Margaret Thatcher's dementia made her believe she was Prime Minister after resigning (Image: GETTY)
The Iron Lady suffered from dementia in her final years and would treat Sir Bernard Ingham’s visits as official meetings. The 86-year-old spent 11 years serving the UK’s first female prime minister and was dubbed Mrs Thatcher’s personal rottweiler. In the final episode of BBC2 documentary Thatcher: A Very British Revolution, Sir Bernard recalls how the former premier was unable to grasp their conversation due to her mental decline.
He said: “When she, poor lass, acquired dementia it was as though nothing had changed from Number 10.
“When I went to see her she’d say, ‘Will you have a coffee and side down’
“Then she looks at me expectantly, ‘What’s the problem?’
“Then she’d say, ‘Why have we got into this mess? But more importantly, what are we going to do about it?'"
