Buckingham Palace disputed the report, saying it was without foundation. Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, Prince Philip and Lady Mountbatten at the unveiling of the tribute statue to Lord Mountbatten, November 1983. ″I think what is said in public and what is said in private are two different things and the palace have to maintain their position,″ he said. The real tension between to two seemed to center around their differences in political opinion. Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil said he wasn’t surprised by the palace denial. In episode eight, the pair even clash over the imposing of sanctions on South Africa, which led to a leak in the Sunday Times newspaper where the Queen allegedly called Thatcher ‘uncaring’. In turn, the Sunday Times published a story entitled Queen Dismayed by "Uncaring" Thatcher. But surprisingly, the story is fairly hidden. The Sunday Times reported that the queen was displeased with Thatcher in 1986, but it was not based on a leak from Buckingham Palace. Then, the Sunday Times releases a bombshell article which quantities to a public rebuke from the queen. The Iron Lady’s relationship with Elizabeth II was not as fraught as is often portrayed, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. In fact, the queen's team denied the report at the time, and Thatcher's biographer Robert Hardman wrote that "No one at the Palace or Downing Street... seriously believed that the Queen had authorised, or even nudged, anyone to speak in those terms … An article published in the Sunday Times headlined “Queen Dismayed by ‘Uncaring’ Thatcher” drove a wedge between the twin female protagonists of the new season. The scene in question dramatises a meeting between the two women in the aftermath of the publication of a story in the Sunday Times in 1986, which alleged that the Queen was taken aback by Thatcher’s ‘uncaring’ conduct. The Queen reportedly also believes that Mrs. Thatcher's Conservative Party Government lacks compassion and should be more caring toward less privileged members of society, The Sunday Times … The story was well-sourced – from Michael Shea, the Queen’s press secretary. The Palace and No 10 were both given notice it would run. David Lister was at The Sunday Times during the tensions between Mrs Thatcher and the Queen, and, he writes, The Crown is fairly accurate on this topic On 20 July 1986, the newspaper ran an explosive front-page story claiming that the Queen privately felt Mrs Thatcher’s approach to be “uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive”. He is a very good supporter.” She was reassured, and delivered the line perfectly.). But Shea, although not authorised to leak the sensational material, had accurately reflected the Queen’s fears about the Commonwealth. The real life version was different. In The Crown, press secretary and novelist Michael Shea (Nicholas Farrell) is ordered by the Queen to secretly brief the press that she is displeased with her Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. The Sunday Times said the queen and Thatcher faced the issue pragmatically and 'palace advisers stress there is no constitutional crisis looming over the Queen's differences with Mrs. Thatcher … The Sunday Times report centered on the Queen’s fears for the future of the Commonwealth because of Lady Thatcher’s refusal to impose tough sanctions on the apartheid regime in South Africa. Yes, there really was a controversy about the Queen's view of Thatcher in The Sunday Times. The Queen may well have had anxieties about her divided nation. Some of her ministers complained that Thatcher lacked a sense of humour. The Queen erupted after a … But it would have strayed across the line into politics to let any such anxieties be known. On July 20, 1986, the Sunday Times published a front-page story with the headline "Queen dismayed by 'uncaring' Thatcher." The Queen attending Lady Thatcher’s 80th birthday party, Margaret Thatcher and the Queen: The two most powerful women in the world, {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}, Margaret Thatcher and the Queen: The two most powerful women in the, Booking.com promo: 10% extra saving with Level 1 Genius membership, 15% off selected luxury beauty products by using this Debenhams discount code, Exclusive Ideal World promo code: 20% saving on fitness, Receive a £2 AliExpress promo code with the official App, Argos discount: Save up to 15% on selected bikes and scooters. But she didn’t get the joke, and asked aides: “Monty Python – are you sure he is one of us?” (John Whittingdale, her political secretary, replied: “Absolutely, Prime Minister. The newscaster said: ‘We’ve learned the breaking news that ex Prime Minister, the Iron Lady, Thatcher, died at home in London due to stroke today, the 8th, this morning, at the age of 88. Valentine Low. Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher … Although the Palace never doubted Lady Thatcher’s patriotism, eyebrows were raised when the Prime Minister rather than the Queen took the salute from the Falklands servicemen who paraded through London after the 1982 war. That they emerged publicly cheered the Foreign Office and helped to steady nerves among Commonwealth countries pressing for sanctions. Throughout The Crown and today, it is believed Thatcher and the Queen did not get along but going by the history books, but this may not be entirely true. Friends of Baroness Thatcher recalled this week that she was in no mood to accept, but was still touched by the surprise invitation. Mrs. Thatcher’s 10 Downing St. office did not comment, abiding by the established position that relations between the sovereign and the prime minister are confidential. She was “in her own way, a bit of a leftie,” said historian Ben Pimlott, who wrote a biography of the monarch. On 20 July 1986, the Sunday Times ran an extraordinary scoop: a front-page story claiming that the Queen privately felt Mrs Thatcher’s approach to be “uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive”. According to the newspaper, the aides also said the queen feared long-term damage was done to Britain’s social fabric during the year-long miner’s strike in 1983 and 1984, and the monarch felt the government lacked compassion toward the less-privileged. The Sunday Times reported, using information from apparent aides … The Palace belatedly denied it. The conservative Sunday Telegraph said the queen ″will do nothing to embarrass Mrs. Thatcher over sanctions″ against South Africa. As The Guardian explained in its obituary of Shea, who died in 2009, the then-press secretary admitted to speaking with a Sunday Times reporter but denied being the source who outed the queen… The two leaders get on well and the queen is generally supportive of the government’s domestic policy, the Sunday Telegraph said. CTi Cable flashed a headline declaring ‘Margaret Thatcher Dies of Stroke’ while running two clips of the Queen shaking hands with members of the public. Queen was 'so enraged' by Margaret Thatcher's refusal to back sanctions on apartheid that she wanted to scrap their weekly meetings. Of course, Thatcher was a conservative while Pimlott described the queen as "a bit of a leftie." Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Temperamentally, the two women were different, according to their courtiers. … The Sunday Times indicated the reason for such unprecedented information from the palace was Elizabeth’s deep concern for the surivival of the Commonwealth, which is in conflict over the refusal by Mrs. Thatcher’s Conservative Party government to impose severe sanctions on South Africa’s white-led government. ″It was made clear that the queen is not campaigning for economic sanctions″ against South Africa, the independent Sunday Times said. It did not identify the advisers it attributed the reports to, but said they specifically mentioned the queen’s misgivings about allowing U.S. bombers to use British air bases for their raid on Libya in April. This was in sharp contrast to 1945, when King George VI took the salute rather than Churchill, the victor in a war of hugely different proportions. Despite the real tensions over South Africa, some former Tory ministers believe the Queen’s respect for Lady Thatcher grew as she became the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century. Sunday Times front page, 20 July 1986. The Queen is said to possess a dry wit, while Lady Thatcher’s ability to “go on and on” applied to her conversational style, as well as her determination to remain in Downing Street. This exact article really did run in the Sunday Times on July 20, 1986, per The New York Times: “The Queen has been described in recent press reports as … But the standoff between Thatcher and the Queen did culminate in an extraordinary Sunday Times scoop. But it was not, as is sometimes presented, a case of Buckingham Palace expressing concern about high unemployment or the miners’ strike, which ended a year earlier. A notorious 1986 report in the Sunday Times, headlined "Queen dismayed by ‘uncaring’ Thatcher… When I first began diving into the Internet archives to look up the original Sunday Times piece that informed the world of a wedge between Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over economic sanctions against South Africa in 1986, I was sure it would be a no-brainer to look up. Newspaper Says Queen Dismayed By Thatcher With Britain Commonwealth. The source was the palace press secretary, Michael Shea, but the Queen herself was mortified. Under Britain’s constitution, the monarch must be non-political and such a revelation of the queen’s feelings would break with the confidentiality she has maintained throughout a 34-year-old reign and the governments of eight prime ministers. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Leader of the Opposition Margaret Thatcher curtsies as she shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 (Getty Images) Even with all the denials from the palace, Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil stood by the story and was quoted in The Times, its sister daily newspaper, as saying, “I was surprised and impressed by the caliber of the sources. The newspaper said the political views of the 60-year-old queen were made known in several briefings by the queen’s advisers, who were aware the information would be published. I don’t think we’ve worked together before – I’m a commissioning editor at the On 20 July 1986, the newspaper ran an explosive front-page story claiming that the Queen privately felt Mrs Thatcher’s approach to be “uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive”. The newspaper also said the queen considers the prime minister’s approach to domestic policy often uncaring, confrontational and divisive. Once in print, it caused a sensation. Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher had a famously complicated relationship. LONDON (AP) _ The Sunday Times reported aides of Queen Elizabeth II have said the monarch is dismayed by many policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Although QE2 herself shouldn’t be instantly quoted, the article claims that the queen is “dismayed” by Thatcher’s lack of compassion for the individuals of South Africa, and quotes an nameless palace aide because the supply. After the first edition of The Sunday Times was published Saturday night, Buckingham Palace spokesman Michael Shea said: ″As with all previous prime ministers, the queen enjoys a relationship of the closest confidentiality with Mrs. Thatcher and reports purporting to be the queen’s opinions of government policies are entirely without foundation.″. Perhaps the biggest tension that played out between the two women came in 1986 when a newspaper headline in the Sunday Times noted that the queen was dismayed by an “uncaring” Thatcher. The fourth season of "The Crown" partly revolves around the testy relationship between Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman) and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), who served from 1979 to 1990. The Crown writer Peter Morgan ‘copied old material for key scene’. Today’s spin doctors would almost certainly have attempted to stop it appearing. The pivotal role at the funeral of forces personnel involved in the Falklands conflict underlines the point: Lady Thatcher wanted to be remembered not just as a strong leader, but as a war leader. In it, Lady Thatcher angrily confronts the Queen over an explosive 1986 report in The Sunday Times headlined: “Queen dismayed by ‘uncaring’ Thatcher.”. LONDON (AP) _ The Sunday Times reported aides of Queen Elizabeth II have said the monarch is dismayed by many policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Buckingham Palace disputed the report, saying it was without foundation. It quoted unidentified government sources and others close to the royal family as saying reports about the alleged friction between the queen and Mrs. Thatcher on a personal and political level are exaggerated. On 20 July 1986, the Sunday Times ran an extraordinary front-page story claiming that the Queen privately felt Mrs Thatcher’s approach to be “uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive”. And, instead of denying it, the Palace was encouraged by the monarch to suggest there was truth to this. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Allies recall that Lady Thatcher felt “crushed” by the story. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. She chose to award her the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit when she lost power, and did not have to attend Lady Thatcher’s 80th birthday party in 2005, but chose to. When Margaret Thatcher was forced out of Downing Street by her own Cabinet in 1990, the Queen felt her Prime Minister had been so badly treated that she invited her to a horse racing meeting as a goodwill gesture. ″But she ... believes that a compromise must be reached between Thatcher and the other Commonwealth leaders.″. Margaret Thatcher rushed to the Buckingham after reading the newspaper from the Sunday Times about the queens comment about the First Minister. Then, the Sunday Times releases a bombshell article which amounts to a public rebuke from the queen. Former Thatcher aides insist the businesslike relationship between the Queen and Lady Thatcher was not as fraught as it is often portrayed – not least on stage and screen. Monday December 21 2020, 12.01am GMT, The Times. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? But as “48:1” depicts, the queen allegedly broke protocol after a private clash with Thatcher. Insiders suggest the Queen Mother, who died in 2002, was much more of an admirer of the Conservative Prime Minister’s politics than the Queen, a more consensual and centrist figure by instinct. On the show, Thatcher's next audience with the queen is a frosty one, with the monarch denying The Sunday Times' report as the prime minister makes it … Unintentionally, the Queen and Prime Minister formed a double act which pushed South Africa towards change. Sunday Times front page, 20 July 1986. Britain’s monarch is titular head of the Commonwealth, the 49-nation association of Britain and its former colonies, and the queen has devoted much time and energy to the organization. But the standoff between Thatcher and the Queen did culminate in an extraordinary Sunday Times scoop. The Sunday Times report centered on the Queen’s fears for the future of the Commonwealth because of Her speechwriters once persuaded her to use Monty Python’s “dead parrot” joke to describe the Liberal Democrats after they adopted a yellow bird as their symbol. Peter Morgan’s current play The Audience imagines the private weekly meetings between the monarch, played by Helen Mirren, and most of her 12 prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to David Cameron. But Lady Thatcher’s former aides do not pretend that the relationship between the two most powerful people in Britain for 11 years was a close one. The article that was published in the Sunday Times quoted a senior palace source that alleged that the Queen was upset with Margaret Thatcher’s “lack of compassion” over a refusal to back sanctions against apartheid in South Africa, as well as with her stance over the miners’ strike.