No US President at Margaret Thatcher's Funeral

World | April 16, 2013, Tuesday // 11:45|  views

Flowers are placed at the door of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher`s home in London, Britain, 08 April 2013. Baroness Thatcher died after suffering a stroke at the age of 87. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The current US President and no former one will be in attendance at the funeral of of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which will take place on Wednesday, April 17.

Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George Bush father and son, and former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, have not announced any plans to travel to London.

The US will be represented by two former Secretaries of State - George Shultz (1982- 1989) in the Ronald Reagan administration and James Baker under George H. W. Bush (1989 – 1992). Baker was also Reagan's Secretary of the Treasury.

Former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, is not going to attend either over ailing health.

The funeral ceremony, with full military honors, will take place at London's St Paul's Cathedral, following a procession from Westminster, Downing Street has announced.

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the service, Buckingham Palace said.

The 87-year-old former prime minister died on April 8, after suffering a series of strokes.

Lady Thatcher will not have a state funeral but will be accorded the same status as Princess Diana and the Queen Mother.

A ceremonial funeral is one rung down from a state funeral - normally reserved for monarchs - and requires the consent of the Queen.

A Downing Street spokesman said the details had been agreed at a "coordination meeting" between the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning.

Dubbed the Iron Lady by the Soviets, Lady Thatcher, a Conservative, was the UK's first female prime minister. She was in office from 1979 to 1990 and won three successive general elections.

She died "peacefully" after suffering a stroke while staying at the Ritz hotel in central London. Lady Thatcher had been staying at the hotel since being discharged from hospital at the end of last year.

 

 

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Tags: Margaret Thatcher, funeral, Iron Lady

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