Baroness Thatcher was
today honoured with a sombre but spectacular funeral ceremony that paid tribute
to the ‘courage and perseverance’ of Britain's greatest peacetime prime
minister. The Iron Lady's daughter Carol wept as she said a final goodbye to
her mother, and was comforted by her twin brother Sir Mark and his wife Sarah
as they arrived for the private service at Mortlake Crematorium. Earlier under
the great dome of St Paul's Cathedral, the Queen joined dignitaries from 170
countries worldwide, friends, political foes and Lady Thatcher's closest family
members to celebrate the life of the UK's first and only female premier.mLondon's
streets were also packed with mourners who broke into spontaneous applause and
gave cheers and whistles of support as the coffin passed by.
The emotional crowds
threw white roses in the path of the gun carriage that carried Lady Thatcher
through the capital, while many of the 2,300 inside St Paul's openly sobbed
with Chancellor George Osborne 'overwhelmed'.
more pics after the cut...............................
Outside on the
streets, the predicted protests and disorder failed to materialise, with the
few boos drowned out by supporters' applause. As Big Ben once again started to
chime after the 11am service, the procession started its final journey. At
exactly 4.30pm, the coffin bearing grocer’s daughter Margaret Hilda Roberts,
who rose to become Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, arrived at Mortlake
crematorium. Her ashes are due to be interred at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
next to those of her beloved husband Denis, who died in 2003.
The Queen and the
Duke of Edinburgh attendance the St Paul's service broke with Royal protocol,
as it was the Monarch's first political funeral since Sir Winston Churchill's
in 1965.
Her Majesty joined
Lady Thatcher's family on the steps to watch a hearse take the former premier's
body away from the grandeur and solemnity of the official funeral to a private
cremation at Mortlake in south-west London.The funeral cortege arrived at 4.30pm
while dozens of onlookers lined the street and applauded as the coffin entered
through the crematorium gates, which were guarded by two police officers.
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