-Spectators gather in light drizzle outside St Paul’s Cathedral amid sea of union flags
Crowds have turned out to pay their respects to Lady Thatcher
as the prime minister, David Cameron, defended her ceremonial funeral as a “fitting” tribute to a major national figure.
As the first of more than 2,300 guests began arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral before 9am, many hundreds of spectators gathered in the light drizzle outside, amid a sea of union flags. Some were equipped with folding chairs, and had camped out overnight to witness the event.
Dignitaries from 170 countries are attending the service, Downing Street said, including 11 serving prime ministers and 17 serving foreign ministers from across the globe. The Queen will lead the mourners.
Thatcher’s body had rested overnight at the chapel of St Mary Undercroft at the Palace of Westminster where MPs, peers, and those who had worked with her were able to pay their respects following a short private service.
Cameron hosted a dinner for a small group of guests at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday night. Those in attendance included the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, former US vice-president Dick Cheney and former US secretary of state James Baker.
The coffin was due to be moved by hearse from Westminster to St Clement Danes, the RAF church, in the Strand, where it will be transferred to a gun carriage and borne to St Paul’s, escorted by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
In an interview for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Cameron defended the ceremonial funeral as a fitting tribute to a major national figure, and urged political opponents to show respect during the event.
“I think other countries in the world would think Britain had got it completely wrong if we didn’t mark this in a proper way,” he said.
Thatcher’s coffin is expected to arrive at St Paul’s at 11am, when the funeral service will begin. It is due to last just under an hour.
At Thatcher’s request prior to her death, Cameron will recite a lesson from the King James Bible.
The service is a traditional affair and includes a selection of well-known hymns, including Charles Wesley’s Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, as well as poems by Wordsworth and TS Eliot.
After the service, the coffin will travel by hearse to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and a private cremation at Mortlake crematorium will take place in the evening.
As the numbers outside St Paul’s swelled throughout the morning, protesters were thin on the ground. Most were there to pay tribute, and some had travelled from afar.
American Robert Cunningham, 29, diverted his holiday in Norway to make it to the funeral. He said: “She was a foreign prime minister, regardless of the good, bad or otherwise.
“She did a lot for our country, a lot for the relationship between the UK and the US. Respect is due to the office.”
Margaret Kittle, 79, said she had travelled from Canada for the funeral as soon as she heard of Thatcher’s death, taking up her position outside the historic landmark at 8am on Tuesday.
“It was a cold night. The damp goes through you,” she said. “But I always said I would come to the UK for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral because I respect her.
“I think she did a lot for the world. She was an intelligent lady – a chemist and a lawyer – and a lovely lady as well. Apparently, she always made her husband Denis’s breakfast.”
Flags were lowered to half-mast above Downing Street and other government buildings.
Outside Downing Street, the first spectators began gathering as early as 6.30am. “Mrs Thatcher was a gutsy woman, especially over the Falklands,” said Trevor Fearson, 83, who with his wife Doreen, 85, had travelled from west Kensington in London.
“She was a good prime minister,” said his wife. “At the end she didn’t have the backing of her ministers. I hope they feel badly about that now, but I doubt it.”
Security was intense with more than 4,000 police on duty. Teams of officers arrived on the Strand at 7am and had closed the road to traffic by 8am.
Officers would be placed at intervals of 10 metres – or seven barriers – along the whole route, with more at crossings, one said.
Others patrolled the road on motorbike and horseback, with more on the pavements on foot.
A small group of protesters arrived to demonstrate against the “glorifying” of the funeral and cuts to the welfare state.
Dave Winslow, 22, an anthropology student from Durham, was joined by three others at Ludgate Circus, next to St Paul’s.
Holding an acrylic placard reading “rest of us in poverty” and wearing a T-shirt with the messages “power to the people” and “society does exist”, he said up to 200 demonstrators were expected.
“We plan to turn our backs,” he said.
“We want to maintain a dignified protest. It’s counterproductive to cat-call and sing Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead.”
He added: “The g
overnment wants to glorify this. It is a massive propaganda campaign to idolise Margaret Thatcher.”
Patricia Welsh, a 69-year-old retired youth worker, joined the Facebook-organised protest at the junction of Ludgate Hill and Ludgate Circus.
She said: “I am absolutely furious that the Prime Minister, David Cameron, has decided to spend £10m on a funeral when normal people are having to face cutbacks, libraries are closing and the NHS is being cut – for the funeral of a Conservative woman.
“Like anyone else she deserves a decent funeral, but not at the expense of the taxpayer.”
Margaret Thatcher Funeral – Full Timetable
All the official events surrounding the funeral of the former prime minister in London
Wednesday 17 April
0730: road closures are implemented along the route from Whitehall to St Paul’s Cathedral.
0800: flags are lowered to half mast over government department buildings.
0900: doors open at St Paul’s Cathedral.
0930: the ceremonial route is closed to all vehicles.
0935: the gun carriage leaves Wellington Barracks.
0945: street liners from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the army and the Royal Air Force take position along the route.
1000: guests are seated at St Paul’s Cathedral. The coffin leaves the chapel of St Mary Undercroft in a hearse. The coffin is dressed with a union flag. Three Metropolitan police motorcycles travel in front of the hearse, and unmarked police car behind it.
By 1015: the coffin is placed in St Clement Danes church by civilian pall bearers.
1015: the Lord Speaker, Lady D’Souza, the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, and the prime minister, David Cameron, are shown to their seats at St Paul’s. A guard of honour deploys in St Paul’s churchyard.
1020: the gun carriage, procession band and escort party take up position at St Clement Danes.
1025: the tri-service bearer party carries the coffin from St Clement Danes and places it on a gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The step lining party takes up position on the west steps of St Paul’s. The bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, proceed to the great west door of the cathedral.
1033: the gun carriage and bearer party and escort party, led by a band of the Royal Marines, step off for the procession from St Clement Danes via the Strand, Temple Bar, Fleet Street, Ludgate Circus and Ludgate Hill to St Paul’s Cathedral. Processional minute guns are fired from the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company for the duration of the procession. The first round is fired when the wheels of the gun carriage start turning.
1035: the lord mayor of the City of London, Roger Gifford, arrives at St Paul’s.
1040: members of Thatcher’s family arrive at St Paul’s Cathedral.
1045: the choir procession begins within St Paul’s Cathedral.
1045: the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive at St Paul’s Cathedral.
1055: the gun carriage arrives at St Paul’s Cathedral, to be met by a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
1100: the bearer party carries the coffin into St Paul’s Cathedral and the funeral service begins.
1155: the funeral service ends and the guests depart. The bearer party carries the coffin to a hearse positioned at the foot of the west steps of the cathedral. The cathedral bells ring half-muffled as the hearse leaves for the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The chaplain of the Royal Hospital, the Rev Dick Whittington, accompanies the coffin. The lord mayor bids farewell to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who leave St Paul’s.
1210: guests begin to arrive at the Guildhall for a reception of friends and family of Thatcher. A separate reception is hosted by the foreign secretary, William Hague, at the Mansion House for representatives from foreign states and other distinguished foreign VIPs.
By 1315: the prime minister, senior ministers, the lord mayor and members of Thatcher’s immediate family arrive at Guildhall from the reception at Mansion House.
1430: the national anthem is played in each room by military musicians and the reception at Guildhall ends.
2000: flags are raised from half mast at official buildings.
Courtesy: guardian.co.uk