'Motherly' Margaret Thatcher cleaned bodyguard's shoes and tidied their rooms Mr Strevens claims he was "taken aback" by her "motherly" concern, as she sought to put him at ease and look after his welfare. Once, he claims, she even kindly wiped dog dirt after a police sergeant inadvertently walked it into her apartment on his shoe. Writing in the Sun, Mr Strevens describes how Baroness Thatcher decorated the bleak outbuilding at Chequers he was living in for Christmas, tidying up the mess left behind by a previous shift of officers and putting up tinsel and leaving him presents to cheer him up. Baroness Thatcher outside 10 Downing Street Saying she left a tin of biscuits, a flask of hot coffee and a miniature bottle of whisky for him, he added: "On the mantelpiece was a Christmas card with a message inside thanking me for "all that you do."" He said he was "incredibly touched" by the gesture, which comforted him while he was away from his own wife and children over the festive season. "It was at that moment I knew I would stand in the way of a bullet for Margaret Thatcher without hesitation," he said. Mr Strevens, who began his work for Baroness Thatcher in April 1978, described how a colleague had once feared getting into trouble after accidentally treading in dog mess outside and walking over a white carpet. Instead, he claims, the Prime Minister reassured him with the words "Never mind, we're in the country now," before getting on her "hands and knees" to scrub his shoes and carpet with soap and water. "I was taken aback by how motherly she was and her genuine concern," he said.