegations of unduly influencing his wife in political matters.

Given his professional background, Thatcher served as an advisor on financial matters, warning Margaret about the poor condition of British Leyland after reviewing its books. He often insisted that she avoid overwork, to little avail, sometimes pleading, "Bed, woman!" They otherwise usually kept their careers separate; an exception was when Thatcher accompanied his wife on a 1967 visit to the United States sponsored by the International Visitor Leadership Program.

Thatcher was consistent in his strong opposition to the death penalty, calling it "absolutely awful" and "barbaric". He said that he was against it because of innocent people being wrongly hanged and because juries could also be afraid to convict for fear of making a mistake. Like his wife, Thatcher was consistently anti-socialist. He told his daughter in 1995 that he would have banned trade unions altogether in Britain. He had low regard for the BBC, thinking it was biased against his wife and her government, as well as unpatriotic. In his most famous outburst about the corporation, he came out with a homophobic insult by claiming his wife had been "stitched up by bloody BBC and Trotskyism" when she was questioned by a member of the public about the sinking of the on Nationwide in 1983.

Thatcher was reported by New Zealand (NZ) broadcaster and former diplomat Chris Laidlaw—at the time NZ High Commissioner to Zimbabwe—as leaning towards him during a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, asking "So, what do you think the Fuzzy-Wuzzy are up to?"

In December 1990, following the resignation of his wife as prime minister, it was announced that Thatcher would be created a baronet, (the first and only baronetcy created since 1964). The award was gazetted in February 1991, giving his title as Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, of Scotney in the County of Kent. Thus, his wife was entitled to style herself Lady Thatcher while retaining her seat in the House of Commons; however, she made it known that she preferred to remain addressed as "Mrs Thatcher", and would not use the style. She was created a as Baroness Thatcher (Lady Thatcher in her own right) shortly after she retired from the Commons in 1992.

In July 1991, Thatcher was created a Commander of the Order of St John; his wife was also made a Dame of the order.

On 17 January 2003, Thatcher underwent a six-hour heart-bypass operation and aortic valve operation at a Harley Street clinic. He had complained of breathlessness for several weeks before Christmas 2002, and the problem was diagnosed in early January. He left the clinic on 28 January 2003 and appeared to recover fully after recuperation. Thatcher returned home on 14 February and visited his son Mark in South Africa in April, but in early June, he again complained of breathlessness and listlessness. Lady Thatcher's staff also thought he looked unwell, and on 13 June, he was admitted to the Royal Brompton Hospital for further tests. Nothing wrong was found with his heart but terminal pancreatic cancer was diagnosed, along with fluid in his lungs. He was told nothing could be done for him, and after seven days there, on 20 June, he was transferred to the Lister Hospital. He lost consciousness on 24 June and never regained it. He died on the morning of 26 June, at the age of 88.

His funeral service took place on 3 July 2003 at the chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, followed by a cremation at Mortlake Crematorium in Richmond, London. On 30 October, a memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey. His ashes were buried under a white marble marker just outside the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. Following his wife's death in 2013, her ashes were buried near his.

(1996) is the biography by his daughter Carol. In it, he said that politics as a profession or way of life did not appeal to him. World leaders he got on with included George H. W. Bush, F. W. de Klerk, Hussein of Jordan and Mikhail Gorbachev, whilst he disliked [[Indira Gandhi]] and Sir Sonny Ramphal. Thatcher admitted that he was not sure where the Falkland Islands were until they were invaded in 1982.