Royal Insider's Diaries: Queen, Thatcher Didn't Get On

Yassmine Elsayed

Recent British media reports revealed that the Queen and Former PM Margaret Thatcher didn't get on.

According to British 'Mirror', extracts from a secret journal written by newspaper diarist Kenneth Rose, who mixed with the royal circles during his long career, gave more insight into what the monarch really thought of the Tory Prime Minister.

In one of the entries, published in the Daily Mail, he wrote that the monarch once told members of the team that Thatcher "stays too long and talks too much".

"She relates how when she went to take her leave of the Queen as a Baroness-in-Waiting on being promoted to be Under-Secretary in the Department of Health and Social Security, the Queen said of the PM [Mrs Thatcher]: ‘She stays too long and talks too much. She has lived too long among men," the document read.

Another entry from 12 years later also discusses their relationship.

On June 1, 1997 he wrote: "The Queen is careful never to reveal what she thinks of each, although it is generally known that she and Margaret Thatcher had sharp disagreements on the importance of the Commonwealth."

"Both the Queen and Thatcher came to a gala at Covent Garden, but sat in different parts of the house. In the interval, the Queen let it be known that she did not want to meet Mrs Thatcher — who was sent to an upper room for drinks. Thatcher then said she would like to say goodbye to the Queen, a request that was ignored."

According to the 'Mirror', declassified files revealed in 2017 claimed the Tory PM enraged the monarch by defying Commonwealth leaders in a vote over apartheid ."Files from the National Archives of Ireland show that Thatcher sparked international anger after refusing to back tighter sanctions against South Africa."

[caption id="attachment_89033" align="aligncenter" width="437"] Queen and Thatcher didn't have easy communication[/caption]

The move had been agreed by 47 leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, but Mrs Thatcher refused, thwarting efforts to end apartheid and enraging heads of state.