Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female PM, dead at 87 - CNN.com
Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female PM, dead at 87
By Richard Allen Greene, CNN
Updated 9:49 PM ET, Mon April 8, 2013
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The life and legacy of the 'Iron Lady' 03:40
Story highlights
Thatcher, Britain's "Iron Lady," died after suffering a stroke Monday, her spokeswoman said
She retired from public life in 2002 after a stroke
As British PM from 1975 to 1990, she played a key role in ending the Cold War
But Thatcher opposed reunification of Germany
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a towering figure in postwar British and world politics and the only woman to become British prime minister, has died at the age of 87.
She suffered a stroke Monday, her spokeswoman said. A British government source said she died at the Ritz Hotel in London.
Thatcher's funeral will be at St. Paul's Cathedral, with full military honors, followed by a private cremation, the British prime minister's office announced.
Thatcher served from 1975 to 1990 as leader of the Conservative Party. She was called the "Iron Lady" for her personal and political toughness.
She retired from public life after a stroke in 2002 and suffered several strokes after that.
Photos: Photos: Thatcher through the years
Photos: Photos: Thatcher through the years
Margaret Thatcher through the years – Margaret Thatcher , the first woman to become British prime minister, has died at 87 after a stroke, a spokeswoman said Monday, April 8. Known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher, as Conservative Party leader, was prime minister from 1979 to 1990. Here she visits British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street in London in June 2010.
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Photos: Photos: Thatcher through the years
Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher with her parents and sister Muriel in 1945. Thatcher, born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925, studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked as a research chemist before becoming a barrister in 1954.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Conservative Party candidate Margaret Roberts, the youngest candidate for any party in the 1950 general election, works in a laboratory where she was a research chemist.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – The Conservative Party candidate for Dartford in Kent, England, meets some potential constituents in January 1950.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher chats with a police officer outside the House of Commons, where she took a seat as a member of Parliament for Finchley in October 1959.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher addresses a Conservative Party conference in October 1967.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher in 1970. Within five years, she would become leader of the Conservatives.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Prime Minister Edward Heath with 13 of 15 newly elected Conservative women members of Parliament outside the House of Commons in June 1970. Thatcher became secretary of state for education and science under Heath.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher plays the piano for her husband, Denis, and their twins, Mark and Carol, then 17, in September 1970.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher takes over from Edward Heath as leader of the Conservative Party in 1975.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher addresses Conservatives at the start of the 1979 election campaign. William Whitelaw, at her right, later became home secretary and deputy prime minister under Thatcher.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher, becoming the first female prime minister of a European country, stands with her husband, Denis, outside 10 Downing Street in May 1979 after her party's success in the general election.
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Photos: Photos: Thatcher through the years
Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher with her new Cabinet in June 1979.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and Thatcher at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in September 1982. They were holding meetings leading up to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong in 1984.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher meets personnel aboard the HMS Antrim during her trip to the Falkand Islands in January 1983. The United Kingdom fought a short war with Argentina over the Falklands in 1982, responding with force when Buenos Aires laid claim to the islands.
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Photos: Photos: Thatcher through the years
Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher and her husband, Denis, left, visit a school in the Falkland Islands in 1983.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher secures her second term of office in June 1983. She won a landslide re-election on the heels of the Falklands victory, with her Conservative Party taking a majority of seats in Parliament with 42% of the vote.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan share a joke in London in June 1984. The British politician enjoyed a close working relationship with Reagan, with whom she shared similar conservative views.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher addresses a Conservative Party conference in Brighton, England, following an IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel, where many delegates were staying, in October 1984.
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Photos: Photos: Thatcher through the years
Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher addresses the Conservative Party in May 1985.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher receives Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at 10 Downing Street in April 1986.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the start of talks at the Kremlin in Moscow in March 1987.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher and her husband, Denis, wave to the crowd at a London polling station in June 1987. She was re-elected to another term as prime minister that year with a slightly reduced majority.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher dances with Reagan in November 1988 following a state dinner given in her honor at the White House.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher greets Nelson Mandela on the steps of 10 Downing Street in July 1990. The anti-apartheid activist and future South African president had been freed that year after more than 25 years as political prisoner.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher, flanked by her husband Denis, addresses the press for the last time at 10 Downing Street before her resignation as prime minister in November 1990 after an internal leadership struggle among Conservatives.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – The former prime minister chats with President George H.W. Bush in March 1991 in the White House Oval Office before receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The award is the highest civilian honor bestowed in the United States.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher, with her son, Mark, and her daughter, Carol, watches the coffin of her husband, Denis, during his funeral in July 2003 in London. Denis Thatcher died at age 88.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher touches the flag-draped coffin of Reagan as he lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in June 2004.  In a prerecorded video at his funeral, she called Reagan "a great president, a great American and a great man." "And I have lost a dear friend," she said.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher, from left, Cherie Blair, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair attend a church service at Pangbourne College in June 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of victory in the Falklands War.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – An usher helps Thatcher, now a baroness, to her seat during the state opening of Parliament in November 2009.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – The ex-prime minister helps unveil a portrait of herself at the opening of the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London in March 2009.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Pope Benedict XVI greets Thatcher in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in May 2009.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher attends the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament in May 2010.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher waves from the door of her London home after a hospital stay to operate on a broken arm in June 2009. She had a pin placed in her shoulder after suffering a fall.
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Margaret Thatcher through the years – Thatcher waves to journalists from her London home after another hospital visit -- this time with a bout of flu -- in November 2010.
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Photos: Photos: Thatcher and Reagan's friendship
Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher and Reagan chat at a British Embassy dinner in Washington in February 1981.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher, right, and Reagan at the summit of the seven industrialized powers at Versailles in Paris in 1982.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher reads a joint declaration in the Guildhall as Reagan and French President Francois Mitterand listen after a summit conference in London in May 1984.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher and Reagan listen to the American national anthem at Kensington Palace Gardens after Reagan's arrival from Ireland for a summit in London in June 1984.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher and Reagan share a joke at her residence, No. 10 Downing St., in London in June 1984.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Reagan and Thatcher take a golf cart around Camp David in December 1984.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – First lady Nancy Reagan meets Thatcher at No. 10 Downing St. in July 1986.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher and Reagan meet in the garden of the Cipriani Hotel in Venice, Italy, during an economic summit in June 1987.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – The two world leaders dance during a White House state dinner in November 1988.
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Photos: Photos: Thatcher and Reagan's friendship
Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher and Reagan attend a formal event in January 1989.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher pays her respects at Reagan's casket during his viewing at the Capitol in June 2004.
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Thatcher and Reagan's friendship – Thatcher sits behind Ronald Prescott Reagan as he comforts his mother, Nancy Reagan, during the late president's interment ceremony in Simi Valley, California, in June 2004.
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