In keeping with her directions, the former Prime Minister will not lie in state for the public to visit or have a military fly-past.
Arrangements for lying in state have previously cost the public purse more
than £825,000, according to the House of Commons Library.
Military costs for previous ceremonial funerals can also add up to more than
£300,000, including fly-pasts and attendance by some regiments.
On the day of Lady Thatcher’s death, her spokesman, Lord Bell, said she did
not want arrangements that would be a "waste of money - somewhat in
character you might think”.
Lady Thatcher is having a ceremonial funeral, rather than a state funeral, and
the costs will be borne jointly by the Government and the state. Policing
could cost around £4 million if security is as tight as at the Queen
Mother's funeral.
Having a ceremonial funeral means her family have more control over the guest
list and heads of state will not necessarily be invited.
Another key difference is that a state funeral needs MPs to vote for it through a parliamentary motion. A gun carriage bearing the coffin would also be drawn by Royal Navy sailors, rather than by horses.
State funerals are usually given to monarchs, but in the past they have also been used to honour Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston and Sir Winston Churchill.
For Lady Thatcher’s funeral, the coffin will leave Westminster by hearse, but then be transferred to a gun carriage for the final procession to St Paul’s, drawn by the King’s Troop Royal Artillery and met by a guard of honour at the Cathedral.
Later, her ashes will be laid beside those of her husband at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, after a private cremation.
There is no official process setting out who gets state and ceremonial funerals, but the monarch, Prime Minister, and Parliament have been involved in the past.
Another key difference is that a state funeral needs MPs to vote for it through a parliamentary motion. A gun carriage bearing the coffin would also be drawn by Royal Navy sailors, rather than by horses.
State funerals are usually given to monarchs, but in the past they have also been used to honour Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston and Sir Winston Churchill.
For Lady Thatcher’s funeral, the coffin will leave Westminster by hearse, but then be transferred to a gun carriage for the final procession to St Paul’s, drawn by the King’s Troop Royal Artillery and met by a guard of honour at the Cathedral.
Later, her ashes will be laid beside those of her husband at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, after a private cremation.
There is no official process setting out who gets state and ceremonial funerals, but the monarch, Prime Minister, and Parliament have been involved in the past.
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