Margaret Thatcher had two extramarital affairs, new book claims
A new book has claimed Margaret Thatcher had two extramarital affairs.
The former prime minister is said to have had an “extra-curricular friendship” with a close aide who touched his knee during dinners, and has also had two affairs during his life.
Tina Gaudoin’s new book Accidental FeministShe claims the Iron Lady had an affair early in her career as an MP and had a separate affair with another politician.
Ms Gaudoin cited multiple sources who told her Baroness Thatcher had an affair with someone else “very early in her parliamentary career”. The writer claimed she was later “most likely” to have an affair with Sir Humphrey Atkins, MP for Spelthorne.
Accordingly Times, Ms Gaudoin said she was told during a discussion about her book at the Cheltenham Literature Festival: “The joke about Atkins was that he kept getting promoted for someone who wasn’t very good. So why did this happen?”
Sir Humphrey was Edward Heath’s chief whip when the Conservatives were in opposition and then Northern Ireland secretary from 1979 to 1981. He was married to Margaret Spencer-Nairn, had four children, and died in 1996.
One of the sources cited by Ms Gaudoin was former Conservative minister Jonathan Aitken. Asked about his relationship with Sir Humphrey, Mr Aitken said: “There were educated rumors to that effect at the time. His good looks might have appealed to her but his political brains were hopeless.”
Sources reportedly told him that Baroness Thatcher’s PR chief Tim Bell had an “extra-curricular friendship” with the Prime Minister and that “one of his favorite things” was when Lord Bell would put his hand on his knee during dinners “and other things”.
In his book, he wrote that Lord Bell was “unlikely to reach what the Americans delicately call ‘stage three’ (or even first or second)”.
Charles Moore, who wrote Baroness Thatcher’s autobiography, said: Times He had seen “no evidence to support” the Atkins rumor.
“I’ve heard the Atkins rumor in the past… My feeling is that it’s almost impossible. I’ve never heard the Tim Bell rumor before. Again, I think it’s almost impossible,” he said.
At the Cheltenham event, Ms Gaudoin said Baroness Thatcher had “normalised female power”.
“There’s a section of women who don’t like him just because they don’t like him. In fact, I think we owe him a big debt,” she said.
He added: “A lot of people I spoke to said [Thatcher] She was much sexier than she looked.
“Many people said there was a definite excitement when he walked into the room.”
