Former prime minister Baroness Thatcher dies peacefully in her suite at the Ritz after suffering a massive stroke at 87

The Iron Lady became Britain's first and only female Prime Minister

Baroness Thatcher had suffered from poor health over the past decade

Mrs Thatcher had been staying at the Ritz hotel up until her death

Politician will have a ceremonial funeral at St Paul's Cathedral next week



Last politician to be afforded that honour was Winston Churchill in 1965

David Cameron: 'We've lost a great leader and a great Briton'

Queen 'sad' and sends private message of sympathy to her family

President Barack Obama: 'She stands as an example to our daughters'

Family asks well-wishers for donations to Royal Hospital Chelsea

MPs to return from recess early to pay tribute to former PM in Commons



Passed away peacefully: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died today after a massive stroke

Former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher died in a suite at the Ritz today after suffering a severe stroke.



Britain's first and only female political leader passed away peacefully aged 87, after battling poor health for more than a decade.

After a minor operation over Christmas, Baroness Thatcher had spent the past few months recuperating at the five-star hotel in central London .



The Iron Lady was given 24-hour care by nursing staff in her suite, after becoming too frail to stay in her Belgravia home.



The grocer's daughter, who became the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century, will be honoured with a full ceremonial funeral - one step below a state funeral - at St Paul's Cathedral next week.

Not since Winston Churchill's death has a politician been granted such a tribute. His funeral was also held there in 1965.

Her spokesman Lord Bell said: 'It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning'.

Her daughter Carol dashed from her home in the Alps to London on Sunday morning to be by her mother's side before she died.



The Queen was sad to hear of Baroness Thatcher's death and Her Majesty will send a private message of sympathy to the family, Buckingham Palace said today.

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Election elation: Mrs Thatcher waves from the steps of No 10 Downing Street with husband Denis after becoming Britain's first female Prime Minister in 1979

U.S. President Barack Obama said the 'world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend'.



Speech: David Cameron returned to Britain from a trip to the Eurozone to pay tribute to Baroness Thatcher

'There were people who said she couldn¿t make it, who stood in her way, who said that a woman couldn¿t lead, and she defied them all,' the PM said Sadness: Messages left in a book of condolence for Baroness Thatcher at Grantham Museum in Lincolnshire Death: Former Prime minister Margaret Thatcher leaves Number 10 Downing Street for the last time after she was defeated by John Major in the Conservative Party leadership election of 1990 'She stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered'. When her funeral takes place, the streets between Westminster and St Paul's will be cleared for the procession, the date of which is yet to be decided. Her coffin will be processed through the streets before her ceremonial funeral, which will be broadcast live on television. Members of the armed services will line the route of Baroness Thatcher's funeral procession from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul's. The day before the funeral the coffin will be transferred to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster. There will be a short service following its arrival before the coffin rests in the chapel overnight.

Portrait: Flowers and pictures were left at her home in tribute to the 'Iron Lady', who transformed Britain during her 11 years in power

Paying tribute: A well-wisher places flowers at the door of former at Margaret Thatcher's home in central London A Downing Street statement said: 'On the day itself, the streets will be cleared of traffic and the coffin will travel by hearse from the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster to the Church of St Clement Danes, the RAF Chapel, on the Strand. The route from the Church of St Clement Danes will be lined by personnel from the RAF, Navy and Army before it is met at St Paul's by a guard of honour. Members of the armed services and pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea will line the steps of St Paul's. 'At the church the coffin will be transferred to a gun carriage drawn by the King's Troop Royal Artillery. The coffin will then be borne in procession from St Clement Danes to St Paul's Cathedral. The route will be lined by tri-service military personnel.' It is understood that Lady Thatcher was consulted about details of the funeral arrangements, and made clear that she did not want her body to lie in state. Tribute: Flowers are placed outside the home of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in central London

Outpouring: A card addressed to the Iron Lady among some lilies left in tribute to Baroness Thatcher today

Memorial: A lady leaves tributes on Thatcher Drive on the Falkland Islands as a flag flies half-mast behind her

Downing Street said: 'The service will be followed by a private cremation. All the arrangements being put in place are in line with wishes of Lady Thatcher's family.'



