Son overwhelmed at Thatcher support

Baroness Thatcher would have been “honoured and humbled” by the presence of the Queen at her funeral, her son said today.

Sir Mark Thatcher said his mother had been blessed with “a long life, and a very full one”, but her death was “without doubt a very sad moment”.

“We have quite simply been overwhelmed by messages of support, condolence, of every type, from far and wide, and I know that my mother would be pleased they have come from people of all walks of life,” he said.

Sir Mark’s tribute came as Downing Street today revealed details of the former prime minister’s ceremonial funeral – which is to involve more than 700 Armed Forces personnel, and feature the units involved in the Falklands conflict.

SIR MARK'S STATEMENT IN FULL

Baroness Thatcher would have been “humbled” to know the Queen will attend her funeral, her son said today

Sir Mark Thatcher said in a statement outside her central London home: “I would like to say how enormously proud and grateful we are that Her Majesty has agreed to attend the service next week in St Paul’s.

“And I know my mother would be greatly honoured as well as humbled by her presence.

“By any measure, my mother was blessed with a long life and a very full one.

“However the inevitability or the inevitable conclusion may appear, of the recent illness that she suffered, it is no easier for us to bear in what is without doubt a very sad moment.

“We have quite simply been overwhelmed by messages of support, condolence, of every type from far and wide and I know that my mother would be pleased they come from people of all walks of life.

“These messages often convey personal stories and vignettes of part of the journey of my mother’s life and we are all enormously grateful for the warmth that these messages convey and they will be a source of encouragement and strength as we face the inevitable days ahead and for that I am most grateful.”