The Crown: Margaret Thatcher and husband were ‘not in love as I have known it’, says Denis Thatcher actor

Stephen Boxer described the late PM’s marriage as ‘physically quite icy’

The actor who played Denis Thatcher in season four of The Crown has claimed the late PM’s husband was “not in love” with Margaret in the conventional sense.

The fourth season of the hit royal drama, released on Netflix earlier this month, followed Queen Elizabeth and her family during the time of Margaret Thatcher’s rule as Prime Minister. 

Stephen Boxer, best known for his role in Doctors on the BBC, claimed he modelled his performance on the biography of Thatcher written by her daughter, Carol Thatcher.

Margaret and Denis Thatcher were “not in love as I particularly have known it”, he told The Times, although he added that “you cannot deny that it is love”. 

“There’s respect and interdependence,” he claimed. Boxer also said that the relationship was “physically quite icy”.

Denis and Margaret Thatcher, pictured in 10 Downing Street in 1985 (Getty Images)

The Crown’s season four has stirred debate about its portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, with some claiming that the series made her seem too sympathetic.

The polarising Conservative leader was played by Sex Education’s Gillian Anderson.

The Crown has faced some criticism for a tendency to incorporate fictional elements into its depiction of royal history.

The series’ creator, Peter Morgan, has stood by the decision to insert historically unsubstantiated events into the narrative, however.