Thatcher remembers events long past, but not start of sentences: daughter

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s short-term memory has faded to the extent that she cannot remember the start of a sen...

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s short-term memory has faded to the extent that she cannot remember the start of a sentence by the end, her daughter Carol has revealed.

The ‘‘Iron Lady’’ (80), who has suffered a series of strokes, can still vividly recall events in the distant past, but is “ very frail”, Carol said.

‘‘For someone who had such an exciting life, she doesn’t take well to having time on her hands,’’ journalist and broadcaster Carol (52) told The Daily Mail.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘She doesn’t read much because of her memory loss. It’s pointless. She can’t remember the beginning of the sentence by the time she reaches the end. She picks up on little bits of the news.’’

Thatcher, who was Conservative PM from 1979 to 1990, spent Wednesday night in hospital after feeling faint.

Carol Thatcher said: ‘‘The memory loss is very strange because her recollection of distant events is still sharp. A friend commented to her the other week: ‘Oh, Margaret, it’s like rationing!’

‘‘Immediately, my mother sparkled and this fellow got 15 minutes on wartime privations, including all mum’s favourite recipes for spam.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘She can talk lucidly about things that happened half a century ago but she cannot remember the last minute.’’

EXCLUSIVE: EC brings in feature to check misuse of identity to seek voter list deletions

Political Pulse2 min ago

The Election Commission has launched a new 'e-sign' feature on its portal and app to prevent fraud. This comes after allegations of misuse of online voter deletion forms in Karnataka. The feature requires voters to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers, reducing the possibility of fraud.

View all shorts

Live Blog