Touching letters between Queen's sister and Mrs T reveal their astonishing bond

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New files reveal that Princess Margaret and Margaret Thatcher were friends
Princess Margaret - the Queen's sister - started a letter 'My dear Prime Minister'
She would then sign the letter - on official paper - 'H.R.H Princess Margaret'

Published: 19:01 EST, 29 December 2016 | Updated: 23:50 EST, 29 December 2016

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They were the most unlikely of pen pals. But newly declassified files reveal that the flighty Princess Margaret enjoyed a surprisingly warm friendship with Margaret Thatcher.

Lengthy letters between the two Margarets contain the princess's musings on the mind of the 'ordinary working man' and her thoughts on attending 'rather dull' debates.

But the extraordinary correspondence, written when Mrs Thatcher was prime minister, also reveals that the supposedly frivolous princess, who was portrayed as permanently tipsy on satirical TV show Spitting Image, was surprisingly engaged in world affairs.

Mrs Thatcher was a grammar-school educated shopkeeper's daughter from Grantham, Lincolnshire, who won a place at Oxford University and worked hard all her life.

Newly declassified files reveal that the flighty Princess Margaret (right) enjoyed a surprisingly warm friendship with Margaret Thatcher (centre)

Princess Margaret wrote letters (pictured) to Margaret Thatcher on Kensington Palace-headed paper and started one by writing 'My dear Prime Minister' (left)

As the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret lived a gilded existence, and was known for her beauty and turbulent love life.

The friendship between them was all the most extraordinary considering the Queen's rumoured dislike of Mrs Thatcher.

The princess described Muhammad Ali as 'that silly boxer' and offered her thoughts on the situation in Afghanistan following its invasion by Russia. The letters, released by the National Archives, in Kew, South-West London, also offered worldly insights into subjects such as the British steel strikes and the Moscow Olympics.

At the time, Princess Margaret had been divorced from her husband Lord Snowdon for two years after her affair with Roddy Llewellyn, who was 18 years her junior was embarrassingly splashed over the front pages in 1976.

Princess Margaret (right) shook hands with Mrs Thatcher when they saw each other in London in 1980

But there was no mention of her troubles, and instead she wrote animatedly to 'My dear Prime Minister' about an operation to remove a benign skin lesion in January 1980.

'I write belatedly to thank you for your kind letter. I just had to have some things dug out of my face but luckily everything went well and we aren't worrying,' she wrote.

SHE FORGOT TO DO HER POLL TAX

Margaret Thatcher was threatened with a fine after failing to register for the poll tax at 10 Downing Street, the files reveal.

It was an inauspicious start to the flagship policy that would trigger her downfall. In 1989, Westminster City Council sent a letter to Downing Street residents, including Number 10.

It required all residents to register individually for the poll tax, a local government tax that was due to be introduced in England and Wales in 1990.

Mrs Thatcher was then sent an individual form but after she failed to respond, she was warned by council registration officer David J Hopkins.

He wrote a letter on May 22, 1989, addressed to the 'Resident/Owner' at 'Rooms First Floor, 10 Downing Street, London W1 9MN'.

'My records show that the Community Charge Registration form recently sent to you has not been returned,' he wrote. 'I wish to advise that you are required by law to supply the relevant information within 21 days of this request and failure to do so may lead to a penalty being imposed.'

Her officials hurried to complete the form on time – only to realise that the council had sent the wrong form and she had to fill it out again. Despite the threat, Mrs Thatcher sent a cheerful note saying her first attempt had been a 'good practice run'.

The poll tax – or community charge – replaced rates. But it meant higher bills in many Tory areas and sparked anger across the political spectrum.

The letter, from February of that year, is written on Kensington Palace-headed paper and was to thank Mrs Thatcher organising a £10,000 grant to the charity that Margaret chaired, the NSPCC.

In one passage, the princess discussed the feelings of the 'ordinary working man'. Discussing the 'depressing' steel strike, she related a conversation with Sir Charles Villiers, chairman of British Steel, which ran Britain's nationalised steel industry, praising his 'courage'.

But she said she did not hold the steelworkers responsible, adding: 'I suppose if one is an ordinary working man and one's union tells one not to vote for new machinery or technology because otherwise you will lose your job or your card – you just don't dare.' She then describes the 'rather dull' debate she attended in Cambridge. 'They were passionately against the Olympic Games in Moscow', she wrote. 'If that silly boxer doesn't make a hash of it he might get Africa to cock a snook at the Russians.'

