ing more than 12 deep.In the build-up there’d been rumours of
violent protests: lumps of
coal
Girls Party
Dresses For Sale , symbolising the fury of the miners, would be thrown at
her coffin.In the event, roses were the only things thrown.Some estimates put
the number of people on the streets at 100,000.A low figure, perhaps, if
compared with a major royal occasion; the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge is thought to have attracted a million.But this was for a prime
minister, and on a working day.On the pavements of the Strand, outside St
Clement Danes the church of the RAF there was barely room to breathe.before the
hearse was due to arrive.Men climbed railings to see above the massed
heads.Children clambered on to the bench of the bus shelter.Office balconies
thronged.People shifted restlessly, desperate for a view.As the coffin was borne
down the steps into the light of the day, the crowds outside gave three
cheers.Like the applause that had followed the coffin on its journey to St
Paul’s, the cheers were spontaneous.Many people wore suits or dark dress; some
were in bowler hats and tweed.One man had brought his pet Chihuahua, Cindy; even
it was in black, clad in a tiny coat with Good night inscribed across it.All
along the barriers and around the church stood police; hundreds of police.On
first glance an intimidating sight, but the effect was somehow softened by the
fact that every one of them was wearing spotless white gloves, like
magicians’.In front of the church loomed the statue of Sir Arthur Bomber Harris,
the chief of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War.Glaring sternly, hands
folded behind his back, he seemed to be wearing a look that said anyone intent
on violence would have him to answer to.The hearse arrived to applause.Then, as
the coffin was carried into the church by the bearer party, there rose a sea of
arms, as each mourner struggled to establish a clear view for his or her camera
phone.While the service was under way inside, the crowds stood silent.A breeze
ruffled hair.Raindrops dabbed cheeks.Then there sounded the dolorous clang of
the bell.The coffin was carried out of the church and placed on the gun
carriage.And, as the procession began to the pound, pound, pound of a
cloth-muffled drum there was applause once more.I glanced at the elderly woman
standing alongside me.Her face was a mask of tears.After the procession had
moved on, many people stayed where they were, reflecting on what they’d seen.It
was wonderful, said Richard Barnes, 69, a retired farmer.From all the stories
this week you’d have thought there’d be twice as many protesters as supporters,
but it’s been nothing like it.placard across the road, and that’s it.He’d have
seen more protesters further along the route but not many.Some turned their
backs on the procession.Some brandished placards, attacking the cost of the
funeral.Some waved milk bottles, as a reminder of the old taunt, Maggie
Thatcher, milk snatcher .Some shouted:
Maggie
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Flower Girl Dresses For Sale , Maggie, Maggie, dead, dead, dead.A few,
bizarrely, squabbled with each other ( You’ve ruined this protest!Lady
Thatcher’s enemies, fighting among themselves: it was like the 1980s all over
again.For each and every minute of the journey from St Clement Danes, a gun
salute was fired.At last the procession came to a halt at St Paul’s.At 11am
sharp, the 2,000 guests inside the cathedral, including the Queen, the Prime
Minister, and Lady Thatcher’s children, Sir Mark and Carol Thatcher, rose as
one.Lady Thatcher’s grandchildren, Michael, 24, and Amanda, 19, walked ahead of
the coffin.Following the first hymn, He Who Would Valiant Be, Amanda Thatcher
gave a reading, from Ephesians 6 10-18.How young she looked up there, tiny and
alone.To begin with, her voice cracked and quavered, but she did not let the
occasion, or the emotion, overcome her.Put on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil, she read, voice
strengthening with every line.Her words echoed through the huge, booming
silence.The second reading came from David Cameron, John 14 1-6 ( I am the way,
the truth and the life ).He read steadily and solemnly.His wife Samantha,
wearing a ***-bow blouse in tribute to Lady
Thatcher
2015
Flower Girl Dresses For Sale , watched him from the pews.The address was
given by The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres.It was well judged,
well written, well spoken.After the storm of a life lived in the heat of
political controversy, he said, there is a great calm.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.The television camera cut to George
Osborne, the Chancellor.Down his cheeks, tears glistened.Out in Ludgate Hill,
while all this was going on, a small group of the most dedicated admirers
gathered around a portable radio.Clutching printed copies of the order of
service, they sang along to every hymn.After the prayers, the choir in St Paul’s
sang In Paradisum, from the Requiem Mass by Gabriel Faure; then the congregation
joined them for the patriotic hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country.The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby, gave the blessing.Support us, O Lord, all the day long
of this troublous life, he intoned, until the shadows lengthen and the evening
comes, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is
done.lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last.Finally, as the Queen looked
on, the coffin was carried out of the cathedral by the bearer party.Then,
something remarkable.As much as appreciation, they may have been an expression
of relief; relief that a day that had been threatened by protest and violence
had instead passed with dignity.A respectful procession followed by a moving
service.No hysteria, no hyperbole.Of course there had been pomp and pageantry:
the uniforms, the military bands, the towering grandeur of St Paul’s.But in its
own way the occasion was understated or as cl.