Documents Uncover Her Use of Nutritional Supplements from Barbara Cartland
Recently released documents indicate that Margaret Thatcher had a penchant for alternative health treatments, receiving various remedies from the prolific romance novelist Barbara Cartland.
Thatcher, known for her minimal sleep of just four hours nightly, was gifted “nutrimental capsules” by Cartland to combat fatigue. On another occasion, she received additional supplements, likely intended to alleviate jetlag before a journey to the Far East.
Cartland maintained a regular correspondence with Thatcher and even shared meals with her. In a package dated June 8, 1989, she wrote, “My dear prime minister, you were wonderful last night, as usual. It is incredible, with all you do, how you can still look as though you were 25.”
She continued by enclosing the latest health product designed to enhance oxygen distribution throughout the body, claiming it helped her son feel youthful at 51 and herself remarkably spry at nearly 88.
On June 15, 1989, Thatcher expressed her gratitude to Cartland for the “charming letter” and the capsules. Cartland later reached out to Thatcher’s diary secretary, Amanda Ponsonby, on July 3, 1989, with more supplements for the prime minister’s upcoming trip, emphasising their lack of side effects.
Additionally, industrialist Emmanuel Kaye, a former Conservative supporter, offered Thatcher advice on vitamins after seeing her at an opera. He proposed to optimise her supplement regimen and mentioned a unique form of homeopathy he had developed.
In the same year, a Vanity Fair profile referred to Thatcher’s use of “electric baths” as part of her anti-aging regimen, which attracted considerable media attention.
Chris Collins from the Margaret Thatcher Foundation noted that references to health treatments in Thatcher’s letters were somewhat obscure, yet he believed her interest was genuine. The Foundation is in the process of releasing her private files, available for public access at [Margaret Thatcher Foundation].
