Archives reveal Mrs Thatcher gifted ‘nutrimental capsules’

Margaret Thatcher was apparently fond of alternative health cures and was sent them by prolific romance author Dame Barbara Cartland, newly released documents show.

Mrs Thatcher, who famously slept for only four hours a night, received “nutrimental capsules” from the novelist “in case you ever feel tired”.

On a separate occasion Mrs Thatcher was sent a further supplement, possibly to address jetlag or travel sickness ahead of a trip to the Far East.

Dame Barbara, who corresponded with Mrs Thatcher fairly regularly and lunched with her, sent a package dated June 8 1989.

“My dear Prime Minister, You were wonderful last night, as usual,” she wrote. “It is incredible, with all you do, how you can still look as though you were 25. In case you ever feel tired, I am enclosing the very latest product we have in the Health Movement, which takes oxygen to every part of the body, including the brain.

“My son, aged 51, says that he wakes up in the morning and feels like a boy of 16, and at nearly 88 I find it fantastic.”

In a letter dated June 15 1989, Mrs Thatcher thanked Dame Barbara for the “charming letter” and the “nutrimental capsules”.

Dame Barbara wrote to Mrs Thatcher’s diary secretary, Amanda Ponsonby, on July 3 1989 with further supplements ahead of Mrs Thatcher’s planned trip to the Far East.

“Thank you so much for being most kind and saying that you will give the enclosed to the Prime Minister,” wrote Dame Barbara.” “I hope that there are enough because it is a very long trip.”

The Margaret Thatcher Foundation is gradually overseeing the release of her private files through the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge.

Members of the public will be able to browse the archive from Monday by visiting www.margaretthatcher.org

Pictures: PA.