Mark Thatcher
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{{Infobox Person
| name = <small><small>[[The Honourable]]</small></small><br>Sir Mark Thatcher, [[Thatcher Baronets|Bt.]]
| image = Replace this image male.svg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|8|15}}
| parents = [[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher Bt.]] (1915-2003)<br>[[Margaret Thatcher|Baroness Thatcher]] (b.1925)
| spouse = Diane Burgdorf (1987-2005)<br>Francis Russell (2008-)
| children = Michael Thatcher (b.1989)<br>Amanda Thatcher (b.1993)
}}
'''Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet''' (born [[15 August]] [[1953]]) is the only son of [[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher]] and [[Margaret Thatcher|Baroness Thatcher]], the former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]], and twin brother of [[Carol Thatcher]]. In addition to his prominence as the only son of one of the world's best known politicians, Thatcher has attracted headlines for his early youthful playboy lifestyle, involvement in motorsports, business associations, and for the role he was alleged to have played in an attempted coup in [[Equatorial Guinea]].
==Youth==
Thatcher was educated at [[Harrow School]] from January 1967 to 1971, where his nickname was "Thickie Mork".<ref name='scratcher'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Scratcher, the millionaire fixer | date= | publisher= | url = http://politics.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1291088,00.html | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-22 | language = }}</ref> Thatcher was successful at [[Cricket]] and [[Racquets]] whilst at Harrow. During one cricket match for Harrow he scored a hat-trick of sixes from one over, much to the chagrin of the bowler, who was so riled by Thatcher's celebration that an altercation ensued and both players were ordered from the field{{Fact|date=April 2007}}. He was offered a place at [[Keble College, Oxford]] but he turned it down. He became an articled clerk at Touche Ross, a City of London firm of [[Chartered Accountant]]s, but did not succeed in becoming an accountant.
===Marriage and children===
Thatcher married Diane Burgdorf, the conservative Lutheran daughter of the millionaire [[Texas]] car dealer Theodore C. Burgdorf, on [[14 February]] [[1987]] in [[Savoy Chapel|Queen's Chapel of the Savoy]], [[London]], [[England]]. They reportedly met at a party for ''[[D Magazine]]'', a Dallas lifestyle publication, while Thatcher was living in Texas as a representative of the luxury automotive company [[Lotus Cars]]. The family moved to [[South Africa]] possibly to avoid bad publicity because of allegations against Mark Thatcher of racketeering that resulted in a £4 million civil action in 1994. They have a son and a daughter:
* Michael Thatcher (b. [[28 February]] [[1989]]) <ref>http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/sharedcontent/dws/spt/highschools/football/stories/121507dnspohp.226696e.html</ref>
* Amanda Margaret Thatcher (b. 1993)
On 19 September 2005, the couple announced their intention to divorce.
On [[27 March]] [[2008]], Thatcher married Lady Francis Russell (Sarah Jane Russell). She is the ex-wife of Lord Francis Russell (a younger son of [[John Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford]]), the daughter of Terence J. Clemence and a sister of [[Viscount Rothermere|The Viscountess Rothermere]].<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/new-lady-thatcher-on-the-scene-as-sir-mark-weds-802721.html New Lady Thatcher on the scene as Sir Mark weds - The Independent]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7321184.stm bbc.co.uk]</ref>
==Motorsport career==
In 1982, while competing in the [[Dakar Rally|Paris-Dakar rally]], Thatcher, his [[France|French]] co-driver, Charlotte Verney, and their mechanic went missing in the [[Sahara Desert]] for six days. On [[9 January]] [[1982]], the trio became separated from a convoy of vehicles after they stopped to make repairs to a faulty steering arm. They were declared missing on [[12 January]]; after a large-scale search, a [[C-130 Hercules]] search plane from the [[Military of Algeria|Algerian military]] spotted the white [[Peugeot 504]] some 50km off course on [[14 January]]. Thatcher, Verney and the mechanic were all unharmed.
