Both loved and loathed at home, Margaret Thatcher stirred similarly polarised feelings abroad. They began across the Channel. In office she had a tricky time with French leaders, whatever their political stripe. François Mitterrand once said that she had the mouth of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula. Jacques Chirac, a former president on the right, was caught at a European summit declaring: “What more does that housewife want from me? My balls on a plate?”