The 'silly boxer' was a reference to Muhammad Ali's unsuccessful tour of Tanzania, Nigeria and Senegal on behalf of the US administration in an attempt to convince them to boycott the Moscow Games.

In 1980, the US led a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia, to protest against its invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

The princess was writing in reply to a handwritten letter from Mrs Thatcher from January, which was addressed to 'Ma'am' and headed '10 Downing Street'. The Prime Minister wrote with clear concern: 'I was very distressed to hear that you had been in hospital again and hope that all went well.'

The letter continued: 'You very kindly wrote to me after your own visit to the United States which was wonderfully successfully both in the admiration you won and in the financial results you won for Covent Garden.' In typically combative style, the PM also gave her take on the steel strike: 'Alas the new year has started with a steel strike and it is difficult to see why because the two sides aren't really far away from one another.'

She finished: 'I remain your humble and devoted servant, Margaret Thatcher.'

Anything relating to the Royal Family is usually retained by the Cabinet Office, but following the death of the princess in 2002 and Mrs Thatcher in 2013, the letters are now open to the public.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Princess Margaret letter, but an official spokesman said the Palace was 'comfortable' with its release.

THANKS FOR YOUR LETTER...

Kensington Palace

February 7, 1980

My dear Prime Minister,

I write belatedly to thank you for your kind letter. I just had to have some things dug out of my face but luckily everything went well and we're not worrying.

I was so interested to hear about your visit to the United States. I expect you surprised them no end at answering their questions in a positive way, when they are used to waffling on for hours in figures of 8, not actually answering anything.

The steel strike is depressing. I well remember when Charles Villiers took it over. I congratulated him on his courage and he said, 'I am taking on a moribund, old fashioned, out of date, uneconomical, out of date industry' and I said 'Is there any hope of improving it?' and he said 'Very little'.

I suppose if one is an ordinary working man and one's union tells one not to vote for new machinery or technology because otherwise you will lose your job or your card – you just don't dare.

I went to Cambridge for a debate (rather dull, all about the church, lots of clerics) and found them all rabid conservatives – not a Trotskyite to argue with!

They were passionately against the Olympic Games in Moscow. I tried the 'isn't it hard on the athletes' bit but they were adamant. I suppose individuals must choose whether to go as it's up to the Olympic Committee.

If that silly boxer doesn't make a hash of it he might get Africa to cock a snook at the Russians.

I find it quite impossible to find out what is happening in Afghanistan. Are they about to wheel into Iran and get all the oil? More power to your policy of nuclear power stations.

I wish they weren't called 'nuclear' as people always think of the bomb. I've been advocating this since I was 20!

Many thanks for allocating £10,000 to the NSPCC. They are vital and I am President and support their free service.

With again many thanks for your letter.

Yours very sincerely,

Margaret

BRINGING OUT HER INNER FEMINIST

Mrs Thatcher took on the EU after it tried to ban all-women Oxbridge colleges from having only female dons.

The Prime Minister, who attended women-only Somerville College at Oxford, was furious when she discovered that new anti-discrimination rules meant an end to the practice.

She declared she would 'resist most strenuously' any attempt to change the current status of positive discrimination in favour of female fellows.

'It is absurd to try to prevent women's colleges from continuing as women's colleges with women fellows,' she wrote. 'To stop it will infringe not enlarge liberties.'

The proposal, in June 1986, was part of the Sex Discrimination Act, which was drawn up following a European Community (EC) directive on sexism. After a long legal and political battle, the Government eventually won.

THE MOTH PLOT TO KILL COCAINE CROP

Margaret Thatcher

Secret plans to sabotage cocaine production abroad by introducing plant-destroying pests were discussed as the Government became alarmed at the arrival of crack cocaine in Britain, the files show.

Victor Rothschild, a government adviser, suggested in July 1989 that 'covert' tactics and aerial sprays be used to introduce a bug that would attack coca plants.

Mrs Thatcher described Lord Rothschild's idea as a 'characteristically brilliant' and 'intriguing' way of tackling the growing 'crack problem'.

But biologist Dr Ashley Morton, who proposed using an indigenous moth in Peru, was told in September 'that only the Peruvian government can decide to use biological control in Peru'.