Mary Greenwell says she felt flattered to be asked to do the makeup for the prime minister Margaret Thatcher. She built a rapport with Thatcher while preparing her for a BBC interview about the miners’ strike, conducted in Thatcher’s private sitting room at 10 Downing Street. Greenwell recalled hearing a booming voice as Thatcher came in and described the two hours together as memorable. “She was phenomenal – whether you liked her or not, she was still a phenomenal woman,” she told Desert Island Discs.

Greenwell also spoke about working with Diana, Princess of Wales, describing how she befriended her and was invited to Kensington Palace for lunch. She would visit to do Diana’s makeup and found the experience enjoyable: “Do you want to stay for lunch?” Diana asked, and Greenwell said yes, sitting at a round table in the dining room with others of importance.

Greenwell described meeting David Bowie with Iman in South Africa during a Vogue shoot and touring with him in America. She called him the easiest, most relaxed person in the world and said he was highly intelligent. For Desert Island Discs she chose songs including Bowie’s Heroes, Bob Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay and Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side. The episode airs at 10:00 on Sunday on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.