Thatcher also competed, with little success but less notoriety, on the circuits in [[Sports 2000]], [[Thundersports]] and eventually graduated to the [[European Touring Car Championship]] with semi-works [[BMW]]s.
==Business life==
Thatcher was later employed in the jewellery business and was involved in a succession of unsuccessful career attempts in the Far East.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} His business dealings at the time that his mother was Prime Minister were the subject of much press attention.
Thatcher is alleged by a [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] dissident, [[Mohammed al Khilewi]], as well as by former Labour [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Tam Dalyell]], and ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper, to have received a multimillion-pound commission on the £20,000,000,000 [[Al Yamamah]] arms contract with Saudi Arabia, which his mother signed in 1985 as Prime Minister. According to ''The Guardian'', "Sir Mark has always denied receiving this payment or exploiting his mother's connections in business dealings."
In 1998 South African authorities investigated his firm for running [[loan shark]] operations. A company owned by Sir Mark offered unofficial small loans to hundreds of police officers, military personnel and civil servants. When they defaulted on the loans they were pursued by debt collectors and charged 20% interest rates, according to the Star of Johannesburg.<ref name="profile"/>
Other widely reported Thatcher embarrassments include allegations of U.S. tax evasion (a criminal case was eventually dropped) and a racketeering case in Texas which was settled out of court. According to ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' of 26 August 2004, "In 1998, he was at the centre of a scandal after he lent huge sums of money at exorbitant interest rates to more than 900 local police officers and civil servants in [[Cape Town]]. He admitted lending the cash but insisted that he had done nothing wrong. He is also thought to have profited from contracts to supply aviation fuel in various African countries."
The ''[[Sunday Times]]'', quoting "city sources", said he had amassed a personal fortune of £60m, the majority of which is in [[Offshore bank|offshore accounts]], attributed to shrewd investments and a series of "astute deals in Africa".<ref name="profile">{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Profile: Mark Thatcher | date= | publisher= | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3597196.stm | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-22 | language = }}</ref>
==Equatorial Guinea affair==
{{main|2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt}}
On [[25 August]] [[2004]], Thatcher was arrested at his thatched-roof mansion in [[Constantia, Cape Town|Constantia]], a rich district of [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]]. He was charged later that day with contravening two sections of South Africa's "Foreign Military Assistance Act", which bans [[South Africa]]n residents from taking part in any foreign [[military]] activity. The charges related to "possible funding and logistical assistance in relation to [an] attempted [[2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt|coup in Equatorial Guinea]]" organized by Thatcher's friend, [[Simon Mann]]. He was released on [[bail]] of 2 million [[Rand (currency)|rand]] and spent a period of time under [[house arrest]], but was bailed to London to live with his widowed mother while his wife and children moved to the family's home in [[Highland Park, Texas|Highland Park]], an up-market section of his wife's hometown, [[Dallas, Texas]].
On [[24 November]] [[2004]], the Cape Town [[High Court of South Africa|High Court]] upheld a [[subpoena]] from the South African Justice Ministry that required him to answer under oath questions from [[Equatorial Guinea]]n authorities regarding the alleged coup attempt. He was due to face questioning on [[25 November]] [[2004]], regarding offences under the South African Foreign Military Assistance Act; however, these proceedings were later postponed until [[8 April]] [[2005]]. Ultimately, following a process of [[plea bargain]]ing, Thatcher pleaded guilty to negligence in investing in an aircraft "without taking proper investigations into what it would be used for". Thatcher admitted in court that he had paid the money, but said he was under the impression it was going to be invested in an air ambulance service to help the impoverished of Africa. This explanation was not believed by the judge and he was fined three million [[Rand (currency)|rand]] (approximately [[USD|$500,000]]) and received a four-year [[suspended sentence|suspended jail sentence]].
