'She wanted a war leader's funeral': Baroness Thatcher's final farewell will feature 700 armed forces personnel and Falklands' heroes will play key roles

Baroness Thatcher will be given a war leader's funeral, with personnel from regiments who fought to free the Falkland Islands carrying her body into St Paul's Cathedral.

More than 700 men and women from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force will take part next Wednesday, Downing Street has revealed.


The Welsh Guards, the regiment who suffered the heaviest losses in the war, will form a guard of honour as her body is taken into the cathedral for the service at 11am.

Tensions between Britain and Argentina remain over the Falklands, and President Cristina Kirchner will not be invited to Baroness Thatcher’s funeral, MailOnline has learned.

Downing Street released further details of 'Operation True Blue', its plans for Wednesday April 17, and said Britain's only female prime minister wanted her strong links to the armed forces to be recognised when she died.


‘At previous ceremonial funerals, there is often a significant military involvement but clearly Lady Thatcher had a strong association with the Armed Forces,' the Prime Minister's spokesman said.




War leader's funeral: Baroness Thatcher will be carried into St Paul's by units linked to the Falklands War




Funeral: Key units involved in the Falklands War war will be central to the occasion at St Paul's Cathedral next Wednesday

Dozens of current and former world leaders are expected to attend Wednesday’s service at St Paul’s Cathedral next Wednesday.

But officials drawing up the guest list have moved to block an invitation being sent to President Kirchner who in recent months has sought to reignite the struggle for control of the Falkland Islands.

A senior government source said: ‘It is being done by invitation and therefore we have some discretion.’

The snub for President Kirchner comes after it emerged military personnel serving in units and regiments who fought in the 1982 Falklands conflict will play a key role in the funeral procession and ceremony.

‘Kirchner is not expected to be there,’ the source added. ‘There are ways of handling these things.’

Meanwhile, speaking for the first time today Sir Mark Thatcher today said his mother would be 'greatly honoured as well as humbled' by the Queen's presence at her funeral next week.

FALKLANDS' REGIMENTS THAT WILL ESCORT THE IRON LADY'S COFFIN



Welsh Guards

Royal Marines


Scots Guards


Royal Artillery


Royal Engineers


Parachute Regiment


Royal Gurkha Rifles


Others from Royal Air Force

As her coffin is taken to the door of St Paul's, guns will be fired from the Tower of London.


Outside the cathedral when the gun carriage is drawn up there will be a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards together with the Welsh Guards band.

32 Welsh Guards were among 48 members of the British forces who died when troop ship Sir Galahad was bombed by the Argentines in May 1982 in Britain's worst loss of the war.

Simon Weston, who was badly wounded and left with 46 per cent burns in the incident, said his regiment's key involvement is 'very fitting'.


'It is an honour for the regiment – it was just chance that we were the unit on the spot when this came up, but it is very apt,'he said.


'This is a very sad time for me and for a lot of people in the regiment – when we had to go to war, she was there for us. Now we can be there for her.'


The coffin will be drawn on gun carriage drawn by Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery from St Clement Danes to St Paul's.


The coffin will be borne into the cathedral by bearers particularly made up of all three services and will include current service personnel from those ships, units and regiments that were particularly noted for their service during the Falklands campaign.

There will be 10 tri-service personnel members bearing the coffin, drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Scots Guards, Welsh Guards, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Parachute Regiments, Royal Ghurka Rifles and Royal Air Force.
Enlarge

Map: The funeral procession will run from Parliament to St Paul's Cathedral via Trafalgar Square



Margaret Thatcher stands proudly on Victory Green, Port Stanley, during her visit to mark the tenth anniversary of the Falklands War

The steps of St Paul's will be lined by Chelsea pensioners and 18 service personnel - 6 from Royal Navy and Royal Marines, 6 from Blues and Royals and 6 from RAF.


The route of the procession will be lined by personnel from the Navy, Marines, F Company Scots Guards, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and the RAF.


There will also be three bands along the route, one from the Royal Marines, one from the RAF and a band of Scots Guards and the household division. The drums of the bands will be covered in black cloth.


While comparisons have been made to the ceremonial funeral of the Queen Mother, Baroness Thatcher had made clear that she did not want a military fly past or to lie in state.

Downing Street refused to be drawn on the costs of the funeral.


David Cameron's official spokesman said: 'The costs of the funeral are being met by the government and also a contribution from the estate of Lady Thatcher.'