The Thatcher family has asked well-wishers to donate to the Royal Hospital Chelsea instead of leaving flowers.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Parliament is to be recalled from its Easter recess early, on Wednesday this week, so MPs can pay tribute to Lady Thatcher.

The union flag above Number 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and many other landmarks have been lowered to half-mast and flowers were left outside her Chelsea home within an hour of the announcement of her death.

Frail: Baroness Thatcher had struggled with her health for a decade and is pictured here last year in Battersea Park

Help: Lady Thatcher's carers helped lift her to her feet as she suffered following several strokes

Respect: Prime Minster David Cameron pays tribute to Mrs Thatcher on Twitter

Sadness: Mayor of London Boris Johnson says Mrs Thatcher's memory live on for years to come

Reaction: Politicians and celebrities around the world tweet their thoughts on Lady Thatcher's death

Britain’s first and only female prime minister, who won three consecutive general elections, had been in fragile health. Baroness Thatcher suffered acute short-term memory loss and had a series of strokes over a decade.

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She came to power in May 1979, at the end of the infamous Winter of Discontent, where Britain was crippled by a wave of national strikes.



The Iron Lady, named because of her strong will, spent the next decade curbing the power of trade unions, signalling the end of an era when trade union leaders trooped in and out of 10 Downing Street, haggling and bargaining with her Labour predecessors.



Instead she stripped the unions of many of their powers with the aim of transferring them to managements and individual consumers.

Mrs Thatcher successfully defied Arthur Scargill's nationwide and year-long miners' strike, which threatened to cripple Britain's entire economic base.

Tribute: The Union Flag is lowered to half mast over Parliament after the news Margaret Thatcher has died

In tribute: The Union Flag is lowered to half mast at number 10 Downing Street after the news was announced that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died

The Falkland Islands flag flies at half mast in front of the Visitor Centre in Port Stanley today



Royal message: The flag is also brought down by Buckingham Palace, where the Queen is said to be upset at today's news

In her memory: The Lion Rampant flag flies at half mast over Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland

Poignant: The flag flies at half-mast at the Grand Hotel, which was the scene of the failed 1984 IRA assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher in Brighton

And as she transformed the nation - attempting to release the grip of the state on massive industries and public services alike - she became one of the most influential, talked-about, listened-to and dominant statesmen of the Western world.

When Argentina invaded the Falklands on April 2, 1982, she despatched a task force to the South Atlantic which drove the enemy off the islands in an incomparable military operation 8,000 miles from home.

The resulting conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on June 14 of that year, which returned the islands to British control.



During the conflict, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died.

'Margaret Thatcher didn't just lead our country, she saved our country, and I believe she'll go down as the greatest British peacetime prime minister ' - Prime Minister David Cameron

She also helped bring an end to the Cold War with the help of her great friend, U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

Reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev offered his 'sincere condolences' to Baroness Thatcher's family and friends, describing the former prime minister as a 'heavyweight politician'.



'In the end we managed to achieve a mutual understanding, and that contributed to a change in the atmosphere between our country and the West and the end of the Cold War.



'Margaret Thatcher was a heavyweight politician and a striking person. She will remain in our memories, and in history.'



Flower power: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is attacked by a woman wielding a bunch of flowers, during a walkabout in Marple Bridge in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in March 1992

Landmark moment: Mrs Thatcher arrives at No 10 Downing Street to take up office following the Conservative election victory in 1979

Baroness Thatcher her fight to keep Northern Ireland British meant she became the IRA's number one target. Unimpressed: In 1997 British Airways ditched the Union Flag on its tail-fin, replacing it with 'ethnic' designs. It provoked immediate criticism, with Mrs Thatcher draping her handkerchief over a model She narrowly survived the Brighton bomb blast in October 1984, which killed six people, including Cabinet minister Lord Wakeham and Tory MP Sir Anthony Berry, at the hotel they were staying in for the Conservative party conference.

