"After the storm of a life lived in the heat of political controversy, there is a great calm."
And so it seemed inside
St. Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday as more than 2,300 guests from 170
countries stilled their quiet chatter and waited, silently, for the
coffin of Margaret Thatcher to enter.
Those words from the
Right Rev. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, in many ways summed up
the mood within: This was a farewell to a stateswoman and Britain's
pioneering first female prime minister but also to a very human mother
and grandmother now gone to her final rest.
The domed white marble
splendor of St. Paul's, Christopher Wren's masterpiece, only served to
remind those within of how insignificant even the greatest of leaders is
in the end.
In pictures: Funeral of Margaret Thatcher
The coffin's solemn arrival was signaled to those waiting inside by the muffled tone of the cathedral clock tolling the hour.
Far from the fierce
political debate and fervent protests that raged in Thatcher's life --
and indeed in the nine days since her death -- the coffin was carried
quietly in by uniformed members of the armed forces.
Draped in a Union flag
and topped with a white flower arrangement, it was placed carefully on a
bier directly before the guests of honor at the service, Queen
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
They sat across the aisle
from Thatcher's children, Mark and Carol; and her grandchildren,
Michael and Amanda; and next to serving Prime Minister David Cameron and
his wife.
A ceremonial mourning sword lay on a red-covered table before the queen, carried in by the Lord Mayor of London.
The royals' red velvet-covered chairs had been the last to be filled, as steadily the cathedral filled to its capacity.
Those who'd taken their
places in the tight-packed rows of seats behind and to either side
included men in formal military uniform, adorned with gold braid and
medals, cardinals with their distinctive red caps, women in elaborate
black hats and foreign dignitaries, some in dark suits, others in more
distinctive traditional dress.
Grey hair was much in
evidence, and men outnumbered women -- as was the case by a much greater
margin when Thatcher was in office. After all, when she entered
Parliament in 1959, she made up part of only 4% who were women.
From time to time during
the ceremony, sunlight poured through the windows of the cathedral to
glint off the gold mosaic tiles and gilded carvings below the frescoed
dome, lit also by gleaming candelabra.
There was no sign within
the grand cathedral walls of the tight security outside, with crowds of
supporters and a few pockets of protesters kept under the watchful gaze
of some 4,000 police officers.
Welcoming the
congregation, the Very Rev. David Ison, dean of St. Paul's -- who
himself this week evoked the lasting anger and hurt felt by some in
Britain as a result of Thatcher's policies -- recalled now "her
leadership of this nation, her courage, her steadfastness, and her
resolve to accomplish what she believed to be right for the common
good."
Giving thanks for the country's traditions of freedom, democracy and rule of law, he invited those gathered to pray.
Only twice did a quiet
murmur of laughter punctuate the solemn calm of the proceedings, when
Chartres recounted anecdotes which gave a more personal sense of
Thatcher's dealings with those she met.
She may not be able to
control how she is judged by future generations, but the late prime
minister's hand was behind much of the service that marks the end of her
physical presence on Earth.
As Chartres pointed out,
at her request this was not a memorial service, filled with eulogies,
but a simple funeral that reflected her disciplined Methodist upbringing
as a grocer's daughter in Grantham.
He acknowledged the
contentious nature of her legacy, saying, "the storm of conflicting
opinions centers on the Mrs. Thatcher who became a symbolic figure --
even an 'ism,' " but said that lying there, she was "one of us," subject
to human destiny.
"There is an important
place for debating policies and legacy; for assessing the everyday lives
of individuals and communities ... but here and today is neither the
time nor the place," he said.
"This is a place for
ordinary human compassion of the kind that is reconciling. It is also
the place for simple truths which transcend political debate."
Thatcher's granddaughter, Amanda, gave the first reading, her voice clear and steady despite the gravity of the occasion.
Its theme of righteous
struggle, "not against flesh and blood but against principalities,
against powers, against the ruler of darkness of this world" was perhaps
meant to bring to mind Thatcher's own struggles, first to reach power
as a woman in the 1970s and then to exercise it for the good of her
country.
As the Bishop of London said, "In a setting like this ... it is easy to forget the immense hurdles she had to climb."
Cameron, who now leads
the Conservative Party that Thatcher headed from 1975 to 1990, gave the
second short reading from the King James Bible.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, rounded off the service with the final blessing.
The hymns and
predominantly English music, chosen by Thatcher and her family,
reflected the tastes of a woman Cameron described last week as a
"patriot prime minister" with a "lion-hearted love" of her country.
And at the end of the
funeral, as the other illustrious guests filed out -- including 11
serving prime ministers, 17 serving foreign ministers and
senior clergy from around the world, as well as many British lawmakers
-- the sense was reinforced that this was a farewell to a woman who,
like her or loathe her, was truly out of the ordinary.
Former Prime Ministers
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and John Major, former U.S. Vice President Dick
Cheney, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper were just a few of the familiar
faces among the departing guests.
Some 50 of the guests
had links to the Falkland Islands, the disputed territory over which
Thatcher led Britain to war against Argentina in 1982.
After receptions where
relatives, dignitaries and former colleagues gathered to discuss their
own memories of the politician once known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher's
family accompanied her coffin to a west London crematorium for a final
farewell.
As Chartres said, those close to her must
sometimes struggle to recognize the woman they know in the
"mythological figure" created over decades of life in the public eye.
But as her daughter,
Carol, said last week, the tributes paid by foreign and British leaders
on her death prove that, whatever one's views on her politics,
Thatcher's "place in history is assured."
Cameron's verdict, given
via Twitter, was that the funeral was "a fitting tribute to a great
prime minister, respected around the world."
CULLED FROM www.cnn.com
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