Queen 'mocked Thatcher's accent'

Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher in 1979. File photo / Getty Images

The Queen mocked Margaret Thatcher's accent and called her 'that woman', a new book claims.

It describes a fraught relationship between the pair, who met weekly at Buckingham Palace when the latter was Prime Minister.

It says the Queen tried to undermine Mrs Thatcher, a grocer's daughter, with "petty class put-downs" and referred to her as "that woman" to Commonwealth leaders after the PM has been disparaging about the organisation.

The pair "disliked each other on sight", it claims, and their repeated disagreements were "very personal, class driven and distinctly female".

Mrs Thatcher's "entire character was anathema" to the Queen, who apparently mocked her accent as "Royal Shakespeare received pronunciation from circa 1950", claims the book, The Queen And Mrs Thatcher: An Inconvenient Relationship.

Buckingham Palace has refused to comment. Author Dean Palmer, a TV producer, also says Mrs Thatcher considered visits to the Queen's Scottish estate Balmoral a "tedious waste of time".

The book recalls a joke the Queen allegedly told about Lady Thatcher visiting an old people's home. It suggests the Queen impersonated her asking an elderly resident: "Do you know who I am?" The confused resident then replies: "No, but if you ask matron, she'll tell you."

The Falklands War is said to have caused resentment between the pair as Mrs Thatcher became known as the "public face of Britain abroad", and they are said to have disagreed over political issues including sanctions against South Africa and the miners' strike.

Mrs Thatcher, the book claims, further irritated the Queen by refusing to listen. "Thatcher did love to lecture, which did not go down too well with Her Majesty," it says.

On one occasion, Mrs Thatcher is said to have been left "furious and humiliated" after her suggestion that she and the Queen should wear co-ordinating outfits received the following reply from the Palace: "The Queen does not notice what other people are wearing."

Their relationship is said to have got off to a rocky start on their first meeting in 1974, while Mrs Thatcher was Leader of the Opposition. Mrs Thatcher fainted afterwards, and when she did so again at later function the Queen dismissively told fellow guests: "She's keeled over again", it is claimed.

In later life, however, the pair are said to have formed a stronger bond. Lady Thatcher died in 2013 at the age of 88.

- Daily Mail