The explosion injured 11 others, including senior Tory Norman Tebbit and his wife, who was left wheelchair-bound. The Iron Lady then trampled over cautionary advice from her own ministers in 1989 and 1990 by imposing a hugely controversial 'community charge' tax that was quickly dubbed a 'poll tax' by opponents.

She resigned as Prime Minister in November 1990 after a year in which her fortunes plummeted.

It was a year in which she faced a series of damaging resignations from the Cabinet, her own political judgments were publicly denounced by her own colleagues, catastrophic by-election humiliations, internal party strife, and a sense in the country that people had had enough of her in power. Famously she left Downing Street for the last time with her husband, sobbing in the back of her limousine. Loyal support: Mrs Thatcher with husband Denis at a party to celebrate her autobiography Path to Power at the Roof Gardens, Kensington, in June 1995

Family life: Baroness Thatcher with her children Mark and Carol, aged six, at their home in Farnborough, Kent, in 1959

In the end she spent 11 years in Downing Street, the longest run by any 20th century prime minister.

She said many times that she could not have achieved what she did without the help and support of her husband Denis, 10 years her senior.

'Her reforms of the economy, trades union law, and her recovery of the Falkland Islands elevated her above normal politics, and may not have been achieved under any other leader. Her outstanding characteristics will always be remembered by those who worked closely with her: courage and determination in politics, and humanity and generosity of spirit in private.' - Former prime minister Sir John Major

He was, she once said, 'the golden thread running through my life' - the man 'who has made everything possible'.



Throughout their marriage - which lasted more than 50 years - there was never anything, publicly at any rate, to suggest that they enjoyed other than a loving and rewarding partnership.

Former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major described Baroness Thatcher as a 'true force of nature' and a 'political phenomenon'.



He said: 'In government, the UK was turned around under - and in large measure because of - her leadership.



'Her reforms of the economy, trades union law, and her recovery of the Falkland Islands elevated her above normal politics, and may not have been achieved under any other leader.



'Her outstanding characteristics will always be remembered by those who worked closely with her: courage and determination in politics, and humanity and generosity of spirit in private.'

Good relations: President Ronald Reagan watches as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher speaks on November 16, 1988 in Washington, DC

Iron leader: Mrs Thatcher pictured with British forces during a visit to the Falklands in January 1983

Cold War tensions: Mrs Thatcher meeting the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, who described her as 'a great politician and an exceptional person' in 1987

Line of fire: Mrs Thatcher's (right, with husband Denis) fight to keep Northern Ireland British meant she became the IRA's number one target, surviving the Brighton bombing on her hotel (left) in 1984 where others died

Former prime minister Tony Blair today described Baroness Thatcher as 'a towering political figure'.



He added: 'Very few leaders get to change not only the political landscape of their country but of the world. Margaret was such a leader. Her global impact was vast. And some of the changes she made in Britain were, in certain respects at least, retained by the 1997 Labour Government, and came to be implemented by governments around the world.

Defiant: Mrs Thatcher gives her closing speech in front of a Union Flag at the Conservative Party Conference following the IRA bombing of a Brighton hotel October 12, 1984

'As a person she was kind and generous spirited and was always immensely supportive to me as Prime Minister although we came from opposite sides of politics.



'Even if you disagreed with her as I did on certain issues and occasionally strongly, you could not disrespect her character or her contribution to Britain's national life. She will be sadly missed.'



Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said this afternoon: 'Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics.



'Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no-one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served.



'She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics.



'My thoughts are with her family and friends.'

Labour leader Ed Miliband today said Baroness Thatcher would be remembered as 'a unique figure', adding: 'She reshaped the politics of a whole generation.'