On [[3 April]] [[2005]], Sir Mark, then living with his mother in London, announced that his family home will be in Europe after he was refused a residence visa to live in the United States as a result of his guilty plea in the [[#Equatorial Guinea affair|Equatorial Guinea affair]]. His children, he stated, will be educated in the United States.{{Fact|date=April 2007}}
Under the headline "Mark Thatcher — undesirable in [[Monaco]]?" French newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' reported on [[20 December]] [[2005]]:
:"Margaret Thatcher's son, the former British prime minister's nefarious offspring, will not be installing himself in the principality of Monaco as he hoped." A spokesman for [[Albert II, Prince of Monaco|Prince Albert]] told ''Le Figaro'' that Sir Mark's residency card would not be renewed. "He has a temporary residency card valid for one year. It will not be renewed when it expires in the second half of 2006 and he will have to leave." The spokesman, Armand Deus, added: "I cannot say why it will not be renewed. But the Prince made things very clear during his investiture in July when he said that ethics will be at the centre of life in Monaco."
In Equatorial Guinea in June 2008, Simon Mann claimed during his trial testimony that Thatcher, now resident in Spain, "was not just an investor, he came completely on board and became a part of the management team" of the coup plot.<ref>David Pallister [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/18/equatorialguinea.southafrica "Thatcher was integral to coup plot, Mann tells court",] ''The Guardian'' website, 18 June 2008. Retrieved on 18 June 2008.</ref>
==Titles==
Mark Thatcher became an "Honourable" upon the elevation of his mother to the peerage in 1990. He inherited his baronetcy on the death of his father, Denis, in 2003. That title, created in 1991 for Denis Thatcher, was the first new baronetcy since 1964. It was not the first honour to be granted to the spouse of a British Prime Minister: The wives of both [[Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield|Benjamin Disraeli]] and [[Winston Churchill]] were made peers in their own right, although the former also excited controversy at the time. [[John Major]]'s wife [[Norma Major|Norma]] was created a [[Order of the British Empire|Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] even though her husband was a [[Order of the Garter|Knight]] at the time.
===Timeline of titles===
* Mark Thatcher, Esq. ([[15 August]] [[1953]]–[[7 December]] [[1990]])
* The Hon. Mark Thatcher ([[7 December]] [[1990]]–[[26 June]] [[2003]])
* The Hon. Sir Mark Thatcher, Bt ([[26 June]] [[2003]]–)
== External links ==
* [http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/26/wthat226.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/26/ixnewstop.html "Telegraph" news story: "Richest member of a famous family and its most accident-prone"]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,13262,1290386,00.html ''Guardian'' news story: "Mark Thatcher arrested in South Africa"]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/saudi/story/0,11599,1014975,00.html ''Guardian'' news story: "Out of Arms Way"] – additional details on the [[Al Yamamah]] situation
===Profiles===
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,9174,1290430,00.html ''The Guardian:'' "Profile: Sir Mark Thatcher. Playboy-turned-businessman dogged by rumours of financial impropriety"]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,13262,1291087,00.html ''Guardian'' profile: "'Scratcher', the millionaire fixer"]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/story.jsp?story=555157 ''Independent'' profile: "Sir Mark Thatcher: How 'the charmless Mark' pocketed a fortune trading on his mother's name"]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1232873,00.html ''The Times'' profile: "The son and heir who made Iron Lady unbend"]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=997092004 ''The Scotsman'' profile: "In trouble again, mummy's boy always in her shadow"]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3597196.stm BBC profile]
* [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407507&in_page_id=1770 Mail on Sunday article]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,9174,1671796,00.html "A sunny place for shady people but Monaco doesn't want Mark Thatcher"], Kim Willshire, ''The Guardian'' [[21 December]] [[2005]].
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Executive Outcomes]]
*[[Simon Mann]]
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Thatcher Baronets|Baronet]]'''<br />(of Scotney)|years='''2003 – present}}
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