42 Facts About Denis Thatcher

At age eight, Denis Thatcher entered a preparatory school in Bognor Regis as a boarder, following which he attended the nonconformist public school Mill Hill School in north London.

Denis Thatcher left Mill Hill School in 1933 and joined the family paint and preservatives business, Atlas Preservatives.

Denis Thatcher studied accountancy to improve his grasp of business, and in 1935 he was appointed works manager.

Denis Thatcher transferred to the Royal Artillery on 1 August 1940.

Denis Thatcher served throughout the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaign and was twice mentioned in dispatches, and in 1945 was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Denis Thatcher's MBE was gazetted on 20 September 1945, and was awarded for his efforts in initiating and supporting Operation Goldflake, the transfer of I Canadian Corps from Italy to the north-west European theatre of operations.

Denis Thatcher was based in Marseille, attached to HQ 203 sub-area.

Denis Thatcher set an outstanding example of energy, initiative and drive.

Denis Thatcher received the approximate French equivalent of a mention when he was cited in orders at Corps d'Armee level for his efforts in promoting smooth relations between the Commonwealth military forces and the French civil and military authorities.

Denis Thatcher was promoted to substantive lieutenant on 11 April 1945.

Denis Thatcher remained in the Territorial Army reserve of officers until reaching the age limit for service on 10 May 1965, when he retired, retaining the honorary rank of major.

Denis Thatcher married twice, during wartime to Margot Kempson in 1942, and in 1951 to Margaret Roberts.

On 28 March 1942, Denis Thatcher married Margaret Doris "Margot" Kempson, the daughter of a businessman, at St Mary's Church in Monken Hadley.

When Denis Thatcher returned to England after being demobilised in 1946, his wife told him she had met someone else and wanted a divorce.

Denis Thatcher was so traumatised by the event that he completely refused to talk about his first marriage or the separation, even to his daughter, as she states in her 1996 biography of him.

Margaret Denis Thatcher was elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 1975.

Denis Thatcher went on to win the 1979 general election to become the first female prime minister in British history.

Denis Thatcher became the first husband of a British prime minister.

Denis Thatcher was watching the deciding Test of the 1953 Ashes series at the time of the twins' birth.

Denis Thatcher sailed to South Africa and stayed there for two months to recuperate.

Denis Thatcher was already a wealthy man when he met Margaret, and he financed her training as a barrister, and a home in Chelsea, London.

Denis Thatcher bought a large house in Lamberhurst, Kent, in 1965.

Denis Thatcher became managing director of his family's firm Atlas Preservatives in 1947 and chairman in 1951, leading its overseas expansion.

Denis Thatcher continued to run Atlas and received a seat on Castrol's board; after Burmah Oil took over Castrol in 1966, Thatcher became a senior divisional director, managing the planning and control department.

Denis Thatcher retired from Burmah in June 1975, four months after his wife won the Conservative Party leadership election.

Denis Thatcher was a director of Quinton Hazell and a consultant to Amec and CSX.

Denis Thatcher was not, in fact, a particularly good businessman: he had inherited shares in a family firm which he managed, and he was lucky enough to sell his interest on terms that gave him a large pay-off and a good salary to boot.

Once his wife had become Prime Minister, and even after her retirement, it was Denis Thatcher who lived off her and not vice versa.

Denis Thatcher matched Alf Roberts in his dislike of spending his own money.

Denis Thatcher was a celebrity exclusively because of whom he had married.

Denis Thatcher was consistent in his strong opposition to the death penalty, calling it "absolutely awful" and "barbaric".

Denis Thatcher said that he was against it because of innocent people being wrongly hanged and because juries could be afraid to convict for fear of making a mistake.

Denis Thatcher told his daughter in 1995 that he would have banned trade unions altogether in Britain.

Denis Thatcher had low regard for the BBC, thinking it was biased against his wife and her government, as well as unpatriotic.

In December 1990, following the resignation of his wife as prime minister, it was announced that Denis Thatcher would be created a baronet,.

Denis Thatcher was created a life peeress as Baroness Thatcher shortly after she retired from the Commons in 1992.

In July 1991, Denis Thatcher was created a Commander of the Order of St John; his wife was made a Dame of the order.

On 17 January 2003, Denis Thatcher underwent a six-hour heart-bypass operation and aortic valve operation at a Harley Street clinic.

Denis Thatcher had complained of breathlessness for several weeks before Christmas 2002, and the problem was diagnosed in early January.

Denis Thatcher left the clinic on 28 January 2003 and appeared to recover fully after recuperation.

Denis Thatcher's ashes were buried under a white marble marker just outside the Royal Hospital in Chelsea.

Denis Thatcher admitted that he was not sure where the Falkland Islands were until they were invaded in 1982.