Baroness Thatcher will be forever remembered 'for her decisiveness in sending a task force to liberate our home following the Argentine invasion in 1982', Mike Summers, of the legislative assembly of the Falkland Islands said today.



Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: 'It was with sadness that I heard the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher and my prayers are with her son and daughter, her grandchildren, family and friends.



'It is right that today we give thanks for a life devoted to public service, acknowledging also the faith that inspired and sustained her.'

Bold: Mrs Thatcher rides aboard a tank during an official visit to British forces at Fallingbosetel, West Germany in 1986

Greeting her troops: Mrs Margaret Thatcher meets personnel aboard the HMS Antrim in January 1983 during her five-day visit to the Falkland Islands

Emotional: Mrs Thatcher wipes a tear from her eye after announcing her retirement in 1991

President George Bush paid tribute said Baroness Thatcher she was an 'inspirational leader' and a 'great example of strength and character.' 'Laura (his wife) and I are saddened by the death of Baroness Margaret Thatcher. She was an inspirational leader who stood on principle and guided her nation with confidence and clarity. 'Prime Minister Thatcher is a great example of strength and character, and a great ally who strengthened the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. 'Laura and I join the people of Great Britain in remembering the life and leadership of this strong woman and friend.'

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said: 'Sarah and I have sent messages to Lady Thatcher's son Mark and daughter Carol, offering our condolences to them and to the Thatcher family and commemorating Lady Thatcher's many decades of service to our country. Battle: The 1984-85 miners strike was the most divisive confrontation of Mrs Thatcher's 11 years in power Confrontations: Trade unionist Arthur Scargill (left) and an injured miner (right) being helped to an ambulance during riots in Sheffield in 1984

Headlock: A picture from March 1984 of police taking action as violence flares with miners at Daw Mill colliery in Warwickshire 'She will be remembered not only for being Britain's first female Prime Minister and holding the office for 11 years, but also for the determination and resilience with which she carried out all her duties throughout her public life.

'Even those who disagreed with her never doubted the strength of her convictions and her unwavering belief in Britain's destiny in the world.

'The world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. She stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered'. - U.S. President Barack Obama

'During our time in Number 10, Sarah and I invited Lady Thatcher to revisit Downing Street and Chequers - something which we know she enjoyed very much. But it was sad for her and her family that she lost her devoted husband Denis almost 10 years ago and that she was unable to enjoy good health in the later years of her retirement.' Foreign Secretary and former Tory leader William Hague said Mrs Thatcher 'rescued the country in the 1980s'.

He told Sky News: 'She gave the country hope in so many ways and also gave great hope to millions of people around the world, particularly those behind the Iron Curtain, that they could be free.'

Mr Hague said Mrs Thatcher had shown how 'kind and considerate she was' from the time he had spoken as a teenager at the Tory Party conference in 1977 right through his political career.

Mr Hague said: 'She was personally a very, very considerate person to colleagues and to their families and that's a side of her not obvious to the public and which makes this an even sadder day.' Royal relations: The Queen joins Margaret Thatcher at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London for the former Prime Minister's 80th birthday in 2005 Trading thoughts: The Queen talks with Mrs Thatcher at a reception for the 39 heads of delegations attending the Commonwealth Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, in August 1979 Chancellor George Osborne said: 'Sad news. Margaret Thatcher's belief in freedom & optimism about the future overcame all. Her determination is our generation's inspiration.'

Former Conservative deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, who played a part in her downfall in in 1991, said: 'I am sorry to learn of Lady Thatcher's death. The illness of her last years has been cruel and very difficult. I send my deepest condolences to Mark and Carol.'

'We managed to achieve a mutual understanding, and that contributed to a change in the atmosphere between our country and the West and the end of the Cold War. Margaret Thatcher was a heavyweight politician and a striking person. She will remain in our memories, and in history' - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said: 'Margaret Thatcher was a truly formidable prime minister whose policies defined a political generation.

