Thatcher Funeral

From Yahoo:

"Britain bids farewell to Iron Lady at grand funeral"

Britain gave Margaret Thatcher its grandest political funeral in half a century on Wednesday as her flag-draped coffin was borne through central London on a horse-drawn gun carriage, though a few boos were a reminder of her divisive rule and legacy. In an event comparable to Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965, the Queen joined top British and foreign politicians past and present to pay her final respects to the "Iron Lady" who - for better or for ill - transformed the country. Thousands of supporters lined the streets of London as Thatcher's casket made its final journey from the centre of British political power in Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral. Honoured with a gun salute from the Tower of London every minute and the silencing of the bells of Big Ben, military bandsmen played Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Chopin. More than 700 military personnel and thousands of police provided security.Thatcher, who ruled Britain from 1979-1990, died after suffering a stroke on April 8. She was the country's first and only woman premier, its longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, and won three consecutive general elections. As a bell mournfully tolled, a party of soldiers and sailors carried her casket on their shoulders into St Paul's Cathedral. Beneath its giant painted dome - the same place where Horatio Nelson's funeral was held and Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married - more than 2,000 mourners then heard a sombre service filled with hymns and reflective readings. "After the storm of a life lived in the heat of political controversy, there is a great calm," the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, told mourners. "There is an important place for debating policies and legacy ... but here and today is neither the time nor the place."

In death, as in life, Thatcher polarises opinion. While the vast majority of onlookers clapped her cortege as a mark of respect and threw blue roses into its path, some chanted "Ding dong the witch is dead" and about two dozen opponents turned their backs on the procession. The Bishop of London brought smiles to the faces of former leader Tony Blair, Prime Minister David Cameron's wife Samantha and other mourners when he recounted a story about her telling him not to eat duck pate because it was fattening. Cameron and Amanda, Thatcher's 19-year-old granddaughter, read from the New Testament while patriotic hymns echoed around the imposing 300-year-old cathedral.

Two heads of state, 11 serving prime ministers and 17 foreign ministers looked on. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also attended. The music included Thatcher's favourite hymns, among them "I Vow to Thee My Country". British military bandsmen played Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Chopin to accompany the grandest funeral for a British politician since that of Thatcher's hero, Churchill, in 1965. Polls have shown that many Britons are unhappy that the estimated 10-million-pound ($15 million) bill for the ceremonial funeral is being picked up by the taxpayer at a time of austerity and spending cuts. But Cameron dismissed such criticism. "She was the first woman prime minister, she served for longer in the job than anyone for 150 years, she achieved some extraordinary things in her life," Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, said. "What is happening today is absolutely fitting and right," the prime minister added.

         

^ Whether you like what Margaret Thatcher did while Prime Minister or not there should never be protests at a funeral. If you do not like that someone did while they were alive then you can protest by NOT attending the funeral. I'm glad that the protesters did not ruin the funeral as they had tried to do. Thatcher, like Reagan, will be placed in history for standing firm on her convictions and helping to end the Cold War.    ^

             
        
http://news.yahoo.com/britain-stages-grand-funeral-iron-lady-margaret-thatcher