Former Conservative
prime minister Margaret Thatcher has died today after suffering a stroke. Britain's
first and only female political leader passed away peacefully aged
87, after suffering from poor health for more than a decade. Baroness
Thatcher had been staying at the Ritz Hotel in Central London for several
months, and it is understood she died in a suite there this morning.The grocer's
daughter, who became the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th
century, will be honoured with a full ceremonial funeral - one step below a
state funeral - at St Paul's Cathedral next week. Not since Winston
Churchill's death has a politician been granted such a tribute. His funeral was
also held there in 1965.
Her spokesman Lord
Bell said: 'It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced
that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this
morning'. Her daughter Carol dashed from her home in the Alps to London on
Sunday morning to be by her mother's side before she died.
The Queen was sad to
hear of Baroness Thatcher's death and Her Majesty will send a private message
of sympathy to the family, Buckingham Palace said today.
Prime Minister David
Cameron said she had a 'lion-hearted love of this country' and 'fought for
Britain's interests all the way'. '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, and I believe she'll go down as the greatest British
peacetime prime minister.
'Her legacy will be
the fact she served her country so well, she saved our country and that she
showed immense courage in doing so.
'And people will be
learning about what she did and her achievements in decades, probably centuries
to come. That's her legacy but today we must also think of her family.'
U.S. President Barack
Obama said the 'world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and
liberty, and America has lost a true friend'.
'She stands as an
example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be
shattered'. When her funeral
takes place, the streets between Westminster and St Paul's will be cleared for
the procession, the date of which is yet to be decided.
It is understood that
Lady Thatcher was consulted about details of the funeral arrangements, and made
clear that she did not want her body to lie in state.
Downing Street said:
'The service will be followed by a private cremation. All the arrangements
being put in place are in line with wishes of Lady Thatcher's family.'
The Thatcher family
has asked well-wishers to donate to the Royal Hospital Chelsea instead of
leaving flowers.
Meanwhile, it has
emerged that Parliament is to be recalled from its Easter recess early, on
Wednesday this week, so MPs can pay tribute to Lady Thatcher.
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