<p>Margaret Thatcher's funeral procession brought London city to a standstill this morning as military personnel and members of the public lined the streets amid a light drizzle to pay their respects to the 'Iron Lady'.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The coffin of Thatcher, who died of a stroke at the age of 87 on April 8, was carried out of the Palace of Westminster where it had been resting overnight.<br /><br />It was then loaded onto the hearse for its procession through Whitehall to St Paul's Cathedral, where 2,300 guests led by Queen Elizabeth II were assembled for the official ceremony.<br /><br />There were a few protesters along the route who blew whistles and chanted "waste of money" in reference to the ceremonial funeral accorded to Britain's former Conservative party Prime Minister - the first since the funeral procession of the country's war-time PM Winston Churchill in 1965.<br /><br />"I think that what is happening today is absolutely fitting and right. It is a fitting tribute to a great prime minister," said Prime Minister David Cameron in his tribute just before he was to recite a lesson from the King James Bible at St Paul's as per Lady Thatcher's wishes.<br /><br />"She was the first woman prime minister, she served for longer in the job than anyone for 150 years, she achieved some extraordinary things in her life. I thought this was a very brave woman doing a very tough job," Cameron said.<br /><br />Lord Karan Bilimoria, a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords and leading Indian-origin entrepreneur who is among the guests at the ceremony, described Baroness Thatcher as "the entrepreneur's prime minister".<br /><br />"I saw, before my own eyes, as a student in London and at Cambridge, this country being transformed, this country being opened up and the glass ceiling being shattered," Bilimoria said.<br /><br />"Margaret Thatcher herself led the way by achieving all the things she did as a woman, in smashing through the glass ceiling. Britain opened up not only to the world, with London opening up as a global financial centre, but did so with the spirit of enterprise and entrepreneurship being unleashed in the country," he said.<br /><br />More than 4,000 officers are on duty during the ceremony to tackle any protesters and in the wake of the explosions during the Boston Marathon on Monday.<br /><br />Altogether, around 170 countries will be represented by dignitaries such as members of royal families, politicians, and senior diplomats.<br /><br />The service, a traditional affair, included a selection of well-known hymns, including Charles Wesley's Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, as well as poems by Wordsworth and T S Eliot.</p>
<p>Margaret Thatcher's funeral procession brought London city to a standstill this morning as military personnel and members of the public lined the streets amid a light drizzle to pay their respects to the 'Iron Lady'.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The coffin of Thatcher, who died of a stroke at the age of 87 on April 8, was carried out of the Palace of Westminster where it had been resting overnight.<br /><br />It was then loaded onto the hearse for its procession through Whitehall to St Paul's Cathedral, where 2,300 guests led by Queen Elizabeth II were assembled for the official ceremony.<br /><br />There were a few protesters along the route who blew whistles and chanted "waste of money" in reference to the ceremonial funeral accorded to Britain's former Conservative party Prime Minister - the first since the funeral procession of the country's war-time PM Winston Churchill in 1965.<br /><br />"I think that what is happening today is absolutely fitting and right. It is a fitting tribute to a great prime minister," said Prime Minister David Cameron in his tribute just before he was to recite a lesson from the King James Bible at St Paul's as per Lady Thatcher's wishes.<br /><br />"She was the first woman prime minister, she served for longer in the job than anyone for 150 years, she achieved some extraordinary things in her life. I thought this was a very brave woman doing a very tough job," Cameron said.<br /><br />Lord Karan Bilimoria, a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords and leading Indian-origin entrepreneur who is among the guests at the ceremony, described Baroness Thatcher as "the entrepreneur's prime minister".<br /><br />"I saw, before my own eyes, as a student in London and at Cambridge, this country being transformed, this country being opened up and the glass ceiling being shattered," Bilimoria said.<br /><br />"Margaret Thatcher herself led the way by achieving all the things she did as a woman, in smashing through the glass ceiling. Britain opened up not only to the world, with London opening up as a global financial centre, but did so with the spirit of enterprise and entrepreneurship being unleashed in the country," he said.<br /><br />More than 4,000 officers are on duty during the ceremony to tackle any protesters and in the wake of the explosions during the Boston Marathon on Monday.<br /><br />Altogether, around 170 countries will be represented by dignitaries such as members of royal families, politicians, and senior diplomats.<br /><br />The service, a traditional affair, included a selection of well-known hymns, including Charles Wesley's Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, as well as poems by Wordsworth and T S Eliot.</p>