Black Tennis Pros

Evelyne and Didier Tsonga, parents of French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Carol Thatcher has brought ‘shame on Britain’ by describing a French tennis star as a golliwog, the player’s mother said last night.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s mother accused Baroness Thatcher’s daughter of displaying ‘a racist, colonial attitude’.

Evelyne Tsonga said Jo-Wilfried, her eldest son, was ‘deeply hurt and upset’ by Miss Thatcher’s comment and praised the BBC for sacking her.

She told how the French-Congolese player had experienced racism in the past and said Miss Thatcher’s comment could encourage prejudice.

Mrs Tsonga said: ‘Nobody deserves to be described as a golliwog, least of all my son.

‘Such language is extremely unwelcome, but perhaps not surprising considering the kind of background which Carol Thatcher comes from.

‘Mrs Thatcher was famous for her imperial, Britain-is-best view of the world, even fighting a colonial war in the Falklands 27 years ago.

‘Such ideals should not be relevant in the modern world, but Carol Thatcher clearly still holds true to them.

‘Perhaps Margaret Thatcher passed these views on to her children, but this does not make them right. Carol Thatcher should be deeply ashamed of what she said.’

She added: ‘It was the same with Prince Harry calling a colleague a Paki, and Prince Charles calling a friend Sooty. They might claim that it is all harmless, friendly fun but it is not.’