Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, died of a stroke Monday morning, at the age of 87.
The Iron Lady’s death was announced on behalf of her children, twins Mark and Carol Thatcher, by Lord Timothy Bell, a family spokesman. “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announce that their mother, Baroness Thatcher, died peacefully following a stroke this morning,” PR guru Lord Bell, a key Thatcher adviser during her 11-year premiership, said Monday afternoon.
Lady Thatcher, who was elevated to the House of Lords in 1992 after serving three terms as PM between 1979 and 1990, will receive a ceremonial funeral with military honours at St. Paul’s Cathedral, but no dates have been confirmed yet. She will not lie in state according to her own wish.
“The service (at St. Paul’s) will be followed by a private cremation. All arrangements being put in place are in line with the wishes of Lady Thatcher’s family. Further details will be published over the coming days,” said Downing Street in a statement.
State funerals in Britain are reserved for monarchs, though former Prime Minister Winston Churchill got one in 1965. Princess Diana in 1997 and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2002 were given ceremonial funerals.
The tough-talking and the only woman PM Britain ever had is said to have been living at central London’s Ritz Hotel, but no confirmation was available from the hotel, where a huge media contingent has gathered. Mourners have started leaving flowers near the Thatcher residence at Chester Square in London’s upmarket Belgravia area.
Queen Elizabeth II, who is 86, expressed sadness at the death of Lady Thatcher, and will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short his visit to Europe and returned to London on Monday, described her as the greatest peacetime Prime Minister. “It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher’s death. We’ve lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton,” he said.
“As our first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds, and the real thing about Margaret Thatcher is that she didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country. I believe she’ll go down as the greatest British peacetime Prime Minister.”
The right-win eulogies have been contrasted by more muted condolences from Labour Party figures. Labour leader Ed Miliband described Lady Thatcher as a “unique figure” who “reshaped the politics of a whole generation”. But he added: “The Labour Party disagreed with much of what she did, and she will always remain a controversial figure. But we can disagree and also greatly respect her political achievements and her personal strength.”
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone described her policies as “fundamentally wrong” and said she was to blame for the current financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed “deepest sadness” over the demise of Lady Thatcher and said in his condolence message, “People of India join me in sending our sincerest condolences to the Thatcher family, the government and people of the United Kingdom.”
Dr Singh said Thatcher was “a transformative figure under whom the United Kingdom registered important progress” in the national and international arenas.