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Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet (born 15 August 1953) is a British businessman and the son of Margaret, Lady Thatcher, former Conservative British Prime Minister, and Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, and is the twin brother of Carol Thatcher. He has two children by his first wife, Diane Burgdorf; Michael Thatcher (who is heir apparent to the baronetcy), and Amanda Margaret Thatcher. He married his second wife, Sarah Jane Russell, daughter of Terry Clemence, a wealthy property developer, and sister of Viscountess Rothermere, in 2008. On the death of his father in 2003 he became Sir Mark Thatcher when he succeeded to the Thatcher baronetcy, a hereditary title which had unusually been given to his father in 1990 (this being the only baronetcy created since 1964).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Points of Order )〕 His early career in business frequently led to questions being raised that he was benefiting from his mother's position, notably in relation to the Al-Yamamah arms deal. In 2004 the ''Sunday Times'' estimated his wealth at £60 million, most of which they suggested was in offshore accounts. In 2005 he was convicted and given a four-year suspended jail sentence and a fine in South Africa in relation to the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt. He left the UK in 1986, and since then has lived in the US, Switzerland, South Africa and more recently in Monaco, Gibraltar, Barbados, Guernsey and Spain. ==Biography== Thatcher and his twin sister, Carol Thatcher, were born six weeks prematurely by caesarean section in 1953, the same year that their mother qualified as a barrister. Their early years were spent in Chelsea, London. Their mother was narrowly defeated in her bid to become the Conservative candidate in the Orpington by-election, 1955. She was elected to Parliament in the 1959 general election. The children, aged six at the time, featured in her first television interview.〔 His sister observed: "All my childhood memories of my mother were just someone who was superwoman before the phrase had been invented. She 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 was sent to board at Belmont, Mill Hill preparatory school at the age of eight〔 and then to Harrow School, which he left in 1971 having passed three O-level exams. Despite his poor academic record he was offered a place at Oxford University during the period when his mother was the Secretary of State for Education. He declined the place, much to his father's unhappiness. He went on to study accountancy but failed his accountancy exams with Touche Ross on three occasions.〔 The children were 16 when their mother entered the Cabinet for the first time as Secretary of State for Education and 25 when she became Prime Minister in the 1979 General Election. A few years later Thatcher caused international embarrassment to his mother. He became lost for six days in the Sahara Desert while competing in the Dakar Rally (see below). His father flew to Dakar, and at its height there were nine aircraft, from Algeria, France and Britain, involved in the search, and also Algerian land forces. The Prime Minister insisted on paying £2,000 personally towards the cost of the search, and an unpaid 11,500 dinar hotel bill, one third of which was for drinks, caused diplomatic embarrassment. After this incident there were headlines about possible conflicts of interest between his business interests and his mother's political visits, including the suggestion that he had received millions of pounds in commission in relation to the Al-Yamamah arms deal (see Career section below). Sir Bernard Ingham, the Prime Minister's press secretary, suggested that he could best help the government win the 1987 general election by leaving the country.〔 Thatcher moved to Dallas, Texas, in the mid 1980s, where he met his first wife, Diane Burgdorf (now wife of James Beckett), in 1987. Their first child, Michael Thatcher, was born in 1989, and their second, Amanda Margaret Thatcher, in 1993. In 1992 he became The Honourable Mark Thatcher when his mother was made a life peer. In 1996 he moved to South Africa following financial scandals in the US.〔 In 2003 he became the Honourable Sir Mark Thatcher when he succeeded to the hereditary Thatcher Baronetcy that had been given to his father in 1990.〔 He and his wife announced their intention to divorce in September 2005 after eighteen years of marriage, at which point his wife moved back to the US with their children, the same year that he pleaded guilty in relation to an attempted African coup (see below) and questions were being asked in the government about whether he should be stripped of his title.〔 Following his guilty plea and his divorce, he left South Africa in 2005 for Monaco〔 on a one-year temporary residency permit, while his wife and children returned to the US. Thatcher was unable to get a US visa due to his South African conviction. His Monaco residency was not renewed as he was said to be on a list of 'undesirables' who would not be allowed further residency and he was required to leave by mid-2006.〔 He was refused an entry visa to the US due to his conviction in South Africa so was unable to visit his children. He was refused residency in Switzerland and settled in Gibraltar, where he married his second wife Sarah Jane Russell in 2008. Russell is the daughter of Terry Clemence, a property developer and sister to the Viscountess Rothermere. She was formerly married to Lord Francis Russell, the younger son of John Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford. In 2013 he was reported to spend most of his time in Marbella. He was in Barbados when he received news of his mother's death. He returned to the UK in April 2013 to act as chief mourner at his mother's funeral, which took place at St Paul's Cathedral, London on 17 April 2013.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mark Thatcher」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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