'The cost to the taxpayer will not be published until after next Wednesday's funeral.


'There will clearly be costs related to security,' the spokesman added.






Foreign Secretary William Hague today defended the taxpayer contribution to the funeral of Lady Thatcher and the costs of today's debate.


He said Britain could 'afford' to cover some of the costs of next week's events.


Speaking on BBC One's Breakfast programme, Mr Hague said: 'It's right Parliament meets and commemorates such a leader of historic proportions in our country's history.


'She changed the course of our history and there have been many comments over the last few days from all corners of the political spectrum.


'When it comes to money, the rebate she negotiated for this country from the EU has brought us so far £75 billion - which is twice the size of our annual defence budget.


'I think that puts money in perspective... so I think we can afford to contribute to a funeral.'


Lady Thatcher's family is also meeting an unspecified amount of the funeral cost.


Mr Hague said he believed many people on the left's biggest problem with Lady Thatcher was 'they could never beat her'.


'They claimed to stand for millions of people but they could never get as many votes as Mrs Thatcher in an election,' he said.


Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, should be renamed Port Margaret as a tribute to Baroness Thatcher, senior figures in the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence suggested today.


The idea is being backed by MPs and is also attracting considerable support on the islands, which Lady Thatcher was responsible for liberating in 1982.


The proposal is likely to trigger fury in Argentina, which has been ratcheting up the rhetoric over the sovereignty of the Falklands around the 30th anniversary of the conflict.




Mourning: Flags on the Falkland Islands have been flying at half mast since the Iron Lady's death on Monday





Message: A lady leaving tributes on Thatcher Drive on the Falklands, with officials reported to be considering whether Port Stanley should be renamed Port Thatcher




The 'Iron Lady' and her husband Sir Denis visit the Falkland Islands. Sir Denis is pictured pointing to Twin Sister Mountains, west of Government House

The Queen and Prince Philip broke with tradition yesterday by agreeing to attend the funeral of Baroness Thatcher.

At a top-level Government meeting to discuss plans for next Wednesday’s farewell to the Iron Lady, Palace officials said the monarch would join mourners at St Paul’s Cathedral.


The Queen’s decision to cast protocol aside delighted Lady Thatcher’s friends and allies who had expressed disappointment that she was not to be honoured with a full state funeral.

The Mail yesterday highlighted the groundswell of opinion that as Britain’s greatest peacetime prime minister, Lady Thatcher deserved in death the highest honour the state can bestow, and invited readers to join a petition – which thousands did.


However, yesterday’s news from Buckingham Palace is regarded as such an extraordinary gesture that it effectively elevates her funeral to a state occasion.


The only other time a reigning monarch has attended the final farewell of a Prime Minister was in 1965, when the Queen joined the congregation for the funeral of Winston Churchill, the only premier in more than a century to be given full state honours.

Traditionally, the monarch does not attend the funerals of ‘commoners’, however celebrated.


The Queen did not go to the funerals of Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath or James Callaghan, all of whom served as Prime Minister during her reign.


A Palace source said: ‘The Queen regularly sends representatives to funerals, whether it is senior members of the household or senior members of the Royal Family. The fact that she has decided to go herself is significant.’


Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie are to attend Baroness Thatcher's funeral next week, they confirmed today.



Attending: The Queen with Lady Thatcher at a dinner to mark the former Prime Minister's 70th birthday. The Queen has agreed to attend the funeral of Baroness Thatcher



Honour: Queen Elizabeth II with Baroness Thatcher, while opening a new wing of the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2000



Birthday party: The Queen and Baroness Thatcher together with the Duke of Edinburgh (left) and Dennis Thatcher (right), enter Claridge's to celebrate the former Prime Minister's 70th birthday

In 1881 Queen Victoria was prevented by protocol from attending the funeral of Benjamin Disraeli, instead sending a wreath of primroses.


Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who is heading the Government committee making preparations for the funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral, said the Queen’s decision was momentous.

His 'True Blue' committee contains the guardians of Mrs Thatcher's estate, MI5, the National Security Secretariat, Scotland Yard, Buckingham Palace, the Church of England and various government departments.

The plans for the funeral have been discussed for several years at the highest levels, and members will meet every day until next Wednesday.

Mr Maude, who served as a minister under Lady Thatcher, said: ‘I think it is very significant that Her Majesty and the Duke want to attend. It underlines the fact that Lady Thatcher was not just a long-serving prime minister – she was also transformational.’


Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said the Queen’s decision to attend the funeral was the final step in giving the event the effective status of a full state funeral.








Expected: US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, pictured during a 'moment of silence' in 2011 to honour the victims of a shooting at an Arizona political event, are expected to be invited to Baroness Thatcher's funeral

Lady Thatcher’s funeral is technically a ‘ceremonial’ one with military honours, an equivalent of the ceremonies that marked the passing of the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.


President Obama and wife Michelle are expected to be invited, as are dozens more heads of state and significant figures from Lady Thatcher’s life, such as former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.


Significantly, preparations for the occasion have been led by a former long-serving member of the Royal household, Sir Malcom Ross.


Eton and Sandhurst-educated Lieutenant-Colonel Ross GCVO OBE worked for the Queen for 18 years, rising to the position of Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, and was responsible for organising the Queen Mother’s funeral.


In 2006, he briefly became Master of the Household to Prince Charles and also has the experience of 33 state visits.


The multi-million pound cost of the occasion will be split between the state and the Thatcher estate, officials said.


The former prime minister’s body is at an undisclosed location after being removed from the Ritz Hotel.


On Tuesday next week, her coffin will be taken to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster. There will be a short service following its arrival, and the coffin will rest in the chapel overnight.

HUGE BACKING FOR THATCHER IN POLL AS SHE IS DUBBED UK'S GREATEST



Far more Britons believe Baroness Thatcher was good for the country than bad, according to a poll.


Fifty per cent think her contribution was positive, a survey of 965 adults by the Guardian newspaper and ICM research found yesterday. Only 34 per cent said she was bad for the country.


Opinion was strong on both sides, with a quarter saying she was ‘very good’ but one in five feeling she was ‘very bad’.


While more than half (55 per cent) of those in England thought she was good for the country, only 23 per cent of Scots and 34 per cent of Welsh people agreed.


In a separate poll, Lady Thatcher was voted Britain’s most popular prime minister since 1945, above Sir Winston Churchill.


She won 28 per cent of the votes in the survey, by the Sun newspaper.






Scene: The former prime minister's body is at an undisclosed location after being removed from the Ritz Hotel



Daily Mail comment: From yesterday's leader



Tribute: A Union flag was flown at half mast over Buckingham Palace following the announcement of Baroness Thatcher's death

Ring of steel to fight off security threat

By Chris Greenwood


Anti-Thatcher: People celebrate the news of the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Brixton

Police chiefs fear they face a ‘perfect storm’ of threats from anarchists to anti-cuts protestors intent on disrupting the funeral of Baroness Thatcher.


They are deeply concerned at the sheer range of anti-Thatcher fanatics who could be planning to sabotage next week’s funeral and officers have precious little time to gather intelligence.


The most dangerous threat comes from Irish terrorists who harbour a renewed ambition to stage a mainland attack. This is followed by others including militant far-Left groups, anti-cuts protesters and anarchist networks. Even a ‘lone wolf’ protester connected to the trade unions or mining communities could cause huge embarrassment by disrupting the cortege.


Hundreds of armed officers will form a ring of steel along the three-mile funeral route between Westminster and St Paul’s.


Marksmen will line the rooftops at strategic points as undercover officers mingle among crowds of mourners.


Officials began quietly drawing up and rehearsing plans for Lady Thatcher’s funeral as long as two years ago as her health declined.


But they have already been forced to rethink security arrangements after her death sparked ugly protests across Britain.


One source said senior officers were initially ‘quite relaxed’ about the security operation but hardened their view as disorder broke out on Monday evening.


The huge operation is likely to draw in resources from across the country from surveillance helicopters to teams of undercover officers.



Operation: Police turn up wearing riot gear as celebrations in Brixton turned sour and protesters blocked the road on Monday

Uniformed officers will be joined by servicemen and women along the entire route with squads of riot police kept in reserve.


St Paul’s, the scene of a long and unsightly anti-cuts protest last year, will be locked down in days and searched from top to bottom.


Last month counter terrorism officials revealed violent extremists pose the most varied and complex threat ever encountered.


Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick said Irish Republican dissidents hold an ‘aspiration’ to do ‘something on the mainland.’ Police chiefs will be keenly aware of Lady Thatcher’s role as a republican hate figure and the attempt to assassinate her in the 1984 Brighton Bombing.