The Queen to attend Thatcher’s funeral
Churchill was last PM to be given the honour
LONDON — The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend Margaret Thatcher’s funeral at St. Paul’s cathedral next Wednesday, Buckingham Palace has announced.
It will be the first time the monarch has attended the funeral of a prime minister since the death of Winston Churchill in 1965.
Personnel from Armed Forces’ units that played a key role in the Falklands conflict will feature in the funeral procession, with more than 800 lining the route from the Palace of Westminster to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Plans for Baroness Thatcher’s funeral are being drawn up by a highlevel committee executing “Operation True Blue.”
The committee, which had its first formal meeting Tuesday, will convene every day between now and next Wednesday’s funeral.
The “True Blue committee” brings together MI5, National Security Secretariat, the police, Buckingham Palace, the Church of England, the Parliamentary authorities, government departments and representatives of Thatcher’s estate.
Chaired by Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, the committee’s membership reflects the complexity and sensitivity of what will be a very public and potentially very controversial funeral.
Plans for True Blue have been under discussion in Whitehall for several years.
The committee has more than 25 members and will now meet on a daily basis in the run up to the funeral.
The preparations come amid growing concern about security surrounding the ceremony following a series of violent protests on the day of her death.
In London, officers will line the ceremonial route from Westminster to St. Paul’s to prevent disorder.
Forces in cities outside London are also preparing for potential disruption.
Security will be heightened after Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend.
The Palace said the Queen had decided to attend the funeral because of the “unique” nature of the event.
The Queen would attend the funerals of her friends in a private capacity, and regularly sends a representative to other funerals to which she is invited, courtiers said.
However, she has not been present at the funeral of any former prime minister since the death of Churchill, which was an official state occasion.
According to friends, Thatcher drew up a list of more than 1,200 people she wanted at her funeral more than a decade ago.
They are likely to include Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, and Ronald Reagan’s widow, Nancy.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attend the funeral and former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been invited to join the Canadian delegation, according to Harper’s spokesman Andrew MacDougall.
Mulroney worked closely with the former British prime minister when they were both in office.
Thatcher’s twin children will be among those attending the funeral of their mother after returning to Britain. Both were abroad at the time of her death.
Sir Mark, 59, was flying back to the UK Tuesday night from a holiday in Barbados after spending 25 years living and working abroad. Both his former and present wife are expected to be at the service.
Lord Bell, the family’s spokesman, said that he believed Carol Thatcher had already returned to the UK.
David Cameron will lead the House of Commons in tribute to his predecessor Wednesday, describing her as Britain’s greatest peacetime prime minister.