Queen ‘Brenda’ was not amused by Thatcher’s sanctions style for SA
The UK’s Queen Elizabeth II was so angry in 1987 about then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s refusal to back sanctions against apartheid SA that she considered scrapping their weekly meetings. Files declassified under the UK’s 30-year rule reveal that the monarch believed Thatcher had damaged "her Commonwealth" by refusing to support hard line sanctions‚ MailOnline reported on Friday. It said her anger erupted after a 1987 Commonwealth heads of government summit in Canada‚ where tighter sanctions against SA were discussed. A Buckingham Palace official briefed Irish diplomat Richard Ryan on the situation‚ and he reported back to the Irish prime minister. It is Ryan’s memo which has now been released. During the Vancouver talks‚ 47 other leaders agreed to increase pressure on SA to end apartheid, but Thatcher refused‚ and Britain was blamed for thwarting the move.
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