Thatcher’s ashes laid to rest in London alongside husband

The Reverend Richard Whittington carries an oak casket containing the ashes of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, followed by her daughter Carol and son Mark and his wife Sarah, after leaving the chapel to be laid to rest in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

AFP/London

An oak casket containing the ashes of the “Iron Lady”, who died in April after suffering a stroke at the age of 87, was placed in the leafy grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea nursing home beside those of Denis, who died in 2003.

In power between 1979 and 1990, the former Conservative leader was Britain’s longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century and its only female prime minister to date.

A plaque bearing the simple inscription “Margaret Thatcher 1925 - 2013” was placed over her final resting place.

Thatcher’s twin children Mark and Carol, 60, were among the small group of mourners who gathered for a private service at the nursing home’s chapel, along with Tim Bell, who masterminded her three successful general election campaigns, and Cynthia Crawford, her loyal personal assistant for more than three decades.

A dozen Chelsea Pensioners—army veterans who live at the historic retirement home in central London—formed a guard of honour, dressed in their distinctive scarlet coats.

Mark, his wife Sarah and Carol took it in turns to place a single red rose alongside the casket.

Thatcher was a long-standing supporter of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which in 2009 opened a state-of-the-art care home named in her honour, the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary.

The hospital was founded in 1682 to provide former soldiers with a suitable place to spend their retirement.

Thatcher’s death on April 8 sparked heated debate over her legacy, with supporters arguing that her radical free-market reforms saved Britain from economic decline, but critics saying they leftmns of people jobless and created a culture of greed.

She was cremated after her ceremonial funeral on April 17, which was attended by leaders from around the world.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of London on her funeral day to pay their respects as Thatcher’s horse-drawn coffin made its way to St Paul’s Cathedral.

But several hundred demonstrators turned their backs and booed as the cortege passed, in protest at her legacy and the £3.6mn public cost of the funeral. Some of her critics also held parties across Britain to celebrate her death.

Thatcher’s family met the costs of her interment at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

There were no protests at the interment, which had not been publicised.

Prayers were said by hospital chaplain the Reverend Richard Whittington as her family members comforted one another.

Carol, who wore a cream-coloured jacket and black trousers, hid her eyes behind large sunglasses as she comforted Crawford.

Most mourners - made up of only immediate family and close friends - wore black, including Sarah Thatcher, who looked elegant in a fitted dress and matching black hat.

Prayers were said while music was provided by the chapel choir who sang Po Atarau, a traditional Maori song of goodbye in recognition of Lady Thatcher’s family connections with New Zealand.

Lady Thatcher  built up a strong relationship with the Royal Hospital Chelsea during the last 10 years of her life and her final resting place was chosen by her.

After her death, her family asked that donations be made to the hospital instead of flowers.

The headstone was made by the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop in Cambridge and is made out of Hopton Wood, a type of limestone quarried in Derbyshire. The wooden casket, which was placed into the ground by Whittington, bears a brass plaque with her name on it.Lady Thatcher’s family met the costs of the interment.