Video coverage: World watches Thatcher’s final farewell

Lady Thatcher, who died last week aged 87, was given full military honours, with the coffin bearing her body brought in procession to the cathedral on a gun carriage drawn by six black horses.

At St Paul’s, a congregation of more than 2,300 included all of her successors as prime minister - Sir John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron - as well as dignitaries from 170 countries around the globe.

They heard an address from Bishop of London Richard Chartres which, in keeping with the former PM’s request for a religious funeral service rather than a memorial with eulogies, focused on her humanity rather than her political legacy.

Hailing Lady Thatcher’s “perseverance and courage”, the Bishop recalled the obstacles she had to overcome to enter Parliament as a woman in 1959 and rise to the leadership of the Conservative Party, and spoke of the “courtesy and personal kindness” she showed to those working for her.

Insisting that a funeral was not the place to pass judgment on her political record, he said: “The storm of conflicting opinions centres on the Mrs Thatcher who became a symbolic figure - even an `ism’. Today the remains of the real Margaret Hilda Thatcher are here at her funeral service.

“Lying here, she is one of us, subject to the common destiny of all human beings.”

The bishop also highlighted Lady Thatcher’s Methodist roots, pointing out that she shared them with the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who were heroes of the trade union movement which the former prime minister challenged when she came to power.

He said: “Her upbringing, of course, was in Methodism to which this country owes a huge debt. When it was time to challenge the political and economic status quo in 19th century Britain, it was so often the Methodists who took the lead. The Tolpuddle Martyrs, for example, were led not by proto-Marxists but by Methodist lay preachers.”

A clearly moved Chancellor George Osborne wiped tears from his eyes during the 55-minute ceremony, which was attended by all members of the Cabinet as well as Labour leader Ed Miliband.

He later tweeted: “A moving, almost overwhelming day.”

Also present were more than 30 members of the Iron Lady’s cabinets from 1979-90, including Lord Heseltine and Lord Howe, whose challenges to her leadership triggered her removal from power.

Notable absentees included former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was too unwell to attend, and Ronald Reagan’s widow Nancy.

Lady Thatcher’s coffin, placed beneath the dome of St Paul’s, was draped in a Union flag and topped by a floral tribute of white roses bearing the hand-written note “Beloved Mother - Always in our Hearts” from her children Sir Mark and Carol Thatcher.

Walking ahead of the coffin as it entered the cathedral were Lady Thatcher’s grandchildren Michael and Amanda, carrying cushions bearing her insignia of the Order of the Garter and Order of Merit. Along with Mr Cameron, Amanda gave a reading from the King James Bible.

Although the event was not the state funeral received by Sir Winston Churchill, it was conducted with more pomp and ceremony than any seen in London since the death of the Queen Mother in 2002.

Mr Cameron insisted the honour was a “fitting tribute” to a major national figure who was the longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century.

While accepting that opinions remain divided over Lady Thatcher’s legacy, the PM said that she had created a new consensus during her time in power, saying: “In a way, we are all Thatcherites now.

“She was the first woman prime minister, she served for longer in the job than anyone for 150 years, she achieved some extraordinary things in her life. I think what is happening today is absolutely fitting and right.”

More than 4,000 police officers were on duty to ensure security amid heightened fears of a terror attack sparked by the bombing of the Boston Marathon in the US.

But fears that the ceremony would be disrupted by demonstrations did not materialise, despite some booing and anti-Thatcher banners along the route, and there were no arrests during the event.

Some protesters turned their backs as the coffin passed, including 58-year-old Charmain Kenner, who said: “She ruined this country and, to add insult to injury, we’re expected to pay for her funeral.”

But the procession was greeted for the most part with warm applause, and there were three loud cheers outside St Paul’s as military pall-bearers brought her coffin out at the end of the service.

Falklands veteran Alan Southern, 53, who had come with Parachute Regiment comrades to pay his respects, said: “Lady Thatcher was an absolutely wonderful lady. She loved the armed forces and she did so much for the country, she put the ‘great’ back in Great Britain.”

The format of today’s ceremony was guided by the personal wishes of Lady Thatcher, who chose He Who Would Valiant Be as the first hymn. Charles Wesley’s Love Divine, All Loves Excelling reflected the influence of her Methodist upbringing and the patriotic verse I Vow To Thee My Country her love for her nation.

Brahms’s setting of Psalm 84 was the piece Lady Thatcher chose to be played at the 2003 funeral of her husband Sir Denis, alongside whom her ashes will be laid to rest at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Among those paying their respects were two heads of state and 11 serving prime ministers. Former US vice-president Dick Cheney and ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger attended in a private capacity, as did the Polish union leader-turned-president Lech Walesa. But there were no members of the current White House administration.

Intimates from Lady Thatcher’s time in power, including press spokesman Sir Bernard Ingham, advertising magnate Lord (Maurice) Saatchi and public relations adviser Lord (Tim) Bell attended, as did the chiefs of all three armed services and Falklands veterans including Simon Weston.

Figures from the worlds of media and showbusiness included broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson, singer Katherine Jenkins and political correspondent John Sergeant, whose live report in 1990 was famously hijacked by Margaret Thatcher declaring she would fight on to retain the Tory leadership.

The honours to Lady Thatcher began at dawn with the lowering of flags over government buildings all round the country to half-mast.

The former PM then left Parliament for the last time, as a hearse took her coffin on a poignant journey from the crypt chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster, down Whitehall and past the gates to Downing Street.

At the RAF church of St Clement Danes, the casket was transferred onto a gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery for the military procession.

Led by a Royal Marine band playing funeral marches, the carriage made its way at a pace of 70 steps per minute down The Strand, Temple Bar, Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill to St Paul’s.

The wheels of the 1.5-ton carriage had been changed from steel to rubber so it ran more quietly on the road, but the horses’ riders had to work hard at times to control their restive mounts.

The route was lined by members of all three services in full ceremonial day dress, officers wearing black armbands, with colours draped and rifle muzzles pointed downwards as a mark of respect.

A gun salute was fired at one-minute intervals from the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company operating guns used in the Falklands, which were last fired in anger at Goose Green and the final assault on Port Stanley.

The cortege was met by a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards at the West Steps of St Paul’s, which were lined by members of all three services and 16 Chelsea pensioners.

The 55-minute service concluded with a blessing by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Then the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh joined Lady Thatcher’s family on the steps to watch a hearse take the former premier’s body away from the grandeur and solemnity of the official funeral to a private cremation at Mortlake in south-west London.