'No doubt there will now be a renewed debate about the impact of that legacy.

'Today, however, the proper reaction should be respect and condolences to her family.'

On his Twitter feed, London Mayor Boris Johnson said: 'Very sad to hear of death of Baroness Thatcher. Her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today's politics.' And UKIP leader Nigel Farage said she was a 'great patriotic lady'.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said she 'did great hurt to Irish and British people during time as prime minister'.

When she came to power in May 1979, it signalled the end of the era when trade union leaders trooped in and out of 10, Downing Street, haggling and bargaining with her Labour predecessors.

Instead she stripped the unions of many of their powers with the aim of transferring them to managements and individual consumers.

In 1990, a leadership challenge forced her to leave No 10 and two years later she was made a life peer, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.



In recent years she has led a quiet life cared for by her loyal housekeeper Kate. She suffered a minor stroke in 2002 which left her with short-term memory loss.



Her beloved husband Denis died in 2003 and her children Mark and Carol both live abroad.



Lady Thatcher was not well enough to join the Queen for a lunch with former and serving prime ministers as part of the Diamond Jubilee this summer. And two years ago she missed an 85th birthday party thrown in her honour by Mr Cameron at 10 Downing Street.

Portrait: Baroness Thatcher stands next to a portrait of herself at 10 Downing Street, painted by artist Richard Stone, in November, 2009

Past and present: Baroness Margaret Thatcher waves as she stands with British Prime Minister, David Cameron, on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, ahead of a meeting in June 2010

In October she was sufficiently well, however, to mark her 87th birthday with lunch at a restaurant in London’s St James’s district with Mark and his wife.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: 'As the first woman to reach that office, she remains an inspiration to millions of women of all political persuasions. Her considerable legacy continues to shape British politics to this day.'

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said Baroness Thatcher was 'the reason I came into politics'.



He said: 'Watching her set out to change Britain for the better in 1979 made me believe there was, at last, real purpose and real leadership in politics once again.



'She bestrode the political world like a colossus. This is dreadfully sad news and my thoughts and prayers are with her family.'



Senior Tory MP David Davis said: 'Margaret Thatcher was the greatest of modern British prime ministers, and was central to the huge transformation of the whole world that took place after the fall of the Soviet Union.



'Millions of people in Britain and around the world owe her a debt of gratitude for their freedom and their quality of life, which was made possible by her courageous commitment to the principles of individual freedom and responsibility.'

Family outing: Lady Thatcher leaves for a lunch with her son Mark and daughter-in-law Sarah on her 86th birthday in 2011

Lord Howe, Baroness Thatcher's former foreign secretary, said his ex-leader had had the 'ability to handle a whole range of foreign policies'.



It was Lord Howe's resignation speech, in which he was very critical of her leadership, that led to Michael Heseltine's leadership challenge and Mrs Thatcher's ultimate fall in 1990.



Speaking on Sky News today, Lord Howe said his speech had not been an attack on Mrs Thatcher.



Asked about his personal relationship with her, he replied: 'It was all a long time ago.'



Labour MP Margaret Beckett, now a dame, said Mrs Thatcher becoming the first woman prime minister was 'a tremendous achievement', but she added that it was 'a little sad' she had not managed to get another woman into the cabinet.



Dame Margaret went on: 'Not everyone will have happy memories of her record.'

Asked about her personal relationship, she added that Mrs Thatcher had 'always been very polite to me'.

Jeffrey Archer has led the tributes to Margaret Thatcher, describing her as the 'greatest peace time Prime Minster of the last century'.



Speaking from Spain, where he is currently writing, Lord Archer spoke of her 'formidable will' and 'extreme loyalty', saying she was 'an extraordinarily person, unlike anyone I have ever met.'



VIDEO Baroness Thatcher: Her battle to take back the Falklands in 1982