MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Carol Thatcher to brave protests in Argentina...with film of ”Mummy's War'
Carol Thatcher is to reveal her mother's most intimate thoughts on the Falklands War in a new documentary which will draw on Lady Thatcher's private diaries.
Despite concerns for her safety, the 53-year-old daughter of the former Prime Minister is travelling to Argentina next month to make the hour-long programme, provisionally titled Mummy's War.
Producers have been warned that Carol may be subjected to protests by Argentines who believe her mother is guilty of war crimes for ordering the sinking of the General Belgrano warship during the 1982 conflict.
The British Government was sued in 2000 by 323 relatives of Argentine soldiers who served in the conflict and Lady Thatcher faced calls for her prosecution.
Carol Thatcher plans to travel to Port Stanley to meet Falkland Islanders on December 5 and then go on to Argentina's capital Buenos Aires to meet Argentine survivors and relatives for the documentary - being made by independent production company October Films, which is thought to have paid more than £100,000 for the rights to Lady Thatcher's private diaries.
But intelligence services in Buenos Aires are said to have advised the TV crew that they will need extra security to ensure the presenter's safety.
A source close to the production said: "There is still a lot of animosity towards Margaret Thatcher in Buenos Aires and the producers have been told to expect protests when Carol gets there."
Mummy's War is due to be screened by Channel 4 next April to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Falklands invasion. In it, Carol Thatcher will recount how the Falklands conflict transformed her mother into a wartime leader, detailing the stresses and strains of the war on the former Premier - from the heady moments of success to the shattering reality of military setbacks.
She said: "I saw those 11 weeks from the inside looking out and happen to admire enormously how Margaret Thatcher conducted herself as a war leader. But this film won't be a mother-daughter hagiography. It's not my style - and definitely not hers."
Ralph Lee, Channel 4's commissioning editor for history programmes, said: "The conflict in the Falklands was a key moment for Britain in the Eighties and a turning point in Margaret Thatcher's premiership.
"Carol's film promises to give us unique insight into what was going on behind the scenes at No10 and Chequers and her journey to visit the Falklands and Argentina will be an illuminating exploration of what the war meant then and its impact now."
By Caroline Graham, Mail on Sunday
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