The Duchess of York has been invited to Lady Thatcher’s funeral, it emerged yesterday.
Sarah Ferguson, who was not invited to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge two years ago, is believed to have confirmed she will attend Wednesday’s ceremony.
Others confirmed among the guest list yesterday included celebrity chef Marco Pierre White and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Surprisingly, businessman Gerald Ronson, who was jailed for his part in the Guinness shares scandal, received an invitation, joining other discredited figures with invites, including Jonathan Aitken and Jeffrey Archer, who were both jailed for perjury.
Military top brass feature heavily on the guest list, with Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards and the former head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, both invited.
A source said Sarah Ferguson’s invitation was not a question of her being admitted back into the Royal fold, but due to her lasting friendship with the former prime minister.
The pair struck up a friendship which lasted some 25 years and the Duchess was visiting Lady Thatcher right up until the end of her life, the source added.
A friend reportedly said: ‘Sarah is honoured to have been invited and intends to go.
‘She wants to pay her respects.’
The day after Lady Thatcher’s death, the Duchess tweeted: ‘Margaret Thatcher will be greatly missed. She is part of all our history and was such a strong and consistent lady, and steadfast to me in friendship.’
As further details about the funeral emerged, the extent of the meticulous planning Lady Thatcher put into the ceremony was revealed.
She wanted to have the service ‘framed’ by British music, and the ceremony features several traditional and patriotic works by British composers.
She chose the hymn He Who
Would Valiant Be because its words reflected her philosophy and it was
one of her childhood favourites.
The Charles Wesley hymn, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, reflects the influence of her Methodist upbringing by her father Alfred Roberts, a lay preacher.
One of the most personal and significant inclusions is Psalm 84, set to the music of Johannes Brahms, which she selected for her husband Denis’s funeral.
The final hymn is the patriotic I Vow To Thee My Country which she referred to in a rousing speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1988.
Sarah Ferguson, who was not invited to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge two years ago, is believed to have confirmed she will attend Wednesday’s ceremony.
Others confirmed among the guest list yesterday included celebrity chef Marco Pierre White and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Surprisingly, businessman Gerald Ronson, who was jailed for his part in the Guinness shares scandal, received an invitation, joining other discredited figures with invites, including Jonathan Aitken and Jeffrey Archer, who were both jailed for perjury.
Military top brass feature heavily on the guest list, with Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards and the former head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, both invited.
A source said Sarah Ferguson’s invitation was not a question of her being admitted back into the Royal fold, but due to her lasting friendship with the former prime minister.
The pair struck up a friendship which lasted some 25 years and the Duchess was visiting Lady Thatcher right up until the end of her life, the source added.
A friend reportedly said: ‘Sarah is honoured to have been invited and intends to go.
‘She wants to pay her respects.’
The day after Lady Thatcher’s death, the Duchess tweeted: ‘Margaret Thatcher will be greatly missed. She is part of all our history and was such a strong and consistent lady, and steadfast to me in friendship.’
As further details about the funeral emerged, the extent of the meticulous planning Lady Thatcher put into the ceremony was revealed.
She wanted to have the service ‘framed’ by British music, and the ceremony features several traditional and patriotic works by British composers.
Other guests: Fergie will be joined by Marco Pierre White and Boris Johnson at the ceremony this Wednesday
Funeral: The service for Baroness Thatcher will be held in St Paul's Cathedral, London, starting at 11am on Wednesday
The Charles Wesley hymn, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, reflects the influence of her Methodist upbringing by her father Alfred Roberts, a lay preacher.
One of the most personal and significant inclusions is Psalm 84, set to the music of Johannes Brahms, which she selected for her husband Denis’s funeral.
The final hymn is the patriotic I Vow To Thee My Country which she referred to in a rousing speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1988.