Jonathan Aitken

The third name, "Patrick", was included at a late stage owing to the unexpected international importance of the occasion –- one of the Irish papers reported "British envoy's grandson is a real Paddy". The Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, who knew his grandparents, asked to attend the christening and his presence at the baptism symbolised improving Anglo-Irish relations. Also attending was Princess Juliana (later to become Queen Juliana of the Netherlands) as his godmother.

Aitken contracted tuberculosis, and when he was four years of age he was admitted to Cappagh Hospital, Dublin where he was an inpatient on a TB ward for more than three-and-a-half years, being cared for and educated by Catholic nuns. At that time, before the use of antibiotics for treating tuberculosis, his doctors were initially gloomy about his chances of survival or being able to walk again. His treatment included being strapped to a frame and a plaster cast to immobilise him, as well as participation in the routine of breathing fresh air outside on the terrace every morning. From time to time the death of one of the children was announced on the ward, but Aitken did not think that tuberculosis would be the cause of his own demise. He had a competitive spirit and wanted to recover before other children on the ward. His grandparents visited him regularly in hospital, and John Betjeman, who was on his grandfather's staff as a press secretary, also visited him. Read Less

A notably handsome man, he managed to offend PM Margaret Thatcher by ending a relationship with her daughter, Carol Thatcher, and suggesting that Thatcher "probably thinks Sinai is the plural of Sinus" to an Egyptian newspaper. He stayed on the backbenches throughout Thatcher's premiership and engaged in a number of activities, including participation in the re-launch of TV-am (where he was involved in an incident in which broadcaster Anna Ford threw her wine at him to express her outrage at both his behaviour and the unwelcome consequent transformation of the TV station).

Aitken became Minister of State for Defence Procurement under PM John Major in 1992. He was later accused of violating ministerial rules by allowing an Arab businessman to pay for his stay in the Paris Ritz, perjured himself and was jailed (see below). Read Less

Aitken's claim that he had found God initially met with some scepticism, and he said that he would not become a vicar because he is not worthy of the office and "wouldn't like to give dog-collars a bad name". Read Less