Wife: Margaret Thatcher's son tied to mum

LONDON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Mark Thatcher's estranged wife says that the son of Britain's first female prime minister was a mama's boy and a philanderer.

Diane Burgdorf Thatcher, the daughter of a Texas businessman, also told the Daily Mail her husband was often overbearing, behaving rudely to her in front of others. She said that during a 1987 visit to 10 Downing Street shortly after their marriage, Margaret Thatcher, then the prime minister, washed Mark's shirts and folded them in plastic bags.

"I don't think Mark ever left his mum," Diane Thatcher told the newspaper. "Her opinion mattered more than mine and he enjoyed her company more than mine."

Mark Thatcher, who inherited a baronetcy from his father, most recently got involved in an attempt to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. He was forced to leave South Africa.

Diane Thatcher said that the marriage survived at least two affairs but has now foundered, the Daily Mail reported. She is currently trying to work out a financial settlement.