Queen Elizabeth meets a lot of world leaders on a daily basis. As the world’s longest monarch, Her Majesty has met most of these influential people more than just once.
That being said, Queen Elizabeth has established a relationship with these leaders from all around the globe. She has her favorite ones and least favorite ones.
Rumor has it that the magisterial old warrior Winston Churchill is Queen Elizabeth’s favorite. On the other hand, Her Majesty’s relationship with Margaret Thatcher is not that ideal. It was, reportedly, complicated and sometimes awkward.
According to a 2015 book “The Queen And Mrs. Thatcher: An Inconvenient Relationship” by veteran television producer Dean Palmer, Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher “met and disliked each other on sight.”
“For over a decade they quietly waged a war against each other on both a personal and political stage, disagreeing on key issues including sanctions against South Africa, the miners’ strike and allowing US planes to bomb Libya using British military bases.” Dean Palmer wrote. ”Elizabeth found the means to snub and undermine her Prime Minister through petty class put-downs and Press leaks.”
The book also revealed that Queen Elizabeth mocked Margaret Thatcher’s accent, which she described as “Royal Shakespeare received pronunciation from circa 1950.” Her Majesty, reportedly, has a favorite “Thatcher gag,” which was about the Prime Minister’s visit in an old people’s home.
“Do you know who I am?” Queen Elizabeth said while imitating Margaret Thatcher’s accent. “No, replied the confused resident, but if you ask matron, she’ll tell you.”
The Queen and the Iron Lady used to meet every Tuesday. Although the scheduled time was around 6:30 p.m., Margaret Thatcher would arrive very early, sit on the edge of her chair, and refused to listen, which annoyed Queen Elizabeth.
Also, when it comes to humor, Her Majesty and the Prime Minister don’t mesh well at all. Queen Elizabeth is known for being dry-witted, while Margaret Thatcher “did not possess a sense of humor,” according to Dean Palmer.
However, Margaret Thatcher is not the only Prime Minister that Queen Elizabeth doesn’t get along with. Tony Blair, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007, didn’t have a smooth relationship with the royal family as well.
Queen Elizabeth and Tony Blair didn’t have a lot in common, so they would usually clash. Because of this, their visit was kept to a minimum.
