Whether it's £8m or £10m, the estimated costs of Margaret Thatcher's funeral that are being widely reported don't seem to be based on any clear sources. Not here at the Datablog. We take a look at the different types of funeral to bury Britain's 'exceptionally distinguished' commoners and consider the costs that might be incurred.

Big British funerals

If the estimates that are being circulated are correct, the funeral of Margaret Thatcher will be the most expensive in British history. The funeral of Sir Winston Churchill required £2,000 to cover the expenses of fire, police and civil defence services (the equivalent of almost £33,000 in 2012). Though policing costs aren't known, the Queen Mother's funeral cost the Ministry of Defence around £301,000 in 2002.

As well as the large numbers of armed forces already being drawn in to the ceremony, it's likely that given anti-Thatcher protests have already required riot police, considerable security enforcement will probably be needed. Some of the expense will be covered by the estate of Lady Thatcher, though the government is not forthcoming on the proportion and the size of Thatcher's estate remains a closely guarded secret.

State and ceremonial funerals: what's the difference?

Procedurally, not much. In both cases, a military procession takes the deceased from their chapel of rest to Westminster Hall, where they lie in state for three days. After lying in state, the procession continues to either Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral, where a funeral service is held.

Ceremonial funerals send off the deceased with a paltry 19-gun salute while state funerals are marked by a 21-gun salute. In a ceremonial funeral, the gun carriage bearing the coffin is drawn by horses rather than Royal Navy ratings (specially trained personnel), as is the case for state funerals. Finally, state funerals require a motion or vote from Parliament which isn't needed for a ceremonial funeral.

The biggest difference between the two is simply who is in the coffin. State funerals are reserved only for monarchy, while ceremonial funerals tend to be reserved for the spouse or family of a monarch but can "be extended to exceptionally distinguished persons".

All That c her

According to Lord Bell, Thatcher did not want to lie in state for the public to pay their respects, and she won't. But the highly visible involvement of military personnel in her funeral will mean that it will resemble a state funeral.

Flagging an issue

When Buckingham Palace initially refused to fly flags at half-mast following Lady Diana's premature death, the royal family confronted a public outcry the likes of which they hadn't seen in years, and haven't seen since. Yet the decision to fly the flag at half-mast for Thatcher was made almost instantly, despite this being only the third time that this honour was bestowed on an individual not from the royal family.

You can find a list of famous and infamous state and ceremonial funerals along with details, where possible, on cost. Can you help us fill in the blanks?

State and ceremonial funerals Click heading to sort table. Download this data Deceased Job Type Year Where Cost at time (£) Cost after inflation in 2012 (£) Queen Victoria Monarch State 1901 Windsor Castle n/a n/a Kings Edward VII Monarch State 1910 Windsor Castle n/a n/a King George V Monarch State 1936 Windsor Castle n/a n/a King George VI Monarch State 1952 Windsor Castle n/a n/a Queen Mary King's mother Ceremonial 1953 Windsor Castle n/a n/a Sir Winston Churchill Prime Minister State 1965 St Paul's 168,000 2,754,739 Earl Mountbatten Queen's cousin, last Viceroy of India Ceremonial 1979 Westminster Abbey n/a n/a Princess Diana Prince of Wales' wife Ceremonial 1997 Westminster Abbey 5,000,000 7,706,422 Queen Mother Queen's mother Ceremonial 2002 Westminster Abbey 5,925,000 8,162,537 Baroness Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister Ceremonial 2013 St Paul's n/a n/a

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