Three of the world's most eminent former leaders, George H.W. Bush, Baroness Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela, will spend their Christmas day in different hospital beds battling for one form of illness or the other.
Baroness Margaret Thatcher , 87-year-old former prime minister of United Kingdom is recovering after being operated on three days ago to remove a growth from her bladder after suffering pain.
President George H.W. Bush, who has been in a Houston hospital with a lingering cough since November, needs to "build up his energy" before he can be released, doctors said Sunday.
A spokeswoman for Baroness Thatcher said she was "in good spirits" but is not expected to be released from hospital for a few days.
The veteran ex-premier's public appearances have been very restricted over recent years due to continued ill health.
She was unable to join the Queen for a Diamond Jubilee lunch with former and serving prime ministers this summer and missed an 85th birthday party thrown for her at 10 Downing Street.
In October she was sufficiently well, however, to mark her 87th birthday with lunch at a restaurant in London's exclusive St James's district with her son Mark and his wife.
Her health was thrust into the global spotlight this year when Meryl Streep starred in a controversial Hollywood film, The Iron Lady, about her.
The film drew criticism from Prime Minister David Cameron and others for concentrating on the dementia she has suffered after a series of small strokes.
In another development, ailing Nelson Mandela was Tuesday visited in hospital by his wife Graca Machel and family as he spent Christmas Day on sickbed, said President Jacob Zuma who joined the family.
“We found him in good spirits,” said Zuma in a statement.
“He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making,” said Zuma.
Mandela, 94, was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on December 8. He has been treated there for a recurrent lung infection and underwent surgery to remove gallstones.
On Monday, Zuma’s office, which is tasked with issuing updates on his condition, said doctors had confirmed that he will not be home for Christmas.
But there was no indication of when he might be discharged.
His grandson Mandla Mandela earlier told eNCA television that the family was saddened by his absence from home this Christmas.
“We are greatly saddened by his absence…we didn’t anticipate that he would be away for so long,” said Mandla from Mvezo village, where he is the local chief.
He said the family was hopeful that the much loved elderly statesman will be home soon, adding that his presence was enjoyed by the family and the community of Qunu, the rural village where he grew up and later retired to.
Before his retirement in 2004 Mandela used to host a Christmas feast for impoverished children in Qunu, which was a highlight for many.
Since retiring from public life, Christmas has been a more low-key affair, spent with family.
Mandela, who became South Africa’s first black president after the country’s first all-race elections in 1994, has a long history of lung problems, dating back to the time when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island.
In January 2011 he was hospitalised two nights for an acute respiratory infection.
This is his longest hospital stay since coming out of prison in 1990.
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