# Margaret Thatcher Hoax (she didn't die, but I got egg on my face :)) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 6, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612 "2004-08-06T13:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/1 "2004-08-06T13:42:36Z")
Just on Dutch radio, reports that she died today at the age of 79. Will post more when I find it. Don’t shoot the messenger when the rumour’s wrong, please. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/2 "2004-08-06T13:53:40Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Just on Dutch radio, reports that she died today at the age of 79. Will post more when I find it. Don’t shoot the messenger when the rumour’s wrong, please. ohhhhhhhhhhhh! I am sure I trust rumours from you, **Coldfire** and am therefore looking for my dancing shoes even now!🙂 As will be a great deal of theh country. And I don’t care about “don’t speak ill of the dead” nothing on bbc site as yet but I just switched radio on. I think I am going to be awfully impressed with Dutch radio tofday ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/3 "2004-08-06T13:59:10Z")
Nothing anywhere online, the Beeb is silent on the matter, as are the major American cable newsies. Seems odd that Dutch radio would have it before the BBC, no? Someone playing a nasty prank? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/4 "2004-08-06T14:02:26Z")
No mention on the local 1010 WINS news radio (Give us 22 minutes; we’ll give you the world). They are the best source in NYC for breaking news. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/5 "2004-08-06T14:02:42Z")
Bummer! I have a BBC radio news report on just now, and no mention of her. Never mind, isn’t it lucky we don’t much go in for guns in Scotland? 🙂 Makes life so m uch safer for messengers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/6 "2004-08-06T14:03:26Z")
**Celyn** , that’ll make two of us. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/7 "2004-08-06T14:04:07Z")
I can’t find any info either. Still best to prepare just in case. Does antone have the words and music to “Ding Dong the witch is dead” ? I know it’s uncharitable but I’m the son of a coal miner. nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/8 "2004-08-06T14:06:58Z")
No mention yet on The Drudge Report or [FoxNews.com](http://FoxNews.com)… ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/9 "2004-08-06T14:21:10Z")
> [@One And Only Wanderers](#): > > I can’t find any info either. > > Still best to prepare just in case. Does antone have the words and music to “Ding Dong the witch is dead” ? > I know it’s uncharitable but I’m the son of a coal miner. nuff said. Heheh :The day I heard she had resigned, I was at work with no access to radio and in that office, not even access to breaking news. SO I tried thinking of who I knew who might be at home, doing housewifely stuff, and therefore probably having at least a radio on. I 'phoned her, gibbering wildly, and when she coudl finally make sense of what I was saying - ie asking her to verify/refute this rumoured news, her very first response was to break into exactly that little song you menioned. Well, isn’t that a very strange co-incidence, eh? NOT! 🙂 (Right now, I seem to have lsot the link to the site about [maggiethatcherisdead.com](http://maggiethatcherisdead.com) or some such name, but I am damn well going to find it again. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/10 "2004-08-06T14:22:39Z")
One can hope, in fact its quite a pleasant thought, I might pretend she’s dead several times a week, got to make things seem just a little brighter. Unfortunately she can only die once, but we can enjoy the rehearsal many times. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/11 "2004-08-06T14:25:27Z")
I’m not seeing anything just yet on [Margaretthatcher.net](http://www.margaretthatcher.net), but I don’t know how often that’s updated - I don’t see any news later than November, 2003. It’ll make it out soon, if true. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/12 "2004-08-06T14:28:05Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > One can hope, in fact its quite a pleasant thought, I might pretend she’s dead several times a week, got to make things seem just a little brighter. > Unfortunately she can only die once, but we can enjoy the rehearsal many times. I think it would count as a regional holiday in West Yorkshire wouldn’t it **CasDave**. Castleford is about 4 miles away from where i was born and bred. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/13 "2004-08-06T14:29:13Z")
Re. that site I prevously mentioend, to coin a phrase … **GOTCHA!** [http://www.maggiethatchersdead.co.uk/](http://www.maggiethatchersdead.co.uk/) I am _Still_ annoyed that the year she got elected, I was only a first year student (at rather a righT wing university, to add insult to injury) and a few months short of my 18th birthday, and unable to vote. COuld spent a ton of time getting wet and hassling - 00ps - cavassing voters, but poor Celyn got no say. Sill sulking. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lovelyluka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@lovelyluka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelyluka)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/14 "2004-08-06T14:32:04Z")
**Celyn** - I thought perhaps this is what you were looking for… [http://www.guardiannews.co.uk](http://www.guardiannews.co.uk) It’s what came up when I googled for “margaret thatcher dies”, at least. Apparently it’s the offspring of [http://www.maggiesdead.com](http://www.maggiesdead.com) . ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/15 "2004-08-06T14:34:24Z")
I am _in_ a network newsroom, and there’s no mention of this anywhere, nearly an hour after your post **Coldie**. I think you got hoaxed. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/16 "2004-08-06T14:59:35Z")
Well, rats! :smack: So, either this Duthc reporter had a jolly Friday lunch in one of those interesting Amsterdam cafes, stumbled across the site linked to by **lovelyluka** , and fell for it. OR reporter felt like hoaxing us all. Oh well, I’m just trying to tell myself to view it positively, perhaps as a lesson in how easy it is to believe what I want to. Smacked wrist, Celyn. :wally OH well, I should think, either way, there is a reporter somewhere in the Netherlands who is going to be having an interesting talk with his/her boss this afternoon. Well, it was good while it lasted ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Means\_Go](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cc9497/32.png) [@Green\_Means\_Go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Means_Go)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/17 "2004-08-06T15:01:21Z")
Can someone clear up my ignorance on why there seems to be much disliked directed toward Ex PM Thatcher? What policies, etc, caused folks to feel that way? As as an American I don’t know much about British Politics. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/18 "2004-08-06T15:17:23Z")
> [@One And Only Wanderers](#): > > I know it’s uncharitable but I’m the son of a coal miner. nuff said. Anyone feel like explaining to this young underinformed American what Thatcher did to the coal miners in GB? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/19 "2004-08-06T15:22:16Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > Anyone feel like explaining to this young underinformed American what Thatcher did to the coal miners in GB? In the early 80’s (1984 if memory serves) the Thatcher government effectively destroyed the coal mining industry in the UK. Today there are very few active coal mines in Great Britain. This had very negative impacts on the local economies in South Wales and in the North of England etc ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612/20 "2004-08-06T15:25:25Z")
There’s nothing on BBC News 24, or ITN News. 😕 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/margaret-thatcher-hoax-she-didnt-die-but-i-got-egg-on-my-face/258612.md?page=2)