Carol Jane Thatcher (born 15 August 1953) is an English

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, author and media personality. She is the daughter of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, the

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

from 1979 to 1990, and businessman Denis Thatcher. She has written

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

of both her parents and also produced a documentary about her father which contained his only public interview. She won the fifth series of the reality show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''

Early life

Thatcher was born on 15 August 1953 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in

Hammersmith, London Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. She and her twin brother,

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

, were born six weeks prematurely by

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

. According to

, her husband Denis Thatcher responded to seeing their children for the first time by saying, "My God, they look like rabbits. Put them back." Thatcher's mother was selected for the constituency of

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

in North London in 1958 and was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1959. In 1960, Thatcher was sent to Queenswood School, a girls' boarding school near

Hatfield, Hertfordshire Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, 39,201 at the 2011 census, and 41,265 at the 2021 census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House ...

, before attending St Paul's Girls' School. She graduated with a law degree from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, before moving to Australia in 1977 to begin a journalism career. While she was there, her mother was elected

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Thatcher later said, "You need quite good shock absorbers and a sense of humour to be the prime minister's child."

Journalism career

Thatcher greets daughter Carol with Carters 1979

Thatcher began her career as a journalist in Australia, working on ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' from 1977 to 1979. She became a TV reporter at Channel Seven, also in Sydney, and later a reporter on its news morning show, ''11AM''. On her return to Britain, she worked as a presenter for LBC,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

and wrote travel articles for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. Due to her mother's high-profile political position, many newspapers refused to publish work with her

byline The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably '' Reader's ...

. Her first book, ''Diary of an Election: with Margaret Thatcher on the campaign trail'', was published in 1983. Her second book, a collaboration with tennis player Chris Evert Lloyd 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 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary about him called ''Married to Maggie''. Thatcher captured the only public interview Denis Thatcher ever gave; he died shortly after its release. Thatcher's freelance career has included contributing articles to magazines and papers as well as television work.

Reality shows

''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 ITV television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' The format of the show meant that she would be required to spend at least a week in the Australian rainforest with a minimal supply of food in basic living conditions. She had to undergo one of the more infamous "Bushtucker Trials" during her stay in the jungle – which saw her eat jungle bugs and kangaroo testicles as a challenge to earn food for her fellow celebrities. Ultimately, she emerged as the fifth series winner and second 'Queen of the Jungle'.

''Most Haunted''

Thatcher appeared on

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television tv channel, channel owned and operated by Sky Limited, Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts procedural dramas from the United States aimed at the 18–45 age demographic. Sky Ital ...

's '' Most Haunted'' on 13 February 2007 as a celebrity guest alongside presenter

Yvette Fielding Yvette Paula Fielding (born 23 September 1968) is an English television presenter, producer, actress, writer and paranormal investigator. In 1987, aged 18, she became the youngest presenter on the BBC television programme '' Blue Peter''. With h ...

''Mummy's War''

In 2007, Thatcher travelled to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

and Argentina for the documentary ''Mummy's War'', in order to explore the legacy of the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

''The One Show''

From 2006 to 2009, Thatcher was a freelance contributor to the BBC One magazine programme ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

'', making 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 In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre, or a similar venue, that functions as a waiting room and lounge for Performing arts, performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on Stage (thea ...

, referred to a black tennis player, reportedly

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...

, as a

golliwog The golliwog, also spelled golliwogg or shortened to golly, is a doll-like character, created by cartoonist and author Florence Kate Upton, which appeared in children's books in the late 19th century, usually depicted as a type of rag doll. I ...

. According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', Thatcher called Tsonga "half-golliwog" and "the golliwog

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

".Patrick Foste
Carol Thatcher's golliwog remarks ‘made eyes roll in the green room’
Times Online, 6 February 2009 Presenter

Adrian Chiles Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for fo ...

, comedian

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

, journalists and several guests were with Thatcher when she made the remark. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

stated that Thatcher would not work again on ''

'' 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."

Bibliography

Personal life

Thatcher had a relationship with

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and wa ...

, which ended in 1979. As this happened just after the Conservatives won the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, Aitken's breaking up with Thatcher is alleged to have been the reason for his being bypassed for a ministerial career; Thatcher's mother, the Prime Minister at the time, reportedly told cabinet colleagues that she was "damned" if she was going to give a job to a man "who had made Carol cry".Gillian Bowditc
"Oh Carol, why are we so in love with you?"
''The Scotsman'', 7 December 2005; Retrieved 8 February 2009 Thatcher lives with ski instructor Marco Grass in Klosters, Switzerland.

References

External links

*
Biography of Carol Thatcher
Unreality TV (Archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Carol 1953 births Living people 20th-century English journalists 21st-century English journalists 20th-century English diarists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English women writers English women diarists British women memoirists Alumni of University College London English biographers British expatriates in Switzerland Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Daughters of baronets Daughters of life peers English television personalities I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) winners People educated at Queenswood School People educated at St Paul's Girls' School People from Hammersmith Writers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham English twins The Sydney Morning Herald people English emigrants to Australia English people of Irish descent English people of New Zealand descent The Daily Telegraph people Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws Opposite-sex twins