Police escort Thatcher's body from Ritz

Former British PM Margaret Thatcher has died following a stroke at the age of 87, her spokesman said.

THE funeral of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher will take place on April 17, Downing Street says.

"It was agreed this morning at the government co-ordination meeting with the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace that the funeral service of Lady Thatcher will take place on Wednesday 17 April at St Paul's Cathedral,'' Downing Street said in a statement.

A Downing Street spokesman added that the details had been agreed at a "co-ordination meeting'' with the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace this morning.

The Queen and Prince Philip will be among the dignitaries from around the world to attend the funeral.

Earlier, Baroness Thatcher's body was removed from the Ritz Hotel in London, a day after she died of a stroke.

A private ambulance removed her body from the luxury hotel where the 87-year-old, Britain's first and only female prime minister, had spent her final days.

Preparations are underway for a ceremonial funeral with military honours, after which Baroness Thatcher will be cremated.

A mortuary van departs the Ritz Hotel with the body of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Both houses of Britain's parliament have also been recalled on Wednesday for a debate on the divisive legacy of the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century.

Conservative Thatcher specifically did not want a full state funeral of the kind given to monarchs and to World War II premier Winston Churchill, her spokesman Lord Tim Bell said.

Thatcher also requested that she did not get a fly past by military aircraft as it would be a "waste of money''.

"She specifically did not want a state funeral and nor did her family. She particularly did not wish to lie in state as she thought that was not appropriate,'' Bell said.

"And she didn't want a fly-past as she thought that was a waste of money - somewhat in character you might think. She expressed those views to me personally and she will get what she wanted.''

His comments came after several Conservative lawmakers called for her to be given a state funeral.

Baroness Margaret Thatcher is dead after suffering a stroke. She was 87.

Ceremonial funerals have in the past been given to the Queen Mother and to Princess Diana.

World leaders paid tribute to Thatcher for transforming the face of modern Britain with her market-driven economic policies, and globally for helping to end the Cold War.

Flags have been lowered to half mast in Britain but at the other end of the spectrum left-wingers threw parties upon news of her death.

Earlier today, former British prime minister Tony Blair paid tribute to Thatcher, describing her as a "remarkable and towering figure''.

Blair, who was delivering the Lives of Liberty speech at Lafayette College in the US state of Pennsylvania, said Thatcher was a "great leader'' who pursued her aims with fearlessness and determination.

"I don't think there's anyone who better expresses a sense of a life of promoting liberty than Margaret Thatcher,'' he said.

Watch a typically feisty parliamentary performance from the late Margaret Thatcher.

Thatcher had been in poor health for a number of months and her spokesman Lord Bell said she died peacefully at the Ritz, where she been recovering after a minor operation.

''It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully after a long battle with poor health,'' Lord Bell said yesterday.

Buckingham Palace was the first to call the Thatcher family  with the Queen offering her sympathies for her former leader, who won three consecutive general elections.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short a trip to Europe following news of Thatcher's death, said Britain had lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton. Other world leaders also paid tribute to Thatcher, including US President Barack Obama, who said America had "lost a true friend". Obama also praised Thatcher as an example for his two daughters, joining former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell who hailed her as "the first lady of girl power."

Thatcher transformed the UK

Thatcher has been credited with single-handedly transforming the nation in the space of a decade, earning her as much admiration as bitter resentment from the British people.

Margaret Thatcher with U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev (left) during an all-European top-level meeting.

Margaret Thatcher's best quotes

Quotes: what they said about her

But there has always been general consensus she lifted a strike-infested union-bound nation back among the world's industrial leaders.

Crucially she defeated Arthur Scargill's nationwide year-long strike that was threatening to ruin the whole British economy.

Thatcher was seen as tireless and unshakeable as she fought her own cabinet let alone half the workers in Britain to change the work ethic and industrial landscape before resigning as prime minister in November 1990.

Mixed reaction in the U.K. after Baroness Thatcher dies from a stroke at the age of 87. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

But she remained one of the most influential figures in British society and globally as an elder stateswoman courted by the western world.

Her crowning glory among her three stints as PM was her handling of the Falklands War.

Many in her government thought her mad when after Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands she dispatched a flotilla of war ships 8000 miles into the South Atlantic.

Thatcher worked her way to the top

Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925 in the Lincolnshire town of Grantham, she gained the virtues of thrift, hard work, morality and patriotism as drilled into her by her beloved father Alderman Alfred Roberts, who ran two grocers' shops and a post-office, and became mayor of the town in 1943.

The devout Methodist father drilled into her ''You'll never get anywhere if you don't work girl'', a sentiment she would often quote herself.

Margaret Thatcher in a line up of former PMs with the Queen in the 2000s

She had few close friends growing up with many considering her to have an irritating sense of her own superiority.

It was that thinking that made her head of her school, lead at Oxford University, where she trained as a chemist, before she decided to enter politics.

It was her ability to answer any question thrown at her in Parliament that made her the obvious leader of the Conservatives.

Timeline: The Life and Times of Margaret Thatcher

Gallery: Margaret Thatcher's life

Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg summed up the national mood saying love her or loath her, she changed Britain for the better.

Margaret Thatcher elected leader in 1975.

''Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics,'' Mr Clegg said.

''Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no-one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served.

''She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics.''

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dies at age of 87 following a stroke, a spokesman for the family said. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)

Gillard and Abbott pay respects

Prime Minister Julia Gillard paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher's strength of conviction and history making period as British PM.

How the UK press reported Margaret Thatcher's death.

''I learned this evening in Beijing of the death of Baroness Thatcher,'' Ms Gillard said from China.

''Her service as the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was a history-making achievement.''

''Her strength of conviction was recognised by her closest supporters and her strongest opponents.

''I extend my sincere condolences and those of my fellow Australians to her family and friends.''

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Baroness Thatcher was one of Britain's greatest leaders because of her impact on the world.

''Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest British prime ministers and one of the most significant world leaders of our times,'' Mr Abbott said.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron remembers Baroness Thatcher as a woman who "defied them all." Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

''She was the first female prime minister of Great Britain and ranks with the greatest of prime ministers because of the quality of her leadership and the impact she had on Britain and the wider world.''

''Margaret Thatcher arrested the decline of Britain and gave the British people renewed confidence. She ensured the British people no longer simply dwelt on the glories of the past but could enjoy a strong and prosperous future.

''The thoughts of the Coalition are with Baroness Thatcher's family and the British people at this time.''

Thatcher, made a baroness (life peer) after her 11 years in Downing Street, suffered several small strokes in 2002, and received medical advice against accepting any more public speaking engagements.

Her increasingly frail condition when she was seen - especially after the death of husband Denis in 2003 - led to frequent bouts of speculation about her health.

However, MPs and friends who saw her regularly said she remained alert and interested in politics, and she was not known to have deteriorated notably recently.

Margaret and Denis on their wedding day in 1951

Among her greatest regrets was the IRA bombing attempt on her life in Brighton in 1984.

She could not understand why anyone hated her so much.

Meryl Streep calls Margaret Thatcher a pioneer among women. Lindsay Claiborn reports.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Police escort Thatcher's body from Ritz

Dengan url

https://duniadiggi.blogspot.com/2013/04/police-escort-thatchers-body-from-ritz.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Police escort Thatcher's body from Ritz

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Police escort Thatcher's body from Ritz

sebagai sumbernya