
Margaret Thatcher's granddaughter Amanda: 'likely to change the world'
Amanda Thatcher experienced a side of her grandmother that few rarely saw. Like many a top flight career woman former British Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher
lavished the attention on her grandchildren that the demands of working
life made it so difficult to give to her own children. In fact, she
adored them.
Audiences around the world may have been surprised by the 19-year-old flawless' contribution to the statewoman's funeral but the Iron Lady herself would have expected no less.
Visitors to her and Sir Denis' London, England home noted that pride of place
on the mantelpiece went to framed photos of Amanda and her brother
Michael, who are from their son Mark's first marriage.
The late premier followed every detail of their lives with relish. And there was so much to be proud of.
Under the influence of their mother Diane Beckett, the siblings are said
to have grown into modest, kind, pillars of the community – the kind of
people a grocer's daughter, who believed in thrift and hard work would
heartily approve of.
When the marriage broken down in 2004, Diane, a Texan millionairess,
moved back to the States from the family's home in Cape Town to be near
her parents.
She wed again to James Beckett, a committed Christian, who is probably
responsible for the small crucifix bearing a religious slogan outside
their spacious Dallas home.
Amanda is studying at the University of Richmond in Virginia. A talented
runner at school, she was voted by peers the "person most likely to
change the world".
While it was her pitch perfect reading and likeness to the young
Margaret that captured the world's imagination, her brother is an
equally impressive young man.
The congregation in St Paul's Cathedral will have noted that he has the
bearing of his paternal grandfather who was a war hero and received an
MBE for his military record. At school, he too excelled in sports,
playing for the American Football team.
From his famous grandmother, 24-year-old Michael inherited a love of
science and is a chemistry graduate. He combines his current job in a
pharmacy with working for VOCES, a political organisation for the
Hispanic community.
When Denis died Michael, then 14, honoured his grandfather by reading.
Despite the fact that they lived on the opposite side of the Atlantic,
the Thatchers always kept in touch with their grandchildren, often
spending Christmas with them.
When she could no longer travel, Baroness Thatcher spoke with them on the phone.
In between their visits, she contented herself with looking at their
pictures. The woman who was the holder of the highest office in the land
once told an interviewer that her "greatest delight" was receiving
their photos from Diane.
"Apart from seeing them in the flesh, that is the greatest pleasure I
have in the whole year, far exceeding everything else" she said.