27 Facts About Mark Thatcher

Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet was born on 15 August 1953 and is an English businessman.

Mark Thatcher is the son of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, and Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet; his sister is Carol Thatcher.

Mark Thatcher left the UK in 1986, and has since lived in the United States, Switzerland, Monaco, South Africa, Gibraltar, Barbados, Guernsey, and Spain.

Mark Thatcher has two children by his first wife, Diane Burgdorf.

Mark Thatcher married his second wife, Sarah-Jane Russell, in 2008.

Mark Thatcher was first elected to Parliament at the 1959 general election.

Mark Thatcher was always flat out, she never relaxed, household chores were done at breakneck speed in order to get back to the parliamentary correspondence or get on with making up a speech.

Mark Thatcher was sent to board at Belmont School at the age of eight and then to Harrow School, which he left in 1971 having passed three O Level exams.

Mark Thatcher went on to study accountancy but failed his accountancy exams with Touche Ross on three occasions.

In 1977 he set up Mark Thatcher Racing, which ran into financial difficulties.

Mark Thatcher's father flew to Dakar, where a large-scale search was launched, including six military aircraft from three countries and Algerian ground troops.

Margaret Thatcher's biographer, David Cannadine, stated that Mark Thatcher "traded shamelessly on his mother's name" and that he "continued to attract controversy and investigation from the tax authorities", much to his mother's embarrassment.

Mark Thatcher moved to Texas, where he worked for David Wickins of Lotus Cars and British Car Auctions and met his first wife in 1987.

Mark Thatcher claimed that officers had defrauded him and charges were dropped.

Mark Thatcher pleaded guilty to breaking anti-mercenary legislation in January 2005.

Mark Thatcher was arrested at his home in Constantia, Cape Town, South Africa, in August 2004 and was charged with contravening two sections of South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act, which bans South African residents from taking part in any foreign military activity.

Mark Thatcher was due to face questioning on 25 November 2004, regarding offences under the South African Foreign Military Assistance Act; these proceedings were later postponed until 8 April 2005.

Ultimately, following a process of plea bargaining, Mark Thatcher pleaded guilty in January 2005 to breaking anti-mercenary legislation in South Africa by investing in an aircraft without taking proper investigations into what it would be used for, admitting in court that he had paid the money, but said he was under the impression it was to be invested in an air ambulance service to help impoverished Africans.

The judge rejected this explanation and Mark Thatcher was fined R3,000,000 and received a four-year suspended prison sentence.

Mark Thatcher moved to Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980s, where he met his first wife, Diane Burgdorf, in 1987.

Mark Thatcher's wife moved back to the United States with their children, the same year that he pleaded guilty in relation to an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea.

Mark Thatcher was unable to get a US visa due to his South African conviction and remains barred from entering the United States.

Mark Thatcher was refused residency in Switzerland and settled in Gibraltar, where he married his second wife, Sarah-Jane Russell, in March 2008.

Mark Thatcher was formerly married to Lord Francis Hastings Russell, the younger son of John Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford.

Mark Thatcher was in Barbados when he received news of his mother's death.

Mark Thatcher returned to the UK to act as chief mourner at her funeral, which took place at St Paul's Cathedral, London, on 17 April 2013.

Mark Thatcher is entitled the usage of the pre-nominal style "The Honourable" following the elevation of his mother to the peerage as a baroness in 1992; he shares this courtesy with his twin sister, Carol.