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Mark thatcher in splot light { August 25 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=571224§ion=newshttp://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=571224§ion=news
Mark Thatcher in the spotlight again
Wed 25 August, 2004 12:23
By Mike Peacock
LONDON (Reuters) - When her son Mark got lost in the Sahara desert during a car rally in 1982, the "Iron Lady" famously broke down and wept in public for the only time during her 11-year premiership.
Often chillingly pragmatic and unforgiving of others, Margaret Thatcher believed the sun shone on Mark who biographers agree she spoiled from birth and who basked in the success of his mother on the world stage.
Even after Baroness Thatcher left office in 1990, her family was dogged by insinuations that her power had helped Mark, 51, amass a substantial fortune. Mark Thatcher always denied he ever sought to generate income from her position.
Now under arrest in South Africa on suspicion of involvement in a coup attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, his affairs will once again be opened to fierce scrutiny.
Two groups of men, including a number of South Africans, are being tried in courts in Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe on charges of acting as mercenaries in connection with the plot.
Thatcher, 51, lives in the plush Cape Town suburb of Constantia and inherited the baronetcy conferred on his father Denis, after his death last year -- that makes him Sir Mark.
Once dubbed "The Boy Mark" in the media, Thatcher failed his accountancy exams three times but was worshipped by his mother who welcomed his presence on her trips overseas.
When Mark, who married a glamorous Texan, had a child, his mother forgot herself and pronounced regally: "We are a grandmother." He now has a son and a daughter. His twin sister, Carol, is a journalist and author.
He once said he was responsible to just three people -- his mother, himself and God.
ROLLS ROYCE LIFESTYLE
Just how he financed his Rolls Royce lifestyle has been a matter of rumour and innuendo for years. He left Britain in the mid-1980s for the United States to escape media attention.
Privately educated at the elite Harrow school but with little academic success, Thatcher tried a number of jobs including car rally driver.
Britain tittered, despite his mother's tears, when he went missing on the 1982 Paris to Dakar rally only to be rescued some days later from the desert.
Around the time of this misadventure he began doing business in the Middle East and Asia, often appearing in countries within hours of his mother's arrival or departure.
In 1984, the so-called "Cementation affair" changed the public perception of Mark as a child of privilege who could not hold down a job.
Mark Thatcher acted for the British construction firm Cementation International when it was awarded a huge contract in Oman.
He also happened to arrive in Oman at the same time as his mother, who was on an official visit. Subsequently, Thatcher told parliament that she had only been "batting for Britain" in securing the contract.
He later dismissed allegations that he made millions in commission by helping to secure a huge arms deal with Saudi Arabia, signed by his mother. He said he had never sold a penknife let alone warplanes.
Mark set up home in Texas soon afterwards, working as a representative for Lotus Cars. He moved to South Africa in 1996.
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