Although a non-political figure in public, Sir Denis was thought to harbour hard-right views. In 1984 he told the Swiss president at a dinner: "Keep Switzerland white."
He married the then Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1951 after having seen wartime service, and went on to become a director of Castrol.
And then all hell broke loose. And now he's
dead.
Lord Heseltine told BBC News 24: "I saw enough of him to make a judgment about his incredible loyalty and strength. What I think of above all else is that he was just a very human man."
I remember seeing that very loyal and strong man on TV, in the background, when the IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton at the Tory Party Conference in 1984. While Thatcher was standing in the middle of the rubble, glaring into the camera with her lazer eyes and going on about how she would not be deterred, he was trying to stay upright, swaying around, pissed as a newt. Cheers, Den.
Comments
"Lubrication solutions since 1899" Castrol?
Posted by: sudama | June 26, 2003 10:18 AM
The very same. Marketed in the UK as the oil used by real men.
Posted by: gwen | June 26, 2003 5:54 PM
'Full of fuck-all'.
A very good article with great quotes by Simon Hoggart in the Guardian here.
Posted by: gwen | June 27, 2003 